It’s time to start getting ready for the summer exams. This is going to need focus on time management and a different style of essay writing:-
Plan your revision time. There are lots of useful study charts online. Many of these are made for secondary education students, but there is no reason why you can’t take a GCSE study tool and use it for your BA course. If it’s helpful to you – use it. No one else is going to know you used a Key Stage 3 timetable!
What do the examiners want? Find out by spending part of your revision time looking at past papers. Make yourself familiar with the types of topic that come up. How many questions are you meant to answer? Do you understand the typical instructions and can you deliver the answers?
Practice mock exam papers against the clock. Get a stopwatch (if you don’t have one there’s probably a timer on your mobile phone). Part of getting through exams is having the physical stamina. 3 hours is a long time to sit at a desk writing, without the chance of a break or refreshments. Practicing in advance will help build up your abilities. Studying some reliable exam essay examples of responses to past papers can also be useful.
If your tutor offers any revision classes make sure you go. As the summer term progresses it can be very tempting to skip any extra classes that are offered, but it is in these revision sessions that teachers really focus on how questions are asked and how you are expected to respond to them.
Plan your time in the exam. You need to leave yourself some time to write each essay plan and then the time to write the essay. Be strict with yourself and stick to the schedule.
Find your perfect revision space. You may have a great desk in your bedroom, but you find all the distractions of music and the internet too tempting. If you work best in a cafe or the library then that’s where you need to be. Experiment.
