Exam season can be one of the most stressful times at university. But here at Bournemouth University, there is plenty of help available to handle the pressure and stress surrounding exams.

Firstly, get organised and know when your exams are. If you know exactly how long you have until your exams you can prepare content in time, and this avoids anxiety surrounding not knowing when things are taking place. Making a plan can allow you time to study and what specific content you need to spend more time on. Personally, I like to create a list of all possible topics that may come up in an exam and highlight which ones I need to work on more and which topics I feel confident about.

It is crucial to arrange notes and revision before you start preparing for your exams, so you know where all the material you need is.

One tip that I found really allows me to succeed in exams is simplifying the content and making sure I understand it in my own terms. As an example, if there are a lot of complicated terms or phrases you don’t understand make sure that you go back and find a way that allows for you to grasp what it means. Condensing this into flashcards or mind maps helps too. Choose a topic that may come up in your exam and without looking at any notes write everything you can remember, then in a different colour pen add what you have missed and need to revise.

If you have access to the practice questions, make sure that you utilise this as the key to your revision. I feel that this is the best preparation you can do as often it helps you remember what you have learnt in your revision. If you also have the marking guide, you can use this to improve your answer in the future and what needs to be featured in the question.

Ensuring that you do well academically is very important, looking after yourself is also crucial to doing well in your exams too. Burnout due to exam pressure is so common amongst students so acknowledging that you are not alone. If you plan your time to make sure that you have enough time to socialise.

This can be achieved if you give yourself a time frame of what work you will do that day and plans that you have outside of your academic studies.

Some advice I wish I had known earlier is that it is okay to take breaks and have a healthy balance between studying and social life. Taking time to rest and exercise will benefit how well you do in exams not just how well you do in exams not just how much revision you complete.

Extra support for exams can be found here.

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