Exam-Guidance

Introduction - The Exam Mentality

Obviously, if you want to achieve a high exam mark - you'll want to have a thorough knowledge of the subject and know how to apply it. But, even if you think you may not know as much as you should leading up to the exam, there are techniques you can apply to maximise your potential and hopefully achieve a pass or credit for your efforts. Here are some proven tips and pointers to help you avoid the common exam pitfalls and maximise your exam performance.

What is an exam? First, think about what the test or exam really is, and what it isn't.
It's an opportunity for you to demonstrate what you know about the subject and to apply your understanding to a particular situation in a controlled environment.
It is not designed to trick you, catch you out or embarrass you.

Don't Panic
It's only natural to feel nervous before any examination, whether it's a written exam in operations management or even a practical one like a driving test. This fear of failure and apprehension of the unknown will be even worse if you haven't taken an exam for many years. The golden rule is don't panic.
Remember: Even if they appear calm, cool and collected - everyone else is just as nervous as you are. In fact, this natural nervousness can be a help. Studies have shown that under stress the body generates extra adrenaline, which helps sharpen the mind and the reflexes. So - nervous is good.

Preparation
To prepare for the exam, you need to:

Complete at least one of your assignments and get the feedback on it before entering for the examination. This has been found to significantly improve the success rate of students in the examination. Completing both assignments first is even better.
Review the course material that will be examined and your notes. This will refresh your memory and confirm your understanding. Don't leave it too late to start this. Try to find some time each day to do some revision. Try to go through the course material and your notes several times, if possible.
Work through and double check any practical exercises that you've done as part of the course. This will ensure you can apply your knowledge to solving problems - which may form part of the exam.
Work through past exam papers to ensure you understand the questions and can answer them. If you have problems with any of the questions, seek help at an early stage. It is important to try the paper in conditions similar to examination conditions. An example paper can be dowloaded from this page. We recommend that you try the paper first and then compare your answers with the marking scheme.
Don't leave revising until the last minute and make sure you get a good night's sleep before the examination. You won't be at your best if you've been up until all hours (or even all night!) trying to do some last minute "cramming".

The Examination Itself
Read the Instructions

Don't go rushing into the questions as soon as the exam starts, . On the front page of the question paper you'll find clear instructions about what you are required to do. These instructions are called the "rubric". The rubric will tell you the amount of time allowed for the exam, whether the exam paper is broken into sections, and how many questions you must do from each section. It might also tell you how you should present your answers. For example: Write each answer in a separate answer booklet; or on a separate page; or even where to write your name or candidate number. Spend the first few minutes reading the rubric so that you are very clear about what you should do. Then, make sure you follow the instructions exactly.

Plan Your Time This is extremely important. The rubric (or instructions) will tell you what mark, or proportion of the total marks, each question and each section will carry. When you know this, you can decide how to budget your time. For example: You are told to do 8 questions from section A, with each question carrying 5 marks for a total of 40 points. And 3 questions from section B, with each question carrying 20marks for a total of 60 points. Therefore: You should spend 40% of your time (No more) on section A and 60% (NO more) on section B. Now, work out your time plan:
If the total time allowed is 3 hours (or 180 minutes) and you set aside 10 minutes at the beginning to read the instructions and plan your time, plus 10 minutes at the end to review you answers, you have 160 minutes left to write your answers.
You should spend 40% of your writing time, about 64 minutes, and no more on section A. That's no more than 12 minutes per question.
You should spend 60% of your writing time - about 96 minutes and no more on Section B. That's no more than 32 minutes per question.
Tip: Write these timings down, and refer to them regularly throughout the exam to ensure you are not falling behind. If you follow the advice given below, you should be able to complete all the questions easily within the allotted times, and score very high marks.

Read the Questions
Having read the instructions and prepared a time plan, now you can go and look at the questions.
First, read through all of the questions fairly quickly. You should get a good idea of which questions you can answer well, which ones you feel less confident about, and which ones you can't answer at all. If you are well prepared, you should find most of the questions fall into the first or second category and very few or even none fall into the second category! Second, make a note of the questions you are most confident about. A simple system of a tick, a question mark or a cross against each question can help you choose the questions to tackle and the order to tackle them in. It may seem obvious, but it isn't always easy to remember:
Start out by answering the questions you know you can do well on. Not only will this pay off in marks - it will help you settle into the exam, calm your nerves and boost your confidence for the other questions.

Answering the Questions
Now you're ready to start answering the questions.

Answer the question you are being asked. No matter how brilliant and knowledgeable your answer is, if it doesn't answer the question you are being asked, it won't score any points. Read the question carefully and be clear about what the question is looking for in your answer. Then, only answer the question asked and don't include other information which is irrelevant to the question.

Exploit the Examiners' Marking Scheme As well as setting the questions, the examiners must prepare a "marking scheme" for each question. This helps the markers mark your answers and helps ensure fair and consistent marking for each question. It also helps the exam moderator (a sort of exam reviewer or "second marker") to check the exams after they are marked. You will never see the marking scheme, as it is for the markers and moderator only. But if you understand how a marking scheme works in principle - you can use it to your advantage. This is how. The marking scheme indicates the key points that the examiner is trying to draw out from your answer and how many marks will be allocated to each point. Therefore: If a question carries 20 marks in total and the examiner is looking for 4 key points that need to be covered to answer the question completely - it follows that he will allocate 5 marks to each key point. By understanding this principle, you can concentrate on putting what you believe are the key points to the answer across, as clearly and succinctly as possible. This will help you score the maximum number of marks possible, quickly and with minimum effort. Once you have covered the key points in your answer, no amount of further time or effort on that question is going to get you any more marks, so you can leave it and move on to the next question.

Don't Waffle Following on from the point above, there is no point at all in including a lot of waffle in your answer. Waffle is time consuming, wasteful and won't score you any more points. Remember - all the examiners are looking for is that you have demonstrated your knowledge and understanding of the key points. They are looking for your answer and nothing more! You'll make their job more difficult - and reduce your chance of success, if you make them wade through lots of irrelevant waffle to find the key points that score the marks. If a question requires a longer answer, perhaps in the form of a short essay of a page or more, the guidelines about key points still applies. Make sure that you plan your answer by making a brief note of the key points you wish to get across before you start writing, and ensure your answer focuses on these key points. Then concentrate on putting your points across in a structured way that is well reasoned and clear.

Show Your Working If a question asks you to perform a calculation, or go through a logical process to arrive at the answer - you should write down all of the steps you went through to arrive at your answer. Remember - the examiners are looking for evidence that you understand the subject and that you are able to apply it to a practical example. Therefore, the marking scheme will probably allocate most of the marks for demonstrating that you understand and can apply the process, with very few for the answer itself. If you just provide the answer and no working, you will get fewer marks than if you show how you arrived at the answer. If you just give the answer and the answer is wrong - you'll get nothing. On the other hand, even if you give the wrong answer, if your work shows that you have gone through the correct process, you'll probably score a good portion of the marks because you've demonstrated that you understand the process. (Maybe you just made an error in arithmetic, or put the decimal in the wrong place). Therefore: You must show all your working and the processes you went through, step-by-step, to arrive at the final answer. Your working should be included neatly as part of your answer, and not illegibly in the margin, or worse, just scribbled on a piece of scrap paper the examiner will never see. Also, do not cross out or obliterate any of your working. If your overall mark is marginal and your answer paper is being reviewed, the moderator will be looking for an opportunity to award an extra point or two. Your workings may provide those marks.

Conclusions

If you follow these guidelines and pointers, you will definitely have a head start in passing the exam. Remember - the exam is not designed to trick you or catch you out or embarrass you. It is purely to assess your knowledge and understanding of the subject and the ability to apply it in a practical way. The examiners want you to pass. If you follow these guidelines, you'll make it a lot easier for them to pass you.

SUMMARY POINTS

Prepare thoroughly before the exam.
Read the instructions and follow them exactly.
Plan your time and stick to the plan.
Read the questions carefully.
Answer the questions asked - and nothing more!
Exploit the marking scheme by focussing on the key points.
Don't waffle!
Show your working - clearly and legibly.

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