Discover five ways to perform better in an exam

Exam time brings with it a lot of doubt, anxiety and fear. This naturally leads students to make some mistakes while attempting an exam, either physically or online. Don’t worry! They can be rectified for a better exam experience. Let us start with identifying five common mistakes that exam-going students tend to make and find solutions for the same.

Read the question paper before you begin

In a hurry to finish the paper on time, students start attempting the paper as soon as they receive it. Although examiners allot 15 minutes of reading time before the exam begins, most students do not spend this time wisely owing to stress. The stress may cause them to make a wrong choice of questions that in turn affects their score. Therefore, it is best to adhere to the popular suggestion and spend the first 15 minutes reading the question paper. Students must spend time in identifying the questions they are confident with before beginning to write the exam. This will help them perform better.

Structure your answers well 

Unstructured answers can bring down the quality of the answer, whether the exam is a physical one or an online one. In filling up the paper with whatever they know for the question being asked, they forget to structure their answer. This decreases its readability, thereby reducing the quality of the answer. It also takes up a lot of the exam time in trying to restructure a disorganised answer. Spend some time deciding the order of the points you want to convey and place them accordingly. They could be short and precise but should convey the point. Including appropriate subheadings helps increase clarity in your answer while making it look more organised. This is especially true for subject like English or history that require lengthy answers.   

Learn how to manage time

Whether online or physical, it is not just enough to know the correct answers in an exam. Allocating the right amount of time for long and short answers is essential. To avoid leaving out unanswered questions towards the end of the exam, students must judge the time each answer might take. Time management differs with the mode of the exam. Students should practice both versions of exams and time themselves in each. While attempting either of the versions, one thing to keep in mind, as mentioned earlier, is to start with what you know best.

Get to the point soon

It is commonly observed that students try to fill the answered sheet with a lot of unnecessary information. It robs a student of precious time during an exam, leaving him/her with compromised answers. Instead, a to-the-point answer brings better scores. Attempting answers only when all the facts are known is the best way to score better. Get to the point at the earliest and add extra information only if you know that it is relevant and valid.

Move to the next question

Spending time on an answer that students are unsure of is a common mistake that they make. The right trick to a perfect exam is to know when to stop and move on to something that they know more about. It is always quality over quantity. Spending too much time on an unsure question will leave less time for known questions too. That will ultimately leave you at a loss of marks.  

Now that you know the mistakes that must be avoided while taking an exam, your preparation is better. Ensure you use these tips and you are good to take any exam. All the best!