An important lesson from my cricketing chum and LIBF student

Hi John,

I hope all is well.

Please find below my exam tips.

Having failed an exam miserably about a month ago I thought I would share what helped me pass this exam today!

Firstly and most importantly, when you fail an exam, get back up and go again. We all fail, we all make mistakes so don’t bury your head in the sand be strong and keep trying until you pass. A child learning to walk doesn’t give up no matter how many times it falls down, it keeps getting back up until it conquers its goal.

To help with this, strangely, failing an exam is good preparation for passing an exam so don’t be disheartened. What I mean by this is you learn where the test centre is, you learn where to park, how much parking is, the etiquette inside the test centre and get an idea of the types of questions that will come up which will put you in a good position moving forward if you haven’t studied hard enough to pass first time around.

Secondly, it has been proven in a variety of studies by people far more academic than I that recall is the most effective method of revision (this is testing yourself on information in the text, trying to work out the answer and then researching it if you can’t work out the answer). This can either be done by questions provided or creating your own and trying to answer them with no help, before researching the answers.

Writing notes and highlighting are proven to have little effect as a revision technique. This said it is better than nothing and can help with finding answers quickly and concisely when recalling.

Next, find out how you learn best. For me, it is auditory whether in a group or as an individual. Luckily I had @soozy89 On hand to read me questions or read from the text so I would remember it long term. For this I am eternally grateful. Others amongst you may be visual learners and learn from reading but for me this just isn’t an option as the information wouldn’t sink in. Find out what suits you and focus all or most of your attention on this method for both efficiency of time and most chance of improving your knowledge bank.

Revise to the ultradian rhythm. This means you revise for a maximum of 90 minutes at a time with a 20 minute break. This allows for the most effective learning. In the 20 minute break take yourself completely away from the learning and text, going for a walk is optimal but doing housework or meditating will probably work just as well.

Visualisation - from the moment your exam is booked you want to visualise yourself walking out of the test centre with a pass mark, feeling how you would feel once you’ve passed body language and all. Make this as accurate as possible and really think about your mannerisms and how you would feel and how you would react. The more you can do this the better but even for 5 minutes before bed every night will help. This will subconsciously lead you to those results.

On the morning of the exam you don’t want to be revising. If you are tempted to you may not be ready for the exam itself.

I found best practice was to focus solely on the exam and not worry about anything that came after, for example I have a stag do later in the Norfolk broads which I am not prepared for and told myself I would only consider this post exam.

I woke up 10 minutes before I needed to which allowed for a 10 minute meditation on my calm app which was named concentration and is found within the college collection of personal growth. This reinforcing the clear mind and sole focus.

I then listened to a playlist of positive upbeat songs only such as from now on from the Greatest Showman etc.

I dressed smartly as this has a subconscious effect on your performance and actions and left with ample time but not too much so I would be left thinking or stewing.

Upon arrival I already knew the routine from last time, leaving my mind clear for sole focus.

In the exam be confident, almost arrogant with your answers as you do know them. It is always worth re reading the questions and working out if you are definitely correct but do this logically and rationally and come to a conclusion

“That answer makes the most sense” or

“I’m confident it is this answer based on X”

If only I had followed the above on my first attempt I am very confident I would have not had to retake this exam as I went from being quite a few marks of a pass to a merit pass!

I hope this saves you having to research how to revise and pass exams and gets you the results you want...if you are looking for constant and never ending improvement that is.

Have a great day

Jack