Schools and Colleges are back and they all seem to be testing this term. At The Tutor Team we work with students all over the UK and across the world, and our students are all telling us they have mock exams or tests coming up. This makes perfect sense of course, as teachers need to assess where their pupils are after the long break from school. Understandably wanting to help, parents have been asking us how to help prepare for the tests. These 3 techniques are proven to be great exam preparation and will give your teenager a great start to the year.
Revise for your exams – 5 Study tips that really work
1. Set up practice mock exams for them
Using past papers for exam practice is an excellent way to prepare for mock exams. In fact, after revision is done, there is no better way to prepare than doing a paper under timed conditions.
You can help your teenager by finding a paper on the exam board’s website and setting up a practice exam. It says clearly on the front of every paper how long they have to complete it. Make sure they are in a quiet place with no distractions, put the paper on the table face down, set a timer, and when they are settled tell them to turn over the paper and begin. When the time is coming to an end give a 5-minute warning and when time is up tell them to put their pen down. Here are links to the main exam boards, where you can find sample or past papers.
2. Proof read their practice essays
If your teenager is preparing for an essay-based exam, you can help by proofreading their practice essays. Although you may not know the marking criteria, you will still probably be able to help with SPAG (spelling, punctuation and grammar) and you can check if everything makes sense.
In addition, make sure there is a decent conclusion at the end and make sure they have answered the question. This is vital, because they will never get a high mark unless they have answered the set question.
Help your child with English comprehension
3. Test them using their flash cards
If you read my recent blog on exam revision skills, you’ll know that your teenager should have prepared flash cards as part of their revision strategy. Firstly, you should encourage them to run through their flash cards at every opportunity. Secondly, you can also work with them – take the flash cards and test your teenager on them. Only do a few at a time though; little and often is better. If your teenager has not yet prepared revision flash cards, they should still have notes on each topic, so you could use those instead.
These practical techniques will help your teenager prepare for their mock exams and give them a great start to the year.
