Should I revise the night before?
Look over your notes, but not for too long. Get an early night; sitting up late cramming often makes things worse and confuses your memory. If you can't sleep, make a warm milky drink. Fresh air helps too; the exercise will reduce your stress levels.
Top Tip Pack your bag the night before to avoid an early morning panic
How should I organise my time in the exam?
Spend a few minutes at the start reading the instructions and questions carefully. Make a rough plan of how long to spend on each section, and what you plan to cover, and stick to it. Start with the question you think you can answer best. Double-check your answers at the end. If you start to feel panicky, breathe slowly and deeply. If your mind goes blank, remember you probably know more than you think you do.
How can I pick up extra marks?
If it's an essay paper, write a short essay plan (e.g. paragraph headings) and cross it out when you're finished. If you run out of time, leave the plan in your notes - you might get extra marks. In language exams, try to use different forms of verbs and tenses to show the examiners how good you are. In science and maths exams show all your working out - you could pick up a few points for using the correct method, even if your final answer's wrong.
Should I compare answers with my mates afterwards?
No! Don't get sucked in to endless discussions about the exam with your mates. They always seem to know the best answer to question 9B, and it's never the same as the one you had. You could end up worrying about it for weeks, when you were right all along.
Written by Naomi Stevens
Last updated July 2007
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lucy,charlie,emma, all 14
dont panic revise gradually not the day before chill out dont forget to have some fun.
Chloe, 14
i know eh. There are way too many exams. So much pressure. It can become hard to cope when you have 6 assignments at the same time and 3 tests!
Dark Prince, 16
I reckon that if schools let us choose the science we would like to study at GCSE, then it would probably raise the number of of people getting 5 A*-C. I got a level 4a in KS3 science and the school entered me for double science! i want to know why!
Zoe, 15
It has been proven that the more important an exam is mad to be, the better the results, but I personaly don't see how that could be true! All the pressure for the exams makes me so scared, that I just can't seem too get anything in my head when revising!
zaara, 16
Jenny is right ! there is alot of pressure put on us and the teachers in ma school are panikin themselve about the GCSEs... and then after seeing the teachers how are we not meant to panic..
sara, 16
i find closure in talkin about exams after, i dunno why, there is loads of pressure though and we're expected to know what we want to do for the rest of our lives, when we're just 16 or even younger. it needs to change.
Helen, 15
Yeah, we get so much pressure and its gonna be sooo much harder for us wen they make the A levels harder. My bro is doing his a levels n he says they're hard now!
Ian, 26
Nowadays?? no pressure when anyone else took their exams? Everyone has to deal with same pressure every year. I wish you well but the only people you should be wanting to do well for is yourself so it's up to you how much pressure you put yourself under!
David, 16
I agree,but the exam bodies don't seem to listen
Nathan , 17
I found my GCSE's easy. Everyone complains about how hard they are, and how they are getting stressed. If they listened in class and revised they would have no need for this, however i feel schools do push you into revising too early and make you feel you have to revise for hours.
Jenny, 16
I think it's a shame for us teenagers nowadays because there is so much pressure put on us for exams that we end up failing some of them. It's time exams were a little laid back for us
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