The anxiety and stress of an exam can cause you to make careless mistakes that cost you points. You must avoid these common exam mistakes. Eventually, it will increase your chances of getting the best grades by staying composed and organizing your time well. Exam technique is very important. You can significantly raise your score by finding the common mistakes to avoid in exams.
Not reading the question
The tendency of human minds to perceive what they want to see is particularly pronounced in the high-stress setting of an examination room. One of the common mistakes to avoid in exams is not reading the question carefully.
Your brain is quite good at tricking you into believing that a question is asking you something it isn’t. It might cause you to write a whole new essay that doesn’t address the real issue that was posed. Carefully read the question, then read it once again.
Writing the essay you want to write
It’s quite simple to write the questions you want to write. This is especially problematic if you’ve studied a subject thoroughly and have over-revised it, yet the exam needs to cover it. It can be tempting to cram everything you’ve learned into an essay because you want to demonstrate everything. It is essential that you stay on topic and carefully select the sources you use to ensure that they truly support the argument you’re making.
Answering the easiest questions last
No matter how reasonable it may sound, strive to finish the challenging problems first. It’s only sometimes a good idea to save the lovely, simple ones for last as a treat. Start by answering the questions you believe you can answer quickly. In this manner, you acquire marks “upfront” fast. Starting with the more challenging questions could cause you to spend too much time on them. As a result, you won’t be able to answer them, as well as the easier ones, earning you fewer marks. Thus, proceed through the exam paper, attempting to score as many points as possible on the questions that seem easier to answer before moving on to the more difficult ones.
Counting down the time
One of the most common exam mistakes students make is to focus too much on the first few questions and not give themselves enough time to finish. Exam timing is very important and needs to be properly managed. Before the exam, you’ve probably looked through several previous papers, so you’ll know exactly how many questions to expect. This allows you greater flexibility when responding to more difficult questions; however, you can take more time to review your responses. Not having enough time to review and proofread your answers is also one of the common mistakes to avoid in exams. Leaving blanks in multiple-choice questions
Exams with multiple-choice questions are among the simpler kind. Some students, however, miss out on easy scores because they choose to leave blanks for questions they need clarification on the answers to. Since giving a wrong answer won’t result in a mark deduction, you should estimate the answers to the questions you are unsure of. There’s a 50/50 possibility that you’ll receive an extra mark, which is definitely a gamble worth taking! You may frequently rule out some of the answers, which could reduce your options to just one or two!
Conclusion
In tests, all it takes to gain a few points is thoughtful preparation, good scheduling, and a focused approach to every question. It is really important when it comes to your university application and the courses that will be offered to you, depending on your grades. As you can see, though, there are a lot of methods to do better on an exam just by staying away from these common mistakes to avoid exams.
