Five Tips for Exam Day Success
Whether you’re embarking upon end-of-years exams, A-levels, or university finals, here are five top tips to make sure your exam day goes as smoothly as possible:
- Prepare everything you need the evening before
The evening before your exam, pack your bag for the following day. This will make sure you are less rushed in the morning.
Start with everything you will need for the exam itself (or exams if you have more than one). Check whether are any rules about ink colour or writing in pencil. Pack extra pens and pencils, ink, and a sharpener and eraser.
Will your exam require you to bring any specialist equipment? For a Maths exam, you may need a compass, protractor, or calculator. For an Art exam, you may need specific supplies for your project. Make sure you have these ready too.
Finally prepare everything else you will need for the day. Plan an outfit with layers so that you can adjust it depending on the temperature of the exam room. Pack any food and drink you might need throughout the day.
- Get an early night
Although your instinct may be to stay up late and go over your revision notes, now is the time to relax and make sure you have enough rest so that your brain and body are in good shape for your exam.
Set yourself a bed time and stick to it. If you can’t sleep, try reading something that isn’t related to your exam, meditating, or listening to soothing music. Make sure you set multiple alarms for the next morning.
- Get the most out of your morning routine
While you might be tempted to hit snooze on your alarm clock until you absolutely have to get up, a calm morning routine will really help you get into the right headspace for your exam.
Help yourself wake up by listening to your favourite music while you get ready. You may even want to sing along loudly to help put yourself in a good mood.
Even if you usually skip breakfast, today’s the day to eat something that will keep you full and energised throughout the day. Try porridge, bagels with peanut butter, or egg on toast. While you eat, you may be tempted look over some of your revision notes. While reading will help warm up your brain, avoid topics that are directly related to your exam. Try reading the news or a book instead. If you can’t resist looking over your notes, stick to key words or mnemonics – now is not the time to try and memorise pages of information.
- Allow Plenty of Time to Arrive
There is nothing more stressful than running late on an exam day so make sure you allow yourself plenty of time to arrive. Check your route for any delays and leave earlier than you usually would.
Arriving early also means you’ll have time to find out exactly where the exam is taking place and to freshen up before it begins.
- Do your best!
Try and see your exams as an opportunity to show off your knowledge. Glance through the paper at the start of the test, allocate how much time you want to spend planning and answering each section, and just do your best!
If you found this article useful, why not check out some of our other blog posts?
29 May 2018
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