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10 Study Tips to Successfully Prepare for an Exam

Catherine Miller
10 Study Tips to Successfully Prepare for an Exam
Preparing for an exam can feel intimidating. After all, there can be a lot to commit to memory, not to mention the pressures of formulating answers! Luckily, there are lots of tried and tested methods to help you get ready for the big day. Read on for ten of our top study tips to successfully prepare for an exam.

1. Find out the details of your exam

Before you begin your study period, make sure you know the details of your exam. First and foremost, the practical elements: when and where will your exam be held, and what equipment is needed? 

Once you have these details clear in your mind, you will also need to know what academic content will (or could) be examined. You may have a clear syllabus or course outline, but if not, it is worth speaking to your course leaders to make sure you know what you need to study. 

2. Prepare to prepare

Putting in a little groundwork when it comes to organizing your study period is a great idea. Give yourself plenty of time before the exam so you can plan for success and make sure you can put in the hours to guarantee it.

A study plan doesn’t need to be complicated or beautifully presented. Just gather together a list of all the topics you will need to study, breaking them down into smaller chunks if needed. Next, work backward from the date of the exam, and make sure you revisit each topic several times in the study period. You could use an online calendar to schedule your sessions or print a paper version to fill in.

How many topics you can cover each day depends on your course content and study style. Try not to cram too much into each session: your brain won’t work well when it’s overloaded! And remember, your calendar will also need to factor in meals and sleep, as well as hobbies, exercise, and socializing. It’s important to keep up a healthy routine even when studying.

3. Set up your space and resources

Your study space should be quiet and well-lit, with as few distractions as possible. This could be somewhere at home, or you could use a library or dedicated study space if your university offers one.

In terms of resources, you may need to gather textbooks, your original lesson/seminar/lecture notes, course syllabus, and past papers. 

You may also need stationery such as pens, highlighters, paper, and flashcards. Studies show that writing by hand can activate the brain more effectively than working digitally, so planning in some non-screen time is a good idea. That’s not to say that digital resources can’t be helpful; there are a plethora of useful apps out there. 

4. Use spaced repetition

Because our brain is limited by the amount of information it can hold in working memory, it’s often more effective to memorize a small piece of information and transfer this into long-term memory through repetition. This technique is called spaced repetition.

But repeating it five times in an hour won’t help; you need to come back to it after your brain has taken a break. Fascinatingly, the success of this process is related to cell turnover in the brain. Spaced repetition literally keeps the neurons in the brain alive for longer!

There are a few different ways you can build spaced repetition into your study plan. Revisiting your topics more than once is the simplest way to do it. But you can get more sophisticated by breaking your content into much smaller chunks and turning these into flashcards. By rating how well you remember each flashcard, you can schedule certain bits of information to come up more regularly (e.g., you will revise ‘difficult’ information once a day, but ‘easy’ information only once a week). If this sounds complicated, there are several apps out there that will help you do this. Anki is a well-known free option.

5. Study actively

Reading or highlighting your notes can use up lots of study time but isn’t necessarily the most productive technique. These activities are very passive. Using active techniques to transform your notes into a variety of different media can stimulate your thinking and help you commit more to memory.

For example, you might transfer your notes to flashcards—which can help with spaced repetition—mind maps or other visual diagrams that require you to think about your content in a non-linear way. Using color can also help cement bits of information in memory.

You don’t just need to stick to the visual. How about recording a podcast about your topic, creating a voice note summary on your phone, or making a TikTok dance to link physical movements to key bits of information?

You might have heard of a theory called Learning Styles, which suggests that some people have a preference for visual, auditory, or kinaesthetic learning. Actually, this theory has been largely debunked in recent years, so don’t worry about sticking to one study technique. Active, repeated learning is the key, whichever way you go about it.

6. Use past papers

Looking at past papers allows you to rehearse for the real thing so it’s not a surprise on the day. Additionally, many exams repeat the same style of question and even some of the content year after year. So practicing with real questions can equip you with some of the methods and even some of the answers you will need to do well.

You could work through it question by question, checking the answers as you go, or complete a whole paper to rehearse timings. If you are working closely with a teacher or lecturer, they may even be able to grade your efforts.

7. Work together

Working with other students on your course can be a great way to study. You can spend time creating notes together, quiz each other, grade each others’ answers, and help each other clear up misconceptions. As long as you don’t get distracted by too much off-topic chat, working with study buddies can also detract from the lure of your phone or an extended snack break.

Another good way to work with others is to explain your study topic to someone who doesn’t know much about it. Perhaps a friend, family member, or even your dog! The purpose is to actively summarize and verbalize your learning, which can help fix it in your brain. Studies also show that personalizing your notes can make a big difference.

8. Use dead time productively

Are you taking the bus or waiting in line at the store? These snippets of time can be remarkably productive. Use them to quickly review your flashcards, use a spaced repetition app, or listen to an audio recording of your course content. You could also write an email for yourself with a summary of everything you’ve remembered so far, then check it against your notes later to see what you’ve missed out. In this way, even your busiest day can have a bit of learning squeezed in.

9. Take a break

That said, it’s also important to take a break. Studies show that your brain needs periods of focus and relaxation in order to achieve peak performance. The best breaks are those that let your brain unwind by slipping into a totally different mode. For example, crafts like knitting or coloring, going for a walk outside or even daydreaming.

Where breaks can become unhelpful is if we let them go on too long. It can be easy to say you’ll just watch one episode of your favorite comedy, then before you know it, four hours can have gone by. You could try something like the Pomodoro Technique, which advises short bursts of focus, followed by limited breaks.

10. Before the exam

Cramming before the exam (trying to learn everything immediately beforehand) usually leads to stress, overwhelm, and not a lot of successful recall. The night before the exam, you may wish to review some of your notes, in particular those that you’ve found more difficult to commit to long-term memory. However, it’s also important to get some quality rest. If you find it difficult to sleep, relax your body, rest your eyes, and resist going on your phone. Just lying in a dark room will be beneficial even if you don’t fall asleep. Make sure you have eaten a decent evening meal, and fuel your brain with a nutritious breakfast that includes slow-release carbohydrates and some protein.

Takeaway

  • Plan out how you’ll use your study period, building in spaced repetition so you are revisiting your content regularly
  •  Use active study techniques to transform your notes using a variety of media, so the information becomes embedded in your memory over time
  • Remember to take care of yourself with regular breaks and maintaining a balanced lifestyle
Catherine Miller
Catherine Miller is a lead member of personal finance and pension innovator Maji, where’s she’s responsible for content creation and running Maji’s personal finance masterclass. Miller also holds degrees in English and education, and worked as a teacher before moving into writing about finance for Top10.com. Today, she combines aspects of education and personal finance to help readers make better decisions in finance and beyond.