So far we’ve focused quite a bit on memorizing information. That’s obviously an important part of doing well in exams. However, if you can’t apply that information in the way that the question paper wants then you could be in BIG TROUBLE!
It’s one of the most frustrating things for exam markers, where students clearly know the information, but are not displaying their knowledge in a way in which they will get the high grades.
The best way to make sure you are revising FOR THE EXAM is to know what is on the exam. OK, that would make the exam a bit too easy when you sit it in January or Summer so obviously you can't see the exact same one you will be sitting. But you can check previous years exams on the exam boards websites. Also on these, you can find:
The Specification
Here the exam board has to set out all the content they can possibly test you on in the exam.
Past Papers
Exam papers from previous years, look at these and think "If I got this paper, would I be totally comfortable with it?" If the answer to that is no, then you know you still have work to do! If there are lots of past papers to look at then you might be able to spot some common themes, or topics the examiners love to ask about.
Mark Schemes
Use these together with the exam papers to find out how you get full marks for each question. You'll often pick up some really useful tips from this. I've seen cases where the Mark Scheme is very rigid, almost to the point where it tells you exactly what to say. At other times, it will tell you that you must talk about both topics X and Y to get full marks, if you only talk about one, you are limited to half. Or, it might prefer you to just talk about either X or Y topics, but in more detail to get high marks.
Examiners Reports
I think quite a few students have a look at the above three, but they completely ignore this one, which I find amazing, because sometimes it's the most useful! This is where the examiners give comments about how students have performed in a past exam. It's so useful because they will talk about common mistakes that people sitting the exam made and sometimes gives clues as to what they will ask on future papers.
Here are where to find the past papers from your exam board:
One final tip, your teachers can see more past papers than you can. This is because they can see the most recent ones, whereas students usually have a slight delay in getting them. Ask your teachers nicely to give you a copy of the most recent past papers and mark schemes.
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