With the recent exposure in the Daily Telegraph that examiners are given ‘Tips to Teachers’ for exams. Here at Stonebridge we are appalled that this practice has been going on.

This practice is fundamentally wrong as it is not only cheating in the exam itself but also means that teachers are not teaching the full curriculum so their students are losing out on their education.

At Stonebridge and ElearnUK we provide our students with study materials, recommended reading, support and advice.

After reading this article, here at Stonebridge we conducted a bit of research and here are some of our preparation tips that we have used when presented with exams and coursework, whether it is a University Exam or assignments for a Distance Learning College.

With having so many students use our Distance Learning and support that we offer and receiving great feedback we thought it right to share some of our secrets to success:

Plan & Plan Again

A very famous phrase: ‘Fail to Prepare, Prepare to Fail’. If you are studying for an exam or preparing coursework, planning is the most important thing to do before starting your work. How long do you have and when do you want things finished is more important than when it is due. By having assignments completed a week or so before the submission date, allows you to not feel the deadline day stresses and also gives you that extra time should you wish to proof read and critique your work. Also planning gives you time and a look ahead so the work you need to do is spaced out so it seems less daunting. When preparing for exams, especially multiple ones, planning is vital as this will allow you to create a timetable so that none of your subjects you are studying for are neglected over others.

As time progresses your plan will be revised and amended as necessary, this is common but just make sure that  if you have finished an exam or coursework, distribute the extra time evenly among the remaining exams/ assignments.

Multiple Study Techniques – It is not one size fits all

As there are so many different revision and study techniques, there is no one sure method as courses are so different. Different subjects require different styles of studying; If you are studying a practical subject e.g. Accounting or Economics etc. the best type of revision for this is worked examples so you instinctively know the techniques and therefore when the exam is upon you, you can identify the key parts to a formula and work out which is formula to use instead of being bogged down and losing time searching for clues.

Another subject which has easy subject patterns is History. As most History subjects covers a time period be it 5 years of 50 years e.g. the Roman Empire, The American Civil War or The evolution of Medicine. The straightforward plan is to create a timeline with dates and then start adding in events and then adding in significance dates, actions and opinions etc. This practice will then create a study plan to research, as those events which you know most about need less revision than those that are scarcer. Those are just 2 different subject styles to help you revise, there are many more.

Surroundings

What is your best surrounding for studying? In a previous blog we said the best place to study was home. Not everyone agrees with that, but as everyone is different that is to be expected. So we have compiled a checklist of things to work out your optimum study conditions:

Clothes – some people prefer the business approach, smart dressed as they feel if they are dressed the part the mind will work better. Others find that dressing comfortably is better as you in a comfort zone to maximise your studying.

Music – some like silence as it helps concentrate and music is a distraction, others find it a necessity to keep them sane or to break up the monotony of silence.

Location – a previous post said that the best place to learn is home, some in the office have disagreed. Libraries are a great place to study as there should be plenty of likeminded students there studying hard and this gives them the motivation to copy them. Another place that was mentioned as a great place to study was coffee shops. As the general noise and the bustle of the town was a better soundtrack than music and there are plenty of refreshments to choose from (we will talk about caffeine and studying in our next blog).

One thing that all those who studied at home were in agreement about was their room must be tidy before they start studying. Some disrupted their revision in order to clean their room, therefore losing time that was meant for revising, the level of procrastination is somewhat surprising. Therefore before you get down to studying in your room, make sure it is tidy and therefore not giving you any reasons for distractions.

Lighting – this might seem a strange thing to consider, but research shows that the correct lighting dramatically improves your ability to study. The research stated that:

75% of males found a slightly dimmer lighting helped them improve focus on studying
Whereas
90% of females found it better to study with ample lighting and with little noise.
Obviously not everyone will fit into those categories but it is something worth considering.

These tips are meant so that you can prepare your revision plans or prepare for exam or coursework revision. In our next blog we will cover some hints and tips for studying. If you have any more preparation tips, leave us a comment.
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