One of the most common study strategies is working through past exams. This is a great way to reinforce content and feel prepared for the actual exam, but often past papers are not used efficiently.

There are many sources of past exams. Past exams provided by a teacher are often the most useful, as are past hsc exams, because they are the most likely to replicate what the actual exam will be like. Given these are usually limited, I usually recommend saving them for a few weeks before the exam and sitting them in full stimulated exam conditions. This means sitting down for 1 or 2 or 3 hours with no distractions or breaks and without using any notes. It can even help to add a bit of pressure by doing the exam in a library or at school and setting a timer. It’s very beneficial to stimulate exam conditions because often poor exam time management or technique is how students can lose the most marks even when they are very confident in the skills and content. The only way to improve exam technique is with experience, which is why doing full past exams is very important.

It is also important to check your answers. The best way to do this is to get a tutor to mark the paper for you, so you can see where you would lose marks, but many papers also come with solutions. It is particularly important to allocate a lot of time to going over your answers, making sure you understand all the correct solutions and identifying areas of weakness. Past exams can’t all be crammed in the few days before an exam!

It can also be useful to do past exams open book, as a way to revise content earlier on in your preparation for the exam. However, it is important to not just copy answers from notes, but instead to use this as a form of active recall – always try to answer the question yourself before you check for more information from your notes.

Maya Anderson