School Exams And Grades
When should I start revising for an exam?
I think the most important thing when you are revising for an exam is to try to plan early. As soon as you know that you're going to be taking your exam, try to make a rough guide of what revision you're going to do on which days and how much you're going to do each day. Try to plan to revise the things that you find it hardest to take in the mornings and the things that you already know later in the day. By the time you've had a long day at school you're going take in a lot less of your exam revision than you would first thing in the morning or at the weekend. Be wise about your planning and plan your exam revision early.
What's the best way to make sure that I get good grades?
The best way to make sure that you get good grades is to really keep the balance in your life. You need to make sure that you're getting enough sleep, that you're eating right and that you're having a lot of time for fun. Make sure that you're still spending time talking to your friends and family about how you're feeling and how life feels. If you've got all of that in balance and you've planned enough time to study and revise, then you will be doing as well as you possibly can do. I think something that what occasionally happens is people try to do more and more and more studying, and they feel they'll take in more and more, but actually if you lose that balance you'll get in a bit of a tizzy. Keeping that balance in life is really important when reaching for higher grades.
Should I practice taking tests?
Practicing taking tests is a really useful way to find out if you've got any gaps in things that you know. Doing past papers and taking questions from previous years will really make sure that you are testing how much you know about different subjects. Doing practice papers well in advance of your exams is a really good idea, so that you've still got time to find out information where there are gaps in your learning. Taking tests from past papers just before an exam isn't a very good idea, because you might suddenly feel panic that you have got gaps in your knowledge: you don't know where to find that knowledge out and you haven't got any time left. Really plan your revision early so that you're taking past papers and finding out what you need to learn in time for the exam. That's a really good idea.
When and how should I practice taking tests?
If you're going to practice taking tests it's really important to do that quite early on in your revision. I think some people leave past papers until quite later on in their revision, and then they can get panicked by not having enough time to find out the things that they realize they don't know enough about on the practice exam questions. So take past papers really early on so you have enough time to find out everything you need to find out. It's really important. And also doing past papers with friends is a good idea because if you don't know something on the practice exam paper, your friend might well know the piece of information that you don't and it saves you time finding out things in your own time. So taking past exam papers together is a good idea.
I'm tempted to cheat to get a good grade - will it work?
It can be really tempting to cheat, but one of the most important things in exam testing is to see how much you know about subjects. And what's really important is that you don't cheat, that you do revise and you do learn, because your knowledge of that subject is going to help you in you later life. And if you cheat at this stage your cheating will get found out at some point even if it's not in a test. If it's further on when someone sees that you've got a level of knowledge because you've passed that exam that would be really awkward for you. So while it is tempting to cheat, it's far better to revise and to know that you've succeeded as well as you possibly could have done rather than getting higher grades because of cheating and get caught out later on.
What are the reasons for failing an exam?
There are a million and one reasons why you might fail an exam, from having difficulties in your own life, too many stresses. You may fail an exam through just not knowing enough about the subject, you might not have had a very good teacher, who causes you to fail the exam. You might have just been pulled away from the focus of that subject, or you might have lost interest in the subject over the years, causing you to fail the exam. There are a million reasons why you might fail an exam. I think a very important thing to remember is this isn't the only opportunity you're ever going to have to take this exam. In the worst possible case, you could always take this test at a later date.
What are the consequences of failing an exam?
As you're building up to taking exams there is an awful lot of pressure on you to do well, to pass and to get certain grades. As you get older, however, and you do different things in life you do realize there are plenty of opportunities to take exams at later dates. The most important thing, if you've failed an exam, is to try and take that exam straight away and to keep going almost as soon as you possibility can so the knowledge that you have built up and the revision you have done does not get wasted. You can use that oppurtunity straight away to build up more knowledge and do as well as you can the next time round. The longer the gaps that you leave the more difficult it can be, but there are some people whole failed an exam at 16 and take it when they're 65 and pass. There's no particular time that you have to do exams and that's the most important thing to bear in mind.
What can I do to avoid failing an exam?
To avoid a failing an exam, I think one of the best thing that you can do is to really make sure that you have got balance in your life. Make sure that you have got as much support as you possibly can get from friends and family and that you have fun activities going on at the same time as your exams so you don't feel too pressurised and stressed. If you are very stressed, you won't do as well as you want to do in the exam. Make sure that you are getting enough sleep, that you are eating well and that you have planned enough time each day to really learn as much as you need to pass those exams.
Is it the teacher's responsibility to make sure I pass an exam?
I think there is an awful lot of responsibility that lies with the teacher in how well you do in an exam. Obviously, you've got some responsibility to practice, revise and learn as much as you can for an exam. Sometimes, however, teachers just aren't the people that you might necessarily get on with in that subject and you might have lost interest in it as a result. It may be later on in life that you find someone who communicates the information in a way that is much more suited to your style of learning. I think if you don't do as well as you can do in an exam, it's important to remember that you have got some responsibility in that, but also remember some responsibilites lie with teachers and some also lie in what else you've got going on in your life and how much time you've had to commit to passing that exam.
