Success!
Don’t we all want to taste it? Success is a feeling that all of us strive for. For every student, greed for success is what keeps them going—success in the form of good results, academic validation, or winning competitions.
The aim of being successful becomes one of the prime motivators in a student’s journey to adulthood and career-building.
And many of us start this journey by acing our exams. It is obvious right? Everyone around us, parents, teachers, peers remind us that exams are indeed a pivotal part of achieving success.
And let’s face it, if we don’t prepare in an organised or methodical way, examinations can actually make us feel stressed, anxious, and depressed.
This necessitates the use of examination strategies and the creation of an appropriate action plan to address a student’s persistent fear of “exams.” In order to maximise study time and allow students to enjoy the process of studying, it is crucial to make exams seem easy.
Importance of Proper Examination Strategy and Planning
Having a proper plan and strategy for examinations is important because it helps in organising study materials and time effectively. It allows students to prioritise their learning objectives, identify areas of weakness, and allocate sufficient time for revision.
These strategies influence the ways in which students absorb and retain information– thus, becoming vital tools in the process of learning and taking examinations. Here are some of the many ways in which it benefits a student by making examinations feel less like a dread and more of a fruitful academic experience.
Reducing Stress
The application of appropriate strategies can help reduce stress during exam time. Stress management is an important skill to learn when it comes to dealing with academic challenges such as examinations and other assessments.
Application of stress management strategies helps in reducing anxiety and tension and helps in promoting a learning process that prevents the mental draining of a student. Learning shouldn’t be a painful or stressful task, and having a proper plan of action helps in its prevention.
Time Management and Completion of Syllabus
The use of appropriate examination strategies can ensure a smooth completion of the syllabus prior to the exam, as well as the completion of the paper on time while giving the exam.
Systematic application of appropriate strategies can indeed be the ultimate way to divide the syllabus and the learning process in ways that promote an easy and quick completion of the syllabus, therefore preventing any rush or last-minute anxiety before the exam.
Ensuring Good Health and Mental Well-being
Learning shouldn’t have to come at the expense of your health. Having a proper plan of action for examinations contributes to better health and mental well-being. Examinations can be extremely stressful.
Students often mess up their sleep schedules trying to complete their syllabus, forget to take their meals on time, and become overly dependent on caffeine for brain functioning.
These are some common maladaptive behaviours that are noticed in students during exam time. These have a negative impact on students’ physical and mental health. The increasing stress level and anxieties also result in reduced cognitive functioning such as memory retention, concentration, and logical reasoning.
This is why having a proper plan of action and using strategies during the exam period can contribute to better physical health and mental functioning by preventing maladaptive behaviours and promoting healthy ways of learning.
Increases ability to grasp information and knowledge
Exam strategies and their systematic application can be a highly personalised process that meets the individual needs of every student.
A student can experiment with these crucial steps and strategies and figure out their benefits along the way. The application of proper planned action during exam time promotes a structured approach to attaining knowledge and recalling information.
Learning strategies during exams aids a student to properly grasp the concepts instead of rote memorization.
Therefore, It strengthens a student’s ability to learn and grasp information by providing specific methods and steps that are beneficial to the student—physically, emotionally, and cognitively. These methods aim at making learning easy and the process of grasping information easier.
Goal setting and resource allocation
Proper strategies also aid in allocating resources and dividing the syllabus adequately to make the learning process more organised. It also helps a student to set their goals and what needs to be done to achieve it.
Setting goals is an important part of a planned approach to learning as it sets the course of action for a student and builds motivation. Various strategies and its usage illuminates a student on ways to allocate and utilise their resources, books or reading material to the best ways possible.
Promotes Organisational Skills
A strategic approach to examinations helps a student develop crucial organisational skills that contribute to a person’s life even beyond the academic realm. Properly organised notes and other resources facilitate a more efficient learning process.
Information being systematically organised makes it easier to review and revise. These organisational skills are a form of important life skills that are deemed important in the workplace as well as in personal life. A strategic and planned approach to life’s challenges, including exams, prepares a student to tackle greater obstacles and challenges in the future with ease.
Self-evaluation
Planning and strategies during exams contribute greatly to introspection and self evaluation. Strategies that are specifically designed to aid a student in evaluating themselves are incredibly helpful in making a student aware of their shortcomings and it promotes the student’s ability to overcome these shortcomings in logical and creative ways. This is an important benefit of a planned and structured approach to examinations as it promotes true learning and self discovery among students.
Before the Exam: Laying the foundation for Success
It is incredibly important to start planning and preparing for exams early on. The course of action that we take prior to the examination sets the path for the entire process, including the results.
Therefore, it is important to employ appropriate strategies and plan action before the exams. Start planning at least 3–4 months before exams, and it should undoubtedly set your path towards success. Here are some crucial strategies that can be applied before exams:
1) Making a study plan
Making a routine and schedule and following them is a fundamental step towards planned action. It is incredibly beneficial for a student to manage their time, set goals, and meet deadlines.
This helps with routine revision and learning without procrastination or delaying of tasks. Therefore, preventing any piling up of learning materials and promoting an efficient completion of the syllabus.
This can be added to the breaking down of the syllabus and topics to make the material more organised and easy to access, read, and remember. Organise the chapters according to your comfort, make well-structured notes, and prepare written notes to help during self-study.
2) Focus on classroom lectures and interactions
A little concentration can go a long way. Paying attention to school and class lectures reduces the burden of piled-up syllabuses and untouched reading materials that can lead to last-minute anxieties and an extra burden when it comes to completing the syllabus on time.
Focusing on lectures and classes promotes proper revision of the material and contributes to a productive academic life. Schools and colleges are made to help you in your studies and to guide you in realising your dreams. That is why you should not hesitate to seek guidance and clear your doubts from teachers before exams. Utilise your resources without any hesitation or fear.
3) Understand the Exam Format
It is important to be familiar with the test you’re appearing for. Thus, one of the first things you need to research is the format and type of exam, probable questions, division of marks, weighting, and appropriate answer formats.
Look into the marking scheme and pattern of the examination paper and how many questions can come from each section. Analyse the division of marks per section and per chapter and research ideal answer patterns for the subject to ensure that you ace the test.
4) Practice Previous Years Questions
The best way to test your knowledge and your preparation level is to collect and analyse previous-year question papers and solve them one by one. Take your time solving as many papers as you can. This can help you in practising the subject as well as in making you familiar with the paper structure and aiding you in learning appropriate and ideal ways to answer the questions.
5) Active learning efforts
Use mind maps, diagrams, mnemonics, flashcards, and other active learning techniques. You can also refer to YouTube tutorial lectures or educational apps to study and clear your doubts in the comfort of your home and at flexible hours.
6) Promoting a healthy lifestyle
It is important to maintain a proper sleep schedule, eat healthy, and practice yoga and exercise to promote a healthy and active mindset. This might not sound like a “strategy,” but it is indeed a very important one.
Following these will make it easier to grasp information and retain it. It will reduce tiredness and make you more active during study sessions. It is important to be physically and mentally fit to perform well in exams. A healthy body has a positive impact on cognitive functions like memory retention, concentration, and logical reasoning.
7) Taking breaks
An important strategy to contribute to an efficient and effective study session is to take breaks during study hours. Choose flexible hours that are not overly demanding.
Start with 2-3 hours of active studying, then move to 5–6 each hour of study sessions, and then optimise and modify the hours to contribute to studies as per your comfort and preparation level. Do not use breaks as a form of procrastination; set strict timers and follow them to achieve great results.
8) Regular Revisions
Studying is not enough; it is also crucial to ensure that you retain whatever you have studied. Practise regular revisions and revise everything you’ve studied at school or college after returning home.
You can take mock exams and solve sample papers in your free time to revise your syllabus. This is an effective strategy to make the memorization of information easy and quick.
9) Identify your ideal learning style
Every student is different, and therefore, they have diverse ways and styles of learning and grasping information. Work with visual, auditory, verbal, or kinesthetic styles of learning, explore which learning style works best for you, and employ it for the rest of your study sessions.
It is important to understand your strengths and weaknesses and personalise your learning style according to your abilities and thinking patterns.
10) Evaluate your progress
A crucial strategy to employ before your exams is to evaluate your progress, make changes accordingly, and modify the course of action to meet the immediate requirements.
Learn to identify flaws, prioritise them, and allocate more time and resources to the subject or chapter you are struggling with.
If you find yourself struggling in one subject more than another, then allocate more time to the challenging subject. You may also take coaching or tutorial classes or utilise online resources and educational apps, videos, lectures, or podcasts.
During the Exam: Keeping Your Eyes on the Goal
Scary, daunting, and nerve-wracking. These are the feelings that a student faces in the examination hall. Anxiety is natural to human beings, and challenging situations can make anyone nervous—even the most well-prepared ones out of the bunch struggle with feelings of anxiety and nervousness. That is why it is important to explore the different strategies to apply during the examination as well, to ensure the smooth and effective completion of your examination. So, let’s take a look at these strategies targeted at the issues faced by students in the examination hall.
1) Read the instructions carefully
Read the instructions carefully, analyse them, and estimate the time that is to be taken for each answer. Keeping your writing speed and answer format in mind, allot a certain amount of time for each answer. Stick to this allocated time and make sure to read the questions properly to avoid any misunderstandings while writing the answers.
2) Do not panic
If you tend to have exam anxiety, calm yourself down with meditation and breathing techniques, and drink water. Keep yourself hydrated throughout the exam, and recognize that your health should be your first priority. Give yourself a couple of minutes, take deep breaths, and continue with the test. Remember that there’s nothing to panic about.
3) Make sure you have all the necessary items
Ensure the availability of all necessary stationery items, such as pens, pencils, rulers, erasers, etc., that are needed for the exam. Do this before leaving for the examination centre. Wake up early and give yourself time to be well prepared and to pack your appropriate belongings, such as admit cards, writing tools, identity cards, and any other documents. You may also ensure to pack them the night before.
4) Managing your time
Keep track of your time and divide the time for each section accordingly. Attempt longer questions first and get done with them, or you may also attempt the easier questions first to keep ample time for attempting more complex questions. You can also prioritise those questions with which you are most confident first and then move on to other questions that may take you more time to think and write.
After Exams: Reflection and Refreshment
Life is more than just an endless chase for academic validation; it is more than running after success. To learn is to become intellectually fulfilled to the point that success runs after you. Thus, it is incredibly important that we don’t forget our health or our own well-being at the expense of academics. So, here are a few after-exam strategies you can apply to make learning and examinations feel less like a hassle and more like an achievement to be cherished.
1) Celebrate small steps and reward yourself
Treat yourself for the efforts and hard work you have put in. You can always reward yourself by treating yourself to little snacks or going out with friends in your free time to rejuvenate. It will boost motivation for future exams.
2) Reflect on your performance
It is important to take away something positive from every academic session. Learning shouldn’t just be about forcing yourself to feed yourself with a huge amount of information; it is supposed to enrich your knowledge, perceptions, and abilities. So, look back at your performance, accept your mistakes, identify the errors, learn from them, and motivate yourself for upcoming academic endeavours. Figure out your strengths and weaknesses and reflect on what you’ve gained from this experience. This will help guide your future study sessions.
3) Learn from mistakes
It is important to recognize that mistakes are a natural part of the process of growth. So, instead of fixating on your mistakes and pointing out your flaws, learn from them and devise ways to rectify them the next time around. Acknowledge your efforts, identify your weak points, and research ways to work on them and improve yourself in the process.
4) Self-care
Now that your exams are over, it is time to prioritise yourself and take care of yourself. Take a break and go for walks; do a leisure activity and spend time with family and friends; watch a movie or read a book; or do anything that you enjoy doing. Affirm positive things about yourself and take steps to care for your health and mental well-being.
5) Focus on a hobby
Academics are important, but they shouldn’t be the only priority of a student. Holistic development is crucial in today’s day and age, and that is why you should try to take up a hobby or something fun, engaging, and creative to remain productive even after exams end. Engage yourself with new skills and enjoyable activities that are interactive and will also help you learn something new.
6) Plan for the future
The end of the exams should not signify the end of your journey towards academic excellence. Utilise your free time to reflect on your career goals, set goals for the new academic year ahead, strategize ways to achieve academic goals in the future, and make new academic resolutions.
Indeed, exams are nerve-wracking, backbreaking, and a timeless dread for students of every age.
From kindergarteners to postgraduates, every student dreads the days of exams.
However, exams also provide an incredible opportunity to grow and work towards bettering yourself and gaining a more nuanced understanding of your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to academics.
It is a great opportunity to assess your interests and strong areas.
At the end, it boils down to each student as to how they utilise this opportunity.
So, we are here to motivate you with these strategies and planned methods to empower you in your academic journey, especially before, during, and after exams.
Remember that there is nothing to be worried about, and with genuine efforts and hard work, anyone can reach the doors of success!
I wish you all the best.
