exam technique

EXAM TECHNIQUE

H O W TO T

A C K L E ES A S

A Q EX A M S

FIRST UP….

Don’t Panic!

MAXIMISE YOUR MARKING POTENTIAL

Answer everything

Don’t leave any boxes blank

Give as much detail as required

READ THE QUESTION THOROUGHLY What clues have they given you in the

stem?

What are they actually asking you to do?

Try highlighting or underlining key words or phrases in the question.

EXAMPLE

FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS NAME, STATE, LIST, GIVE means no detail.

EXPLAIN, DESCRIBE, COMPARE, DISCUSS requires you to give a little more detail.

They will tell you exactly how many things they want in CAPITALS and BOLD – don’t bother giving any more as they won’t mark them.

Be guided by how many marks are available for a question.

EXAMPLE

IS THE CLUE IN THE QUESTION??

WHAT IF I ACTUALLY HAVE NO IDEA? What else do you know about the subject?

Would drawing a diagram or making some notes help you remember?

Use the back of another question for rough working (don’t worry, they won’t mark this!)

IF ALL ELSE FAILS….

Try a guess! You might accidentally be completely right. You can’t get any marks for empty spaces. Examiners cannot take marks away for

wrong answers, so you’ve nothing to lose!

OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER Pink questions need really precise answers to get all the

marks.

Don’t get too obsessed with the size of the boxes.

Think about grade boundaries.

Use your time effectively, and plan to review at the end.

Good Luck!