How to Make the Best of your Maths Exam Day

By following the sensible guide listed on this blog, one should be more prepared and organised on the big day. The guide is geared more towards a Maths exam but most of thee steps should be applicable too on other subjects. Read through the steps and if practiced should help ease the pressure that exam days tend to have on the examinees. 

Note: This is not a must to do list but more of a helpful guide.

1. The night before, make sure you have an early night. You need your rest to give your brain processing time. Don't worry. Whatever you have revised, will not leak out of your brain.
2. On exam day itself, make sure you have all the equipment ready: calculator, compass, protractor, 2 pens with black ink, ruler, 2 HB pencils, sharpener and rubber before you leave for school. Pencil cases which are not transparent are not allowed. Use transparent pencil cases.
3. You can bring drinking water in a sealed, clear plastic bottle without a label. You are not allowed to bring food or sweets. You are also not allowed to bring your mobile phone with you to your seat. Switch them off before putting them away.
4. When you arrive in school, stay confident. You have done all the revision you can. Keep away from people who might cause you stress from panicking.
5. Arrive for your exam well before the start time to avoid rushing. Exams usually take place in the Sports Hall. Take note of your seat number.
6. When you get into your exam room, make sure you read through the front page of your exam paper and take note for any added instructions.
7. Make sure you time yourself per question. Check out how many marks there are in total and the length of time given for the exam. If it say the total marks for the exam paper is 80 and the total time given is 1.5 hours (90 minutes), then divide 90 minutes by 80 giving you roughly a minute per mark.
8. Answer first the questions which are easier for you. This will get your brain to warm up if you are a little nervous to start with. This will also give you a little bit of confidence boost. Collect all easy marks first.
9. Read the questions carefully. Underline key words. Make sure to take note of the last sentence as this tends to tell you how to round off your answers. Not rounding your answers as instructed can cost you valuable marks.
10. Don't get stuck on a question. If you can't answer the first question, go to the next one. Don't dwell on a hard question and lose precious time when there are other questions you can do. Keep moving on until you have answered all the questions you can then go back to the questions you have skipped. Do not leave any question unanswered as that will ensure a nil mark for that question. Just write down your best guess. You never know it might get a mark!
11. Always show your working. This can get you much needed marks to go with your answers. Working is evidence of how you got to your answers.
12. As you are doing your working, always make sure you have noted down the right number signs (positive or negative) and copied the right data. Sometimes, when under exam pressure, it is easy to miss a sign or written down the wrong data. It still amazes at times when a long working out had been messed up by getting just one sign (positive or negative) wrong!
13. Make sure you leave ample time before the end of the exam to go over your answers in case you made one or two silly mistakes which are easy to make under exam conditions.
14. After the exam, spare yourself some stress by avoiding discussing your answers with others. What's done is done and cannot be undone. Be happy with the thought that you have given it your best!

GOOD LUCK!!