If you’re anxious about taking an exam, you’re not alone; 20% to 40% of students feel the same way.
Students who suffer from test anxiety feel despair, panic, and even failure. These emotions are terrible enough, but they can also negatively impact test outcomes.
Fortunately, you can prevent test anxiety with an effective study routine. After all, studying gives you the best chance to ace exams. On the other hand, a lack of preparation can cause the exact opposite.
That said, you can boost your odds of success by implementing practical study tips for exams. This guide lists the top strategies and recommendations you can follow, so read on.
Know What Your Exam Covers
To effectively study for an exam, you must first know what it covers. Otherwise, you might focus all your review time on topics that may not appear on your test.
If you’re taking a school exam, the topics it covers may be in your class or course syllabus. It’s the document your teacher or professor handed out at the start of the school year or semester. But if you no longer have it, you can ask your classmates, teacher, or professor for a copy.
For example, if your exam is on math, you will probably need to learn fraction conversions depending on what grade you are in.
If you’re studying for school admission exams, check the school’s website for information. It should provide a breakdown of the topics covered in the test.
As for professional licensure exams, testing agencies often publish the test’s coverage online. Licensing bodies may also provide test-takers with this information. Some may even offer study guides and practice test materials.
Prioritize Hard Topics
Once you know your exam’s topic coverage, rank them based on their difficulty.
For example, if you have trouble with Math and Science, you can rank it first and second on your list. You should then allot more time studying these subjects you have difficulties with.
Create a Study Schedule
When creating a study schedule, factor in how many hours you can dedicate to studying.
This still depends on the extent of the test, but at the very least, you should set aside 2 to 3 review hours per day. In doing so, you can have 14 to 21 hours per week to split across the topics you must study.
Next, create your schedule based on your list of topic priorities. Set aside more time for the subjects you have the most difficulty with.
For instance, suppose your priority list is as follows: 1. Math, 2. Science, 3. History, and 4. Languages. Let’s also say you’ve committed to studying for 3 hours daily.
In that scenario, you can split your daily review time like this:
- 1 hour and 15 minutes for Math
- 45 minutes for Science
- 30 minutes for History
- 30 minutes for Languages
By the end of the week, you’d have spent over 10 hours on Math, 5 hours for Science, and 3 hours each for History and Languages.
Stick To Your Daily Schedule
If you don’t do anything to retain what you learn, you might forget about 75% of that knowledge. That’s according to the forgetting curve hypothesis. It also claims that much of that loss happens within the first hour from when you first learn something.
That’s a good enough reason to commit to studying for exams every day. Otherwise, you risk forgetting if you skip too many review days. If this happens, you may have to keep going over the same chapters instead of progressing.
Use Visual Aids
Research suggests that, after three days, people only remember 10% to 20% of things they read or hear. By contrast, they can recall at least 65% of the stuff they see.
That helps explain why visual aids are powerful study tools. So to maximize review sessions, create and use infographics, diagrams, graphs, and charts. You can also watch videos relating to the topics covered in your exam.
Sleep Well
Over half of college students sleep for less than 7 hours each night. That’s under the recommended 7 to 9 hours of sleep that most college-aged students need. Not only is this a problem that affects learning, but it also leads to overall poor health.
So while passing an exam is a priority, you shouldn’t compromise your sleep. Besides, inadequate sleep can hinder your concentration and memorization. Thus, not sleeping enough due to studying too much may have the opposite effect.
Having a good night’s sleep is even more important the night before your exam. It can help boost your memory and mood, increasing your odds of passing exams.
To get more and better quality sleep, stop using your screened devices 30 to 60 minutes before bed. This includes your computer, tablet, or smartphone you use to review. Their blue light can mess with how your body regulates sleep.
Invest in Practice Tests
Also called mock exams, practice tests mimic specific “real” exams. For example, they have the same number of items, structure, and test types.
So if the actual exam you’ll take has 150 items, so will the mock exam. If the real test has true/false, multiple choice, and essay questions, so will the practice test. Even better, the topics covered in practice tests are similar to the exams they mimic.
Since practice tests look and feel like actual exams, they’re ideal study materials. You can also use them to time how long it takes you to complete the exam. If you finish on time, perfect; if not, it only means you must study more.
Some teachers hand out practice tests. However, they’re more common for assessment, entrance, and licensure exams. Examples of such materials are in the NotesEdu HAST practice test packs.
Ace Tests With These Study Tips for Exams
Not preparing for an exam can impact your future, including your career. For example, it can hinder you from passing an admission test to your preferred college. Or it may contribute to your failure to get your professional license.
You don’t want any of that to happen, so follow all the study tips for exams listed in this guide. Use them to help you create a more effective routine and maximize your review sessions.
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