How to Prepare For Exams - Parents and Students

It's the middle of May and many of you have already started your GCSE examinations, or are worrying about the upcoming A-level examinations, but don't fret, you're not alone. Tens of thousands of people just like you are worrying as well!

The exam period is a time of great stress and worry for many teenagers aged 16 - 18 around the world, be it GCSEs, AS Levels, A-Levels, Diplomas or whatever it is your country offers before moving onto university. To feel that the rest of your life rides on the results you get can be extremely worrying, but worry not, because there are very simple ways to lower your stress and come out of your exam feeling proud of your work.

Now, first off, for those who still have to do their exams, one of the most important things, and I cannot stress this enough, REVISE! If you go into an exam not knowing anything, you are not going to be able to answer anything. These are the following tips I give to people who struggle to revise:

Don't try and cram everything in at once, You will end up not taking anything in. Instead of doing 3 straight hours of revision, try doing 30 minutes, with 30 minutes break in between, this way you will allow the stuff you just revised to sink in.Repetition, repetition, repetition... By constantly rewriting what you read until you can write it off by heart, you will know for sure that what you have been revising has been sinking in.Try to be organized, write up an exam timetable so you know what to revise and when, this takes off a lot of stress and allows you to work effectively.Association... Try to associate your study to a particular song, that way while in the exam, if you have trouble remembering something, remembering the song may help you remember what you forgot.STICKY NOTES! Write loads of stick notes and put them around commonly used areas in the house, toilet seats, mirrors, kettles, bookshelves, monitors, computers etc. This way, you will read them and revise without meaning too.

Now for those coming out of their exams, DON'T WORRY! You may think you have done terribly, but I can promise you, you have done far better than you expected. A friend of mine came out of a biology exam almost in tears, only to come out with a B... and that was at A-level! The worst possible thing you can do is evaluate your own performance... what you've done is done and you can't change that, just wait for your results, you will most likely be pleasantly surprised.

Now for parents of children who are stressed about their exams, try to encourage them through their revision and their exams. I know it may sound like bribery, but try offering them a reward if they do well in their exams, this will make them push harder to get that reward, especially if it is something they would never be given for anything else. You could also try persuading your child to go to sites such as http://www.studycove.net. Sites that encourage and help those studying for exams, through an active community of many people going through them themselves, or a number of articles written by university students.

Thomas J. Wija is one of the founding members of the studycove website which has been active since 2010. It is a non-profit business dedicated to helping students with their exams, or letting them relax and talk with a friendly, helpful community.

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