The end of the year is here and with that, O Level Examinations. Many students are resorting to all means necessary in order to ace these examinations. However, many fail to do so because they don’t know what it takes to get a good grade.
The amount of time We spent reviewing past year papers before the actual exam day Memorising important formulas and diagrams The structure of the paper (eg. Tips on how to approach SG questions) The timing during exams
Here are some tips that can help you ace your O levels (and other exams too).
Some Tips:
The very first thing that needs to be done for any exam is to study hard, and learn the material thoroughly.
My main philosophy is this – “Don’t leave everything until the last few days before an exam”. If you do so, it will stress you out and make life difficult since there isn’t enough time left for revising.
As much as possible, try to work on the syllabus over at least a month before the actual exam date.
This does not mean cramming up everything just before the paper starts! What this means is that 1 month prior to the exam, you should be doing about 80-90% of what is in the syllabus.
The day before the paper, no more than 20%. The night before, no more than 10%. The morning of the paper (or on the day of the exam), you should be relaxed and confident.
You will need to create a daily schedule for yourself so that you know what you are doing each day of your revision period.
You can stick some post-it notes on your wall if you find it useful. If possible, do not forget to leave time for exercises too! What I did during my revision period was this: Monday = Geography Tuesday = History Wednesday = Chemistry Thursday = Physics Friday = English Saturday = Geography Sunday = History
However, this is just an example. There’s nothing stopping you from studying other subjects earlier than others or combining subjects together on certain days.
For instance, if you are studying Geography and History for O levels, do both subjects on Tuesday. The important thing is that you must be spending quality time revising every day.
What I also did was to read my notes at least once a week (and sometimes twice) during the month leading up to the exam date.
This was my review session where I go back to my notes and make sure they are still fresh in mind.
It will not be very useful if I am unable to recall my notes when it comes to the actual paper even though I had spent many hours revising them previously!
You should never underestimate past year papers. When people ask me how I manage to score so high for O levels, one of the main reasons would be due to the fact that I studied current year exam papers beforehand.
This is very important because it will help to build up your confidence and give you an indication of what to expect for the exams.
To achieve a higher score, I would recommend studying past papers, revision notes, and more and There are lots of resources that can help you out, and which you can find on the internet and one of the best resources which you can visit here
If you can score 60+ marks in past papers, surely you can do better than that during the actual exams!
Before finally ending this article, I’d like to share a few things based on my personal experience. What had made a difference in helping me ace my O levels was this:
Getting a good night’s sleep before going into the examination room. Having a light breakfast before going into the examination room.
Naturally, I’m not saying that heavy meals should be avoided at all times! In fact, some people recommend that you have a hearty breakfast before an exam since your brain needs fuel. The key is, do not overeat!
Waking up early to pray. Praying does not only help to calm you down, it also helps to remind you of what’s most important in life.
Sometimes when I get stressed out about certain things, I would remember God and literally, all the stress would vanish immediately.
I hope these tips are able to help some of you who are wondering how to ace your O levels! Take care, everyone, =)
How did this help me?
What was most helpful was that he gave me a plan for my revision schedule with the time allocated per subject studied each day.
This made it very clear how much I needed to study per day. It also gave me the flexibility of having days off when I felt tired or did not have enough time that week.
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for revising. As much as possible, try to work on the syllabus over at least a month before the actual exam date.
This does not mean cramming up everything just before the paper starts! What this means is that 1 month prior to the exam, you should be doing about 80-90% of what is in the syllabus.
The day before the paper, no more new stuff. Just revise everything you have covered, and allow yourself to rest the day before the paper starts.
How do I prepare for exams?
In preparing for exams, it is important that one knows his own learning style. Each person learns differently from another.
You should know whether you learn better by reading notes or by examples/handouts given out by the teacher during lesson time etc. For some people, it may be a combination of both methods too!
Once you know your learning style, work on making a revision plan according to what you need to cover in each subject.
When making a revision plan, break up large chunks into smaller chunks so that there won’t be any strenuous feeling studying. Studying with breaks is better than studying continuously.
If you are having difficulty understanding something, do not be shy to ask your teacher for help. It is important that you understand the theories taught in class so that it will help you to score well during exams too!
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did was to read my notes at least once a week (and sometimes twice) during the month leading up to the exam date.
This was my review session where I go back to my notes and make sure they are still fresh in my mind.
It will not be very useful if I am unable to recall my notes when it comes to the actual paper even though I had spent many hours revising them previously!
You should never underestimate the past years. When people ask me how I managed to score Higher for my O levels, I would always give credit to past year papers.
My advice is this: Do not neglect previous years! It only takes a few hours of your time but you will learn a lot from it.
How do I focus while revising?
When going through notes/books, be sure to ask yourself questions about what you had just read.
This way, you can make sure that you have understood the theories and concepts taught in class clearly.
If there are any parts of the notes/book which does not make sense to you, keep asking yourself why until everything makes sense.
10 Great Tips on How To Ace Your O Level Examinations:
1). Don’t Rush… But Procrastinate
Although most people advise you not to leave your revision for last minute, but some tend rush and spend too much time revising than needed.
This often leads them to forgetting what they have learnt and subsequently failing their papers.
So keep calm and revise one topic at a time without rushing yourself. Leave some time for your family and friends too.
2). Don’t Spend All Your Time Revising
People tend to spend all their free time on the day of the examinations revising.
Although that may seem good, its not because you lose concentration after a while. You wouldn’t want to keep forgetting everything so it is wise not to revise all the time.
Leave some time for yourself and family too on these days. God bless you.
3). Dress Appropriately For The Day
Wear something comfortable yet formal on examination days. You don’t want to suffer from blisters or have your shoes giving you back ache later in the day do you?
Make sure your shoes are comfortable enough for an entire day of walking up and down attending to different papers.
Keep the heat at bay too by not wearing thick clothes that may make you sweat profusely.
4). Create A Game Plan Of Your Day
Make a timeline of how your day will go. You want to spend the first two hours revising before moving on to writing your Paper 1, then having lunch, returning back to Paper 2 but remember not to start immediately after lunch because if you do you will end up sleepy.
Finish off with Paper 3 followed by revision for Paper 4 which is usually done earlier in order for you to revise for Paper 5 which usually starts later in the evening.
This lets you keep track of what you are doing without forgetting any paper.
5). Make A Routine
Make a schedule for yourself on how you will spend your time during the day of the examinations.
If you mention everything, it will be easier to know where you are supposed to go or what you are doing at any point in time on that day.
Also make sure not to forget anything because it may result in forgetting where are your papers etc.
6). Don’t Read Before Writing
This is one of the biggest mistakes students make on examination days. Reading your papers before writing will only tire you out and cause you to forget what you have read after a while.
Instead, take notes of everything that is written then go back into your papers to answer the questions.
7). Make The Most Out Of Your Breaks
Break time are meant for making sure you are well fed and watered because if not it would be difficult to focus on your exams later on in the day.
Having an empty stomach can make anyone fatigued easily so make sure to eat little bits during breaks rather than stuffing yourself full at lunch time which may result in drowsiness hence wasting time instead of revising.
8). Don’t Rush Your Answers
This may seem obvious, but it would surprise you at how many people do this. Rushing through your answers to get them done in a hurry is not advisable.
Remember, time is limited and wasting it makes it difficult for you to answer the other questions on the paper because if you don’t understand how to solve a question, its better to leave it blank than make wrong calculations or assumptions.
You can always come back when given more time but not getting an answer right is tougher to rectify later on in life.
9). Practise Makes Perfect
Practice writing examinations before the real thing by writing past papers and manuals (if available). Doing this helps students know what to expect during the examinations and also how they can pace themselves through the paper. You may not have time to cover everything, but knowing what’s ahead of you is half the battle won, so go for it with All You’ve Got!
Just a tip. If you are opting for CIE, try their sample papers by clicking here . Those kinds of past papers are exactly like those that are available on your O-levels Examinations days.
Past papers are an excellent way to start preparing for this examination.
I used them at most times before my exam day actually came close. It becomes easier everytime you read it because its just merely revising what was covered in class throughout the year.
10). Enjoy Your Last Days Of Free Time
You only have a few days of free time left before your examinations begin, so make the most of it! Catch up on some movies you missed, hang out with your friends and family.
It’s better than wasting it on Facebook or napping when you should revise because the day will come where there is nothing you can do to prepare for this big day so enjoy it while it lasts!
Final Thoughts:
Best of luck everyone! :)
Please leave your comments below if you find any grammatical errors, improvements that can be done or any additional tips that may help other people who want to ace their O-level exams.