Past Exam Papers

Exam Survival Kit 

• How to prepare for exams
• Sample examination timetable
• Interpreting keywords in exam questions
• Tips for answering input questions in the exam
• How to understand multiple choice questions in an exam
• Mistakes that you should avoid

How to Prepare for an Exam

1. Spend time practicing and studying as early and as much as you can. Setting aside a certain time each day is best. Draw up an exam timetable see sample below.
2. Force yourself to spend small increments of time studying every day for at least one week before the exam
3. Take advantage of all pre test material available.
4. Plan your week before the exam to be sure you have plenty of time to study.
5. Sleep well the night before the exam and get a full eight hours.
6. Eat a good healthy breakfast the morning of your exam. This will help you wake up and get your brain moving.
7. Cram as much as possible the day of your exam to solidify any final ideas.
8. Ask your e-Tutor to clear any uncertainties you have before the exam, not on the day of the exam.
9. Do your best on the exam and do not put too much undue pressure on yourself to perform. You worked hard to get this far and can only do your best.

 

Sample Examination Study Timetable

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
8:30 - 9:10
9:20 - 10:00
10:20 -11:00
11:20 -12:00
12:00 - 1:00	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
1:00 - 1:40
2:00 - 2:40
3:00 - 3:40
4:00 -4:40
5:00 - 5:40
6:00 - 7:00	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner
7:00 - 7:40
8:00 - 8:40
9:00 - 9:40
10:00pm -	Sleep	Sleep	Sleep	Sleep	Sleep	Sleep	Sleep

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tips for answering input questions in the exam

Exams are sometimes difficult to tackle. They require a great deal of studying, and you may incur stress in the process.

1. You may do the questions in any order - read all questions, choose the ones you like best and do those first. Skip questions that you cannot answer and come back to them later. Don't waste time on them. You may find information later in the exam that helps you with earlier questions. Come back and focus on the most difficult questions after you've answered everything else.
2. Read the question slowly and carefully. Read the directions carefully, students don't always answer the question asked. If you are asked to use a descriptive format, but you use comparisons instead, then you may not receive a high score on that portion of the exam.
3. Look carefully at the question words such as describe, list, explain, calculate etc. Make sure you do what those words mean – in other words don’t give a long description if the word is “list”. Explain is different from describe etc.
4. Ask yourself “what does this question want from me?”

 

How to Understand Multiple Choice Questions on an Exam

There are no shortcuts: The best way to perform well on a multiple-choice exam is to prepare in advance with serious study.

Would you want to rely on a surgeon who looked for "tricks" to pass medical exams? Certainly not.

Nevertheless, there are some strategies that will help you focus properly and identify the key elements of multiple-choice questions so your test scores represent the true state of your knowledge. Using these strategies will help you do well on multiple-choice examinations.

1. Read the question slowly and underline key words such as and, or, but, not, best and worst. Some of the answers may depend heavily on these words, and if you read too quickly, you may miss the nuance of the question and choose the wrong answer. Watch out for absolute words like "always, never, all, none" because these are often incorrect.
2. Identify the answer you think is best on your first reading of the answer. Identify this answer temporarily with a small check mark on the test (if paper) or by noting it on a blank piece of paper (if the test is administered electronically).
3. Read the rejected answers carefully and determine in your mind precisely why they need to be rejected. Look in particular for answers that do not represent the facts correctly, twist a rule inappropriately, or are tangential to the central issue.
4. Determine which answer is "least worst" if you cannot identify one that is certainly correct. This is done by the process of elimination: draw a small "x" beside each answer you believe is certainly wrong to narrow the choices. Be careful not to read more into the question than what is apparent, and if two answers are opposites, it is likely that one of them is actually the correct response.

Best of Luck in your Exams!