Tips for Exam Preparation in a Cambridge International School

Posted by george on August 23rd, 2021

Exams can be a nervous topic for a lot of students, irrespective of whether they are studying under the CBSE, ICSE/ ISC, IB or Cambridge Board. The good news is that there are some special tips and tricks that students can use to allay their fears and prepare for exams more confidently.

IB schools in GurgaonLet’s look into some of them right here:

Focus on what you know and apply it tactfully

Students often focus on ‘learning a lot’ rather than understanding ‘how to apply’ what they know correctly. This is not to say that students should only learn a limited amount of their course material – it actually refers to being able to use the knowledge that has been garnered in the most productive and creative ways as answers to questions.

Some of the top schools in Gurgaon sometimes use a technique called the ‘card game’ in order to determine how much a student is able to make use of his or her knowledge. This card game can either be played with the whole class or in smaller groups.  There are two piles of cards- one has certain facts and figures about a topic while the other contains possible questions. The students get to pick and decide how they can make the fact fit appropriately as an answer to a question. This not only encourages them to think creatively but also challenges them to think actively.

Question the questions

A lot of times, during examinations students tend to rush through the question papers without giving proper attention to what exactly has been asked. This may prove to be catastrophic  because a student can totally skip or misunderstand the question all together and he/she may end up losing grades  even after knowing all the answers in the first place.

To avoid this scenario, students should be put into the habit of interrogating or questioning the questions. They need to be sure that they’ve read the material correctly and then think about the answers that need to be applied. This not only helps in prepping better but through this method, a student is also able to determine the subject areas where he/ she might need more revision.

A teacher can also use the ‘pen of power’ approach to deploy this technique. A question can be written on the board and the students can be asked to tell about what they think the keywords are and why. This technique has also been inculcated by some of the best Cambridge schools in Delhi NCR and the students have indeed benefited from it significantly.

Know your facts well

Remembering key factual information is very important and there are ways to accomplish the same. One simple and very interesting method is the ‘Quiz Method’ in which all the students have a card each with a question and an answer written. The answer however is not the correct one to the question on that particular card. When the game begins, one student will read out the question on his/ her card and whoever has the right answer to that question (on their card) will read it out. Then this second person will read their question and whoever has the right answer to that one will read his/ her answer out and so on. This is done until all the students have their questions and answers correct.

Another way of strengthening factual information is by making up factual- recall tests either on paper or by using a free online quiz generator or app.

Make use of past and specimen papers as well as study resource material

This is a tried and tested technique that students have used for decades. Specimen papers and past examination papers come in very handy for students while they are preparing for their own exams. These papers help the students get familiar with the question paper pattern and the style of questions. Practicing the past papers as well as specimen question papers within the stipulated time limit (of the actual examination) can be a very good practice for the students. This helps the students to know how much time they’re supposed to spend on each answer on the actual exam day.

These are some of the tips and tricks that are often used by the best IGCSE board school in Gurgaon in order to help its students prepare better for the examinations and they have undoubtedly borne desired results.

Author bio - The Gurgaon based campus of Amity Global School enrolled its first batch of students in 2008 and has been helping young scholars imbibe the virtues of education year after year. A tailored approach to academics, sports and extra-curricular activities is the hallmark of the institution.