It is common for students to be overwhelmed by exam stress; no students would ever be 100% sure of themselves before an examination. This is a prime reason for many students to opt for private tuition in Singapore. Tuition teachers would be able to give holistic guidance for students to perform well in their examinations.
Here are some helpful tips for students to follow to tackle exam anxiety!
PREPARATION
Students should put in the effort to be prepared for the examination. Some students realise as the examination date gets closer and closer that they should have studied more or that they still have some doubts in certain topics. Even if these doubts may not end up mattering, having the feeling of being unprepared will greatly worsen the already existing exam-anxiety for students.
Thus, it is important for students to be thorough when studying for an examination. As much as possible, students should not skip topics hoping that it will not come out unless they genuinely do not have enough time. Knowing that they did everything they could help to keep their mind at ease when entering an examination venue.
PRE-EXAMINATION ROUTINE
Students should try to have a consistent pre-examination routine. Some students tend to do better for examinations if they spend the last few days reading their notes again. Some do better if they write down all the key points and formulas while others do better without any last-minute revision before examinations.
Regardless of which method works, students need to find a routine that has helped them succeed in the past. Having this consistent routine that works will help greatly in increasing their confidence before the examination. They will subconsciously think that since it worked once it should work again and this is true to an extent.
Having this pre-examination routine will also help students be more prepared, linking to the first point.
GETTING READY FOR THE EXAMINATION
Students should know all of the details of the examination and prepare their schedule beforehand. It is important to be well rested and mentally fresh before an examination. Many students make the mistake of studying late into the night and coming to the examination with red burning eyes surviving on caffeine.
Having this poor state of mind will not only affect their performance during the examination, but it will also result in a lower level of confidence as compared to if they had a good night’s rest. Moreover, students should know exactly when their examination is starting and arrive at least half an hour before it starts.
Arriving for an examination barely on time or late will result in unnecessary stress. Students are generally advised to come earlier as there may be personal particulars and other admin matters to settle right before the examination and arriving late will result in even less time for the actual assessment. These unnecessary time crunch can be avoided with proper planning.
STAYING POSITIVE
After all the necessary preparations have been done before the examination; it is important to maintain this calm state during the examination itself. Some students may appear very calm but will start feeling nervous once they hear the phrase “your time starts now”. There are multiple factors during an examination that can cause stress such as new and confusing questions, having multiple consecutive questions which are challenging, running out of time, blanking out on answers and many other scenarios.
All of these are generally unavoidable but students must learn how to deal with them so that they are not mentally affected and are able to continue using their problem-solving skills for the questions that they know how to solve.
As simple as it may sound, students must learn to take deep breaths whenever they start feeling nervous. Simply closing their eyes and taking as deep breaths as they can do wonders in helping to maintain calmness.
TRYING YOUR BEST
Even though examinations may have a very significant effect on the final grade, grades are not everything. This is something that every student has heard but none will believe until they actually get older. Some students misinterpret it and assume that grades don’t matter at all and start flunking tests which is not at all the intention of this advice.
Grades matter to an extent but crying over something that cannot be changed is pointless. Students need to understand that no matter the result, they have put in their best and just need to accept it. Having this way of thinking will actually help to lower anxiety levels before, during and even after examinations while receiving results.