Coping with Exams
Soon you'll be taking your 'real' exams so give it your best shot by making a revision timetable, revising smartly and by reducing your exam stress.
Your revision timetable
You could revise alone, with a friend, go to after hours school revision classes to give you a kick start.
Whatever you do, you'll need a timetable to work out what, when and how long you revise each subject.
- Make a realistic revision timetable (partial example above) showing days and dates across the top and hour slots down the left hand side. One page per week. Make your timetable colourful.
- Get your exam dates, lesson timetable and when you may be unavailable.
- Block out breaks and socialising time and if you're a morning person or a night owl plan appropriately.
- Break down each subject into topics - mind-maps or spider diagrams are useful for this.
Prioritise the subjects or areas you need to revise and work on the most, then add things to your timetable.
- Mix up your subjects to keep you motivated. Don't put all your weak subjects on the same day.
- Keep your timetable somewhere prominent where it will stay in your mind and tick off topics when completed to keep you motivated.
- Make revision interesting by revising and testing with friends and use mathsmadeeasy.
- Know when enough is enough. Don't revise too intensely and force yourself to take breaks.
Take a 5 or 10 minute break for every hour you revise. Do whatever you want (walk, listen to music, read some jokes, watch TV, check phone, etc.) then start working again.
Watch out for things that distract you easily
- If you have a meltdown, just look at what you've done to reassure yourself.
Revise Smartly Top
Focus your revision using past papers, on-line revision notebooks, on-line mock tests and revision lists:
Exams stress busters Top
As exams get closer, we get more stressed. There's loads to remember and you don't know what they will ask in the exams, so you feel under pressure.
It's a natural response, so make sure you look after yourself physically and mentally.
- Get Away From The Screen
Uninterrupted and late night computer use can cause stress so turn it (smartphone or computer) off at least an hour before bedtime.
- Sleep - most of you need between 8 and 10 hours sleep a night. It helps you absorb information.
If you feel drowsy part way into your revision books, don't fight it - take a nap.
- Eat healthy and exercise.
Stay hydrated and drink plenty of water.
Spinach, nuts, cocoa (dark chocolate), avocado and bananas contain magnesium good for wellbeing, reduces fatigue, anxiety and tension.
Blueberries reduce stress.
Eat lean meats, nuts, fruits, and vegetables.
Avoid too much sugar or heavily processed food. Snack on granola bars, healthy cereal or fruits and veggies.
Do not have turkey before an exam as it contains L-tryptophan, which makes you feel sleepy.
Also, try to get some form of exercise - got for a fast walk or run.
Do a google search to get loads more information
- Don't compare yourself
Your best friend may cram for exams in a few days, but it doesn't mean you can. Work in the way that works best for you.
Forget about everyone else and concentrate on you!
- Think positive.
Imagine yourself taking the exam and feeling confident that you know all the information. Picture getting all of the answers right, and focus on how relaxed you feel. Then picture a top grade on your test paper. When you imagine a happy ending, that's often what happens, because you make the decisions that lead to it without even realizing.
- If you've studied all you can, feel confident.
Get yourself into a confident mode. You've prepared as much as you could, and now it's time to do your best. Do whatever works to convince yourself you are going to do really well. It sounds a little crazy but you just have to try it for yourself. I think you'll like the results.
- After the exam, you can't go back and change anything so avoid asking your friends how they answered. Get ready for the next one.
They did it without qualifications
- Lord Sugar quit school at 16 with no qualifications.
Sir Richard Branson, left school at 15 after struggling with severe dyslexia. He got 'no qualifications'.
As Branson points out "if you have the desire to succeed, not having a piece of paper with A, B or C written on it isn't going to hold you back."
- Sir Philip Green of BHS left school at 15 to set up a shoe importing company.
- Robbie Williams, the singer, 40, was predicted good GCSEs but left school without any qualifications.
- Simon Cowell, left school with two O-levels.
- Jeremy Clarkson,
Tweeted today: "If your A Level results aren't great be cheered by the fact that I got a C and two Us. And I'm currently sitting in a villa in St Tropez"
- Sarah Millican said "if you don't get what you need, it isn't the end of the world: Yes, good exam results are useful but not the be all and end all. (I got 2 Ds and an E)
- Dr Mark Lythgo's parents actually CRIED when he received his A Level results - three Fs and an E in physics. Nevertheless, Mark worked his arse off and is now one of world's leading neurophysiologists.
- John Lennon (Beatles) failed all his GCE O-level examinations, but was accepted into the Liverpool College of Art. At college, he gained a reputation for disrupting classes and ridiculing teachers. As a result, he was excluded from the painting class, then the graphic arts course, and was threatened with expulsion. He failed an annual exam and was "thrown out of the college before his final year"