When exam time comes knocking stress levels reach an all time high as inevitable cramming begins. Here are some tips to help you through the exam time and do well too.

To start off with it’s always better to have been following in class to make studying a lot easier. Instead of learning concepts for the first time you would have already gone over them and this will just be a refresher course.

But I know how it is. The weeks roll on, lessons get boring and the weekends are filled with much more interesting things than Maths or English. So now what? The test is tomorrow and you can’t go through the entire text book in one night.

The best thing to have is a really good summery, you can make them yourself – putting down only the difficult things – and go through that or you can often get study guides which are abbreviated with everything you need to know. Of course the best way to do it is to do it yourself.

There are many different study techniques. You may use one or a mixture depending on the subject. Some people learn best orally by reading aloud or by listening to somebody talking. Others learn by reading to themselves in a quite place or with loud music on. Some people have to do things practically; you may have to practice the sum over and over again to get it right. You may have to do a science experiment to understand it. These people should try to convert the theory into practical, every day situations to understand it.

Once you’ve studied and are ready for the exam, or not, nerves and other strange things can take over your mind and cause you to battle and forget everything.

Don’t change your sleeping habits suddenly. If you think you should be going to bed early for the exams start going to bed early at least two weeks before. If you suddenly change your sleeping pattern you will shock your body and not be at 100%.

Many people say – don’t talk about the exam content before hand, but to be honest, sometimes it helps. If you are discussing stuff from the work you may pick up on things you would not have known before. Many theorists could kill me for this but, sometimes you actually catch something and it helps you in the exam. The trick is not to panic if you find out you have skipped something. Do your best to listen and get your friend to give you a short breakdown. If it’s too difficult, forget about it – it’s too late. But sometimes it’s something simple like a name and you can remember it quickly.

If discussing the exam before does not help you, and many times it doesn’t, then the best thing to do is listen to music. If you feel stressed listen to music that will get you relaxed. If you feel over the exam listen to music that gets you pumped up. If your mind is all over the place than it can be good to just read through notes to keep your mind focussed on the task at hand.

These ideas are what have worked for me and others but some may not work for you, maybe none work for you. The key to studying is to find your way of remembering things and understanding concepts and run with it. There is never a set way to learn, hopefully by reading this you’ve gotten a few new ideas that could help you find your perfect way to learn.