Exam Tips

jazzyjustlaw

This is a money saving thread before you say a word. If I pass I save money in that I will not have to pay the exam fee. I am sitting Ilex Legal Practice exams a week on Tuesday. Whatever law exams I do I can get 70's and 80's in assignments but in exams I get 50's and sometimes 40s!! I get so worked up before hand I feel like I will die.

Does anyone have any tips on:

1. Revision techniques
2. Exam techniques and
anything else you may think might help in me not having a nervous breakdown in the next week or so.

I have been revising nearly every evening and weekend since March and my first mocks went well but my second not so good. I get into an exam and I can remember nothing! Please help!

Justine

Katgoddess

This might be better answered in the student forum.

Good luck!

jazzyjustlaw

Maybe your right but I dont think I can move this myself.

Magentasue

Best way to revise at this late stage is past papers - even if just write key points that would go into your answer. You do need a lecturer or someone who knows the marking criteria to point out what you're missing out though. 'Cos it ain't what you know that counts - it's what you show that you know that gets the marks.

I mark GCSE scripts and we have a mark scheme that dictates what gets marks and what doesn't. You need to be able to look at a question and KNOW what the examiner is expecting to see - that's how the practice papers help.

Other than that, you can only do what you can do. Worrying achieves nothing. But I can say that because I don't have to do them!

Good luck!

moggins

And a few drops of Rescue Remedy on your tongue before the exam

Good luck.

student100

Okaaay.... revision. I think I've been doing it at least once a year for the last 9 or so years now... so it sort of comes naturally... but here's a few tips:

• Plan your revision in advance. Work out how many slots you'll do on each day, and decide which subjects you'll study in each session. Obviously you can devote more time to the things you find more difficult - but don't forget to cover everything. Try to rotate things so you don't get too bored of one topic - but obviously as it gets closer to a particular exam you'll want to concentrate more on that subject.
• If you're anything like me, plan to do about a third more revision than you think you'll actually do. That way if you get the occasional time when you really don't want to work, it doesn't matter too much - but if you are good and never miss a session then you'll just know stuff better.
• Take regular breaks - a session should last for 45 mins-1 hour, then take a break of at least 15 minutes. After every couple of sessions do something completely different - have a proper lunch away from your desk, take the dog for a walk, go to the supermarket or something - just to break up the day. (Our dog loved it when I was doing GCSEs and A-levels, he got a nice long walk at least once a day!)
• If you're revising all day every day (if you have study leave or whatever), plan to work two of the three parts of the day (morning, afternoon, evening) and give yourself the remaining session off. You can be a bit flexible with this.
• Be prepared to adjust your plan a bit as necessary.

For instance, in a typical day I might plan six hours of revision:

0830-0930, 0945-1045, longer break, 1130-1230, lunch, 1330-1430, 1445-1545, longer break, 1600-1700, dinner, evening off.

Or:

Morning off, 1330-1430, 1445-1545, longer break, 1600-1700, 1715-1815, dinner, 1930-2030, 2045-2145.

or something. Just remember when you're planning that revision is dull, so you need to give yourself lots of time to do other things otherwise you won't concentrate properly when you are revising. 6 hours "good" revision is better than 9 hours of "poor" revision.

You'll know whether you work best in the morning or later in the day - plan your timetable accordingly.

As far as studying itself goes, try to make your revision sessions "active". You don't learn much just reading notes (your mind will quickly wander). It's much better to do something like:

• Try to summarise what you're reading by making notes, drawing diagrams etc. Even if you never read the notes again the act of writing them down helps you to remember them.
• Read through your notes and set yourself some quick questions (write them down). Put them aside until you next come to revise that subject. Then when you do look at that subject again, do the quiz you set yourself to see what you can remember, and what you need to look back at.
• Look at past exam papers, test questions in textbooks etc, and go through them. At first use your notes and textbooks to help you - then later you should be able to answer questions without your notes. (for subjects like Maths, this is pretty much the only way to revise).
• If you have lots of formulae or defenitions etc. to learn, write them out on pieces of paper with marker pens and blu-tack them around your house/room etc. When you're getting dressed, or on the phone, or just before you go to sleep or whatever, have a quick read through them.

There's also stuff to remember about revising itself:

• Do it somewhere quiet. Some people work well with music turned down low in the background - I prefer as little noise as possible.
• Have a clear desk, a comfortable chair, and plenty of light. Daylight is good! Put away your books after you finish a session.
• Eat well, sleep well, take enough exercise. A happy body will help you learn!

Wow, what an epic post! I hope this helps!

Jay-Jay_4

moggins wrote:

And a few drops of Rescue Remedy on your tongue before the exam

Good luck.

This is great stuff, I really recommend it.

I know that it sound a bit arty farty but have you considered a relaxation tape or similar?

I think they're really useful even for people who think that they 'can' relax...they're not just for stressed out hippie/yoga types, they really just let you learn how to relax the muscles in your body that you don't even realise you're tensing....does that make sense?

Like relaxing the muscles around your eyes. It's not something that you would ever do unless someone pointed it out to you. Like relaxing the muscles around your ribcage, toes, fingers.....weird but helpful.

Maybe something like this with a guided visualisation would put you in a good frame of mind before your exam instead of letting the panic and negative feelings slowly build up. You feel much more serene and ummmm... floaty after a little relaxation tape

I'm not a flower wearing hippie honest

chardonnay_2

student100 had loads of great tips. the way i did it was copy the text, cover it, re-write it until i'd learned it. then summarise it down and then do bullet points of start of paragraphs, or main points. then learn them by the above. if you remember the bullet points, they will trigger the rest of the info. test this by writing the bullet point & then the rest of the info that should be triggered.

good luck

Clareo

moggins wrote:

And a few drops of Rescue Remedy on your tongue before the exam

Good luck.

Jay-Jay wrote:

This is great stuff, I really recommend it.

What is it and how does it help? Seen as I have my final Uni exams in a week and I'm yet to start revising I am willing to try anything!!!!!!

Jay-Jay_4

Clareo wrote:

What is it and how does it help? Seen as I have my final Uni exams in a week and I'm yet to start revising I am willing to try anything!!!!!!

It's a small bottle of liquid that you can buy from Boots. Whether it really works or is a placebo is probably up for dispute but I found that it worked, probably as a combination of placebo effect and feeling like I was actually doing something physical to alleviate my stress.


Some midwives recommend it for calming during labour so there's quite a lot of faith in it there.

Pink.

jazzyjustlaw,

These are a couple of websites that my daughter was using to help her with studying:

skills4study and Revision Aid

Good luck!

Pink