Hello everyone! Welcome back to the final blog! Yes, that’s right, your favourite blog is coming to an end! I hope everyone is going well with their revision and that you are getting excited about the exams which are just around the corner. More specifically, I hope physics revision is going along swimmingly and you have been able to manage your workload well. Throughout the last few weeks I have given plenty of advice and tips in regard to approaching revision and preparation for your exams. One thing that I haven’t spoken too much about is the actual exam itself and I thought that talking about the exam would be a great way to end! Here are my top 10 exam tips for physics!
Ash’s Top 10 Tips for Revision
Before the exam:
1. Get prepared early
Preparation is vital to any important task that you carry out and definitely applies for your exam. Make sure that you have all of your exam materials ready to go well before your first exam and make sure that going into physics you have a verified calculated and all the equipment you need (pens, pencils, etc.). I was very superstitious and liked to use a particular pen for my exams and I made sure I had a few of these ready to go before my first exam! Make sure you print out a spare copy of your cheat sheet just in case- you can always leave it behind before you walk into the exam hall.
2. Use the study design as a checklist
In the last few days before the exam print out a copy of the physics study design and check off all of the dot points to confirm that you have covered them. This is a great mental check to reassure yourself that you have hit all of the topics required!
3. Figure out a rough plan of attack
As we have talked about in previous weeks, attacking the exam with a certain plan is a great way to relieve the amount of stress you will encounter. Whilst you will have to adapt depending on the questions that come up, going in with a plan to do certain questions first (for example short answer before multiple choice) will give you some clarity and direction. Your plan could be as simple as to start from the start and go right through; just having that plan in place is really important!
4. Do not try to predict what will be on the exam
In a previous blog I went through ways in which you could get a feel for the type of questions that could come up in the exam. This is fine; however, especially in the last few days before exams, I would not encourage predicting what will exactly come up. Going in with an open mind and being mentally prepared for all types of questions will keep you in good stead and this way you will have no surprises in the exam (as you are expecting anything and everything to pop up at some stage or another).
5. Tone down revision in the last few days
Now, this tip will vary from person to person. A lot of my friends liked studying to the last minute and I was somewhat the same. In my experience toning down the amount of revision I was doing for a particular subject in the last few days before the exam was the best way to go. By toning down the intensity I became more confident in my ability and did not stress myself out. This worked for me, but if you prefer to do some intense study the night before, by all means do what works best for you!
During the exam:
6. Be confident!
When doing the exam be confident in the answers that you are writing down. There is no turning back in the exam, so writing down an answer confidently will allow you to express your views as clearly as possible.
7. Keep an eye on the clock!
Make sure that you continually check the time and pace yourself as you go along. Try not to start too slow and spend a long time on a few questions, and rather get through at a steady pace. On the same token, try not to overcheck your answers as you go along; hopefully you will get some time to check at the end, but if not getting more questions done is ideal!
8. Use reading time wisely!
Use reading time to figure out a game plan! I would not recommend doing multiple choice questions in reading time, as going through the entire exam and picking out the easier questions which you want to do first is a lot more important in my opinion!
9. Work to your strengths!
Ensure that your first priority is to smash out questions that you are certain you can get marks on. There is nothing worse that missing out on marks that you could have got. Don’t stress if there is a question you can’t understand or do! This is normal and dwelling on it for too long will just compromise your performance!
After the exam:
10. Relax and Enjoy!
After your exam, do not stress about how it went or what you could have done differently. What’s done is done and you should be happy that you gave it your best shot no matter what! Look forward to finishing exams and the amazing break you will have!
Good Luck!
That is all from me! It has been an absolute pleasure writing these blogs every week and I really hope that you were able to take something out of it! Physics exams historically don’t throw too many curveballs so go in with a confident mindset and I am sure that everything will be fine! There are only a few more weeks to go until it will all be over, so don’t leave any page unturned, give it all you have! I wish you all the best of luck and hope that you are able to achieve beyond the marks you are hoping for and have success going forward as well! Good luck and go well!
Ash