How to Study for Exams

Listen carefully, because teachers often give hints like “The most important thing about this topic is…”. Or they may just place emphasis on certain words and issues. This is the real key to testing well. The more you absorb the information early on, the less studying you’ll need to do.

2. Take good notes

This is easier said than done, but learning how to take good notes will help you immensely once it comes time to study. Write down everything your teacher writes on the board or puts up in slides. Try to record as much of what the teacher says as possible, but don’t allow taking notes to distract you so much that you forget to listen. Review your notes daily, right after class. This will help reinforce the information you just learned.

3. Create an optimal environment for learning:

• Study in a clean , quiet and orderly room. Keep anything and everything away from where you are that may cause you to get distracted. Jumping up to read a text message on your phone or periodically checking social media is ill-advised whilst studying.
• Turn on the light! Studying in a dark room is not recommended. Add lamps at night, or in the daytime, open the window coverings (open the window a little, too). People tend to study and focus better in a brighter, oxygenated room with little noise.
• Turn the TV off. Many students believe that they’re good at multitasking, such as studying with the TV on or while chatting online with friends. This is not absolutely true. Research suggests that this is not true for the vast majority of people. For better studying performance, eliminate distractions such as TV and loud music with lyrics. Rapidly swapping attention between studying and watching TV makes it more difficult for your brain to prioritize information acquisition.
• Decide if music is right for you. Music’s effect on memory performance varies between individuals. Some studies have found music to aid the memory performance of individuals with ADD/ADHD, while reducing it in individuals without the disorder. Classical music appears to be the most effective in enhancing studying performance. You must determine whether you’re better off with or without it. If you do enjoy listening to music whilst studying, make sure you’re actually concentrating on the material you have to study for, and not the catchy tune that’s playing in your head.
  • If you absolutely must listen to music, find instrumental music so that the words in the music don’t interfere with your studying.
  • Listen to background sounds from nature in order to keep your brain active and prevent other noises to distract you. There are several free background noise generators available online.
  • Listening to Mozart or classical music won’t make you smarter or keep information in your brain, but it may make your brain more receptive to receiving information.

4. Find out about the exam

5. Start as early as possible

Don’t cram. Cramming the night before is proven to be ineffective, because you’re taking in so much information at once that it’s impossible to memorize it at all — in fact, you’ll hardly retain anything. Studying before and going over it multiple times really is the best way to learn the material. This is especially true with things like history and theoretical subjects.

• Always study when you have the chance, even if it is only for 15 or 20 minutes. These short study periods add up fast!
• Study in chunks of 25 minutes using the Pomodoro Technique. After that make a break of 5 minutes; repeat the process 3x, then make a longer pause of 30-45 minutes.

 Subjects such as mathematics require a lot of practice with problem sets in order to become familiar with the processes required. Subjects in the humanities, such as history or literature, may require more information synthesis and memorization of things such as terms or dates. Whatever you do, don’t just re-read the same set of notes over and over again. In order to actually learn, you need to take an active role in knowledge creation as well as information review. Try finding the “big picture” among what you’ve taken down or reorganizing your notes by theme or date.

Don’t feel bad if you need to ask for help. People you can talk to about exams include:

• teachers
• lecturers
• family members
• friends and fellow students.

If you’re feeling really stressed you might also find it helpful to speak to a counselor. If you need a counselor, click the  Student counselling page for tips for finding a counselor.

13. Review past exam papers

Get your hands on any old exam papers from the subject and familiarize yourself with the structure and format. Places you can get past exam papers from include:

• your teacher or lecturer
• your school or university library
• the Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority
• your senior colleagues.

When reviewing, practice answering the questions within the specified time limits.

14. Don’t cram

Staying up all night to cram will only stress you out. It’s better to just review what you’ve already studied and get an early night. That way you’ll be as refreshed as you can be on the day of your exam.

If you want to do some preparation the night before, keep it simple:

• Get all your materials together.
• Read over your notes.
• Test yourself on key concepts.
• Set your alarm.

15. Use your reading time

The way you use your reading time can really help you make the most of your exam time. Here are some ways to use your reading time well:

• Read all of the instructions very carefully.
• Scan the whole exam paper.
• Check how many pages there are.
• Check how much each question is worth (it helps to spend more time on heavier weighted questions).
• Plan which questions to answer first (consider starting with questions you’re confident about).
• Plan how much time you’ll spend on each answer or section.
• Start thinking about your answers.