Welcome back and Exams

Hello Everyone,

This will be quite a short post. I just wanted to post to say Welcome back everyone, I hope you all had a relaxing time over the festive period.

I also wanted to say good luck to those of you who have Exams over the next couple of weeks. If you are a bit anxious the University have posted a blog on the best ways to cope with exam stress and there are also additional study spaces for you to revise in.

My top tips for the exam season are the following:

1. Make sure you get plenty of sleep. This may seem obvious but by ensuring you have a good sleep pattern can make you more productive and able to take in information better.

2. Be prepared. Again it seems like an obvious one but, this is a multi-faceted point. In part I mean make sure you have revised and know the substantive content on which you will be examined. I would also say it is important (especially if you have timed assessments) to whenever possible do some timed exam practice. This is important because you want to make sure that you have ample time to answer all questions in the exam paper. Also, make sure you know where your exams are being held and also make sure you are aware of the regulations i.e. what you are allowed to take into the examination.

3. Be early to the exams, this means that if there is a late room change you have time to find the room, but more importantly you want to give yourself the best possible chance of getting the best possible mark. In my under-graduate one of my flat-mates was an hour late for his exam. This exam was on a topic that he had previously obtained good marks for but because of his lateness his marks dropped considerably and needless to say he was not happy.

4. Make sure you take time to relax! I know this seems a bit counter-productive but you do not want to burn out! For instance when I used to revise, I would allot myself times to revise and make sure I stopped by 10pm at night. Time away from revising is good for you to rest and not overload your brain.

5. When revising, make sure you mix it up a bit. By this I mean do not just revise in your bedroom or the library, change your study space regularly as this helps keep things fresh and not so monotonous. Also do not just do the same activities i.e. timed essay practice. Doing different revision activities can help you retain the information better than simply reading a lot. For instance one of my friends before an exam revised by drawing out chemical equations in a white board we had in our kitchen. Additionally, I would also meet up with peers and we would discuss particular examination topics and quiz each other on the relevant scholars and theorists. So a bit of variety can help you retain the information and remain interested in the examination topic.

6. Eat well. Stress and working can often mean that many will become ill and I think one of the ways in which you can best combat this is by eating regularly and healthily. So don’t just rely on a sugar and caffeine diet to get you through, make sure there is protein, carbs and vegetables.

So, good luck to everyone sitting their exams. I hope all goes well for you!

Thank you for reading