My examination grades as a teenager were disappointing; not disastrous, but disappointing.  I knew at the time that, with better preparation, I could have performed better, and that’s an awful realisation.  What I didn’t know, to be fair, was what techniques I should have used to better realise my potential.  As a fully-grown adult, ironically, I’ve now gathered that knowledge.  Fortunately it hasn’t been entirely too late (and better late than never!) as I was able to make use of the principles for my MSc in 1993 and, more recently, for some professional exams I (strangely effortlessly) passed in 2014.

Preparation Principle #1 – “Mind maps” format revision notes

The problem…

I always used to struggle with producing appropriately brief revision notes, rather than page after page of densely scribbled facts (which were of no use at all to me as outputs of the revision process).

The solution!

The concept of “mind map” notes was invented by Tony Buzan and is the single most efficient way of structuring facts and their inter-relationships.  Multiple colours, various fonts, and a branch-like structure for illustrating connections/hierarchy are all encouraged, resulting in an engaging and fun format of revision notes that reflects the way that the brain organises information.

Read the wikipedia page linked above, and try it.  For any subject.  It works!

Preparation Principle #2 – A realistic revision timetable!

The problem…

There is an episode of the hit TV comedy series “Red Dwarf” which haunts me.  In it, the character Arnold Rimmer finds himself needing to prepare for his “engineer’s exam” that will finally result in his promotion to “officer” rank.  He sets about creating a revision timetable which details exactly what he will study for the remaining weeks, day by day.  Unfortunately, the very act of creating the timetable takes several days, so he then reworks it for the remaining time.  Upon completing that, he then realises that, again, he hasn’t factored in the latest “timetable reworking” time, so he tries to rework it again.  This process of revision timetable reworking continues on, and on, until he realises that he has arrived at the day before the exam itself.  He then spends the remaining night, revising on a minute-by-minute schedule.  And fails, obviously.

I didn’t fail to prepare in exactly the same way as Arnold Rimmer, but there is a certain large grain of truth in his combination of great intention, and terrible practice, that I recognise.

My own flaw was one of optimism.  I would start each allotted revision day with a clean sheet of hope.  The day would stretch before me almost infinitely and, in the morning, I would generally take it easy on myself, promising to accelerate in the afternoon.  Post-lunch, the afternoon would trundle along, and I would continue to take it relatively easy, rationalising that I would really make an effort in the evening.  Post-dinner, I would inevitably feel a bit tired, as the sun started to set, and would therefore resolve to really make a fresh start next morning.  As days rolled by in this repeating pattern, the hollow gnawing of self-awareness that I was wasting time, and that the exam was drawing nearer, would occupy an increasing amount of my attention, further crippling my ability to concentrate!

The solution!

The solution was described to me by an exam-savvy friend (Cambridge graduate, and all-round smart chap) at the University of Kent at Canterbury when I was preparing for my MSc examinations.  I know it works because I found the preparation for these exams much easier than the volume of work suggested, and passed with what felt like minimal effort (and with a “Distinction”).

The core principle of the solution is the realisation that we have a short attention span: around 45 minutes, at best.  We need to recognise this and incorporate it into our revision plan.  These are the principles for that plan:

• revise only for 5 days per week (optionally, 6).
• revise only between 9am and 5pm daily (with 1 hour off for lunch, and no evening revision).
• revise only when the minute hand is between 12 and 9 (for 45 minutes in the hour), taking a break (cup of tea, chocolate biscuit, walking around, listening to music) religiously for the 15 minutes between a quarter to the hour, and the top of the hour.

Revising this way is immensely productive and feels effortless.  The brain quickly learns that it doesn’t need to wander during the 45 allotted “concentration” minutes per hour, because it will get a 15 minute break soon!

For more on this (I encountered the name of this principle many years after learning to practise it) see: “pomodoro technique”.

Execution Principle #1 – Efficient use of focus and time

Most examinations comprise multiple questions.  The most extreme case of this is the “multiple choice” examination type, so let’s look at that as the most illustrative case.

The problem…

When the invigilator invites us to turn over the page and begin we have two main challenges:

1. a lot of questions to get through, and
2. a finite amount of time to spend on each.

There are horror stories I’ve encountered of students crafting and re-crafting the perfect answers to the questions in front of them only to, with minutes to go, casually turning over the question sheet to see that they’ve only answered the first 50% of the questions!  Hence they may score 95% on the questions they’ve answered, but 95% of 50% isn’t a great score.  Alternatively, students may get stuck on a difficult question in the first half of the paper, struggle with it endlessly, and therefore just never get to the 10 or 20 easier questions that follow it.  Again: not an efficient use of time and focus.

The solution!

This is my learnt technique for optimising results on a classic “multiple choice” exam:

• Make a first pass through the paper, answering each question that you are 95% confident of the answer.  For those which you are unsure about, make notes (e.g. if there are 4 possible answers: A, B, C, D, you might jot down “A or B” if C and D are definitely wrong).
• Make a second pass through the paper, this time looking at those you weren’t sure about on the first pass.  Make sure not to linger excessively on any one question.  If still very unsure, move on to the next, until you’re at the end of the paper.
• Make a third pass through, looking at the remaining unanswered questions.  If the answer is down to two options out of four and you genuinely can’t work out the answer, guess: you’ll be right 50% of the time on average, and those points might be valuable: certainly more valuable than if left blank!
• Make a fourth pass through: this time checking ALL answers.  You may find that some from your first, confident, pass through were incorrect.  This is a chance to find and correct those.
• Continue making passes through the paper until the time is up.  There are no extra points for leaving early, like some sort of academic hero.  Use all the available time, reveling in your new-found level of academic maturity!

Execution Principle #2 – Brain food

The problem…

Using your brain at maximum focus for a 90 minute (or even 3 hour!) examination period uses up fuel.

The solution!

The brain’s fuel is glucose.  So, the simple (and very effective) solution to avoid running low during the exam is to take glucose tablets (readily available from your friendly local pharmacy) into the exam hall, and to eat one every 30 minutes or so.  Along with this, a small bottle of water for general hydration is a great idea.

For more on glucose, read the excellent book “Thinking, Fast and Slow” which cites a study of the effects of glucose on mental performance.

And finally…

I really hope that these four tips prove useful to you or anyone you know who has an exam to plan for and execute: they just might help to avoid decades of regret (and the occasional actual “last minute exam preparation” nightmare that a lot of adults experience!).  It’s worth noting that several of the principles described can also be applied to a non-exam context; particularly in the workplace.  For example: I have a post-it stuck to my work monitor with “45/15” written on it, based on the second tip.  Go easy on the glucose tablets, though… I don’t want to encourage hyperglycaemia; best to keep that tip for the exam room only!