Avoiding Exam Stress

Teenagers with ages between 14 and 16 are overly stressed before important exams, and GSCEs are no exception. Parents and teachers put a lot of pressure on their shoulders mostly because these exams are their ticket to pursuing A-level exams and thus get into a good college when they’re 18. How is it possible to overcome that stress? Can you score a high grade without cramming your study sessions and resorting o exhausting all-nighters? Sure you can; all you have to organize your study sessions and make the most of your revision notes.

Do you have a plan?

The key to succeed in your GSCEs is to make a revision plan. This can be hard for teenagers to understand, since they keep themselves busy with other things, but planning in advance can work like magic - especially when you’re dealing with a huge volume of information. Knowing what they have to learn will help students relax and focus on the content rather than stress themselves and that exams are excruciating and that they can’t be successfully overcome.

What should a smart revision plan contain?

To be effective, a study plan should first and foremost be an individual study plan, based on knowledge, actual competencies, and learning style of a sole student. A general study plan does not work for everybody, since students have their own personal way of studying for exams. Here’s a set of tips and tricks to help you efficiently revise what you’ve learned:

·      Always take notes (use a pen and a pieces a paper and an actual notebook, not a tablet, computer, etc.) – it’s really important that you write

·      Keep it structural (summarize the information using bullet points, keywords, mind-maps, flashcards)

·      Use diagrams and charts to help you visualize the information

·      Don’t color your study material, keep it simple and clean – coloring is actually the least effective method of studying for exams

·      Ask somebody to question you on different exam related subjects (don’t go to a friend and ask for the help of your parents instead because they will be a lot more determined to help you study)

Avoiding Exam Stress: Flickr - CollegeDegrees360

Memory tricks can work miracles

Many students have problems recalling information, which is normal, especially when studying for GSCEs. Luckily, there are a lot of tricks you can use to make the whole study session stress-free:

·      Remember ideas, not words

·      Imagine what you’re reading

·      Make diagrams or symbols to represent notions

·      Choose a single key word to represent a phrase

·      Read before you go to sleep and first thing in the morning

Strategies you can use to remember the information

Students should make sense of the information they’re reading for GCSE exams. You can’t expect to score a high grade through mechanical learning. It will never work. Rather than forcing yourself to remember dates, numbers, and names, it’s a lot smarter start slow in order to make the most of your exam revision session.

·      Make use of your own words when you take notes so as to connect with ideas and better understand them

·      Think about what you’re reading and don’t get distracted – search for differences and similarities between the information you already know and the things that still need your attention

·      Organize your study material – break down your study material into sections, make spidergrams to summarize ideas and don’t forget to write by hand

·      Memorize everything you’ve read and studied – the best way to remember what you’ve read is to picture images in your mind. Think about that diagram you just made, associate words with colors or names, and think logical.

There’s no point in getting stressed over GCSE exams. Yes, they might seem nerve-wracking and time consuming, but there’s no other way of pursuing A-levels unless you pass all your GCSE exams. Students are not that fond of studying when they’re in high-school. Still, acknowledging that your future depends on these tests is of the utmost importance. Begin an exam revision ahead of time, gather study guides, notes, and as much study material as possible. Allocate two hours a day for a study session, don’t be afraid to ask for help from your parents, and you’ll manage to pass exams with flying colors. 

The secret to passing GCSE exams is all about balancing your time with your study session.