1. RelaxOne of the most important things to not overwhelm yourself; you don’t want to enter an exam with too much stress, nor do you want a small amount of sleep the day before.

Strategies for relaxing:

0A brisk walk while listening to music

0Watch a sit-com television show or read a light-hearted book (you don’t want something too heavy, as it may stress you out more)

0Talking to friends/socialising

2. Create An “Action Plan”0 I have only recently adopted this strategy, but it

really helped my exam nerves. You are already nervous; you don’t need the feeling that you know nothing!

Basically, this is what I do:

0 Write an outline of everything that’s being tested, and a small summary of what it is, etc.

0 Then, I write little notes or helpful hints (or even mnemonics) so I remember them for the exam.

0 This whole process shouldn’t take more than 20 mins, and by the time I’m finished, I feel relaxed; I am content that I know everything in the exam –I have recalled all of the information now, I can do it again.

2.1. Benefits of an Action Plan0 An action plan should, ideally, outline everything on your exam, even

the tiniest things “you’re sure you know.” The benefit of writing an action plan is that even those small things I’m sure I understood come into my focus, and I realise I couldn’t verbalise it from the top of my mind. It also lessens my stress, because when I wake up the next morning, I think, “Oh, this is all there’s going to be on the exam? I can do this” instead of a scattered, unknowing feeling.

2.2. Math Action Plan

Math is a little different from other subjects, which is why I like to write (in words) the whole procedure for a certain equation or application. Then, once I print it out (you are welcome to handwrite it, if it works better), I begin highlighting important equations and putting numerical forms of some things beside it.

3. Create an Exam Strategy0 All your hard work is over, once you’ve

finalised your action plan (which may take a while, depending on your subject and course length). Now, you can choose to create an exam strategy, which is guaranteed to improve your efficiency on your exam, and boost your confidence.

I’ll use a personal example. My last math exam had the three topics: logarithms, exponential functions and statistics.

I was most fluent with logarithms, then statistics, and then exponential functions; so I wrote them in order, which didn’t take me any more than 30 seconds, and entered the exam with a plan.

4. Get a Good Nights’ Sleep

0 I cannot exaggerate how important this is. Sleep will help you recall information that a few hours of extra cramming will not. Even if you left it all to the last minute, ensure that you recall whatever you know by getting enough sleep.

0 If necessary, wake up early in the morning to do one last revision before the exam. But don’t sacrifice sleep, as it is one of the most important aspects of exam success.

Good luck!