Exam time can be super stressful. Especially if you want to achieve As and A*s (or 9s and 8s according to the new marking system). But it doesn’t have to be stressful and it doesn’t have to be difficult. You can actually earn top marks while having FUN and without spending all your free time in the library! I’m going to show how right now.
Wait a minute, mister. Who the heck are you?!
Fair question. You don’t want to take exam advice from just anyone. This is some serious shiz we’re dealing with.
My name’s Ben. I’m not a teacher or professor but I did pretty well in my GCSEs and A-Levels and then went on to graduate in English Language & Literature from the University of Oxford.
I got 7 A* GCSEs, 2 As, and 3 Bs (back when the marking system used letters).
And you know what? I’m as proud of those Bs as the A*s.
I was failing Maths and Science and really did not expect to even get a passing grade. But through the methods I outline here, I managed to save those subjects from complete failure and get high B grades.
I was also consistently getting D grades in Geography and German but managed to turn those into A* and A grades.
For A-Levels, I got 3 A*s and 100/100 full marks in English Literature, English Language, and Psychology.
Then with some hard work, I passed the Oxford interviews and exams and spent the next three years earning a degree in beautiful Oriel College.
So those are my credentials. Wanna hear my studying advice?
How to Get As and A*s/9s and 8s in Your GCSEs & A-Levels
I’m going to tell you the study techniques that worked for me. You’ll probably hear a bunch of advice you’ve already heard a thousand times before – but I guarantee you’ll learn a few things that you didn’t know.
So let’s dive in!
Study with a buddy who is slightly more serious than you
I found that I was more committed and focused when I was studying right alongside a friend.
It’s easier to stay committed when you can see that you’re not the only person working hard.
It’s important to pick your study-buddy wisely though!
I was a bit of a class clown in school. If I decided to study with another joker, I never would have got anything done. Instead I made sure to study with my geekier friends because they didn’t put up with any of my nonsense.
In this day and age, studying with a friend is easier than ever before.
You don’t even have to be physically in the same room. Video software like Skype means your buddy is just a click away.
If you can’t find a buddy who wants to study in a pair, there are tons of “Study With Me” videos on YouTube.
Like this one:
This “study in a pair” advice works well combined with the next technique.
Study for 45 minutes, take a 15-minute break, then repeat
Actually it doesn’t have to be 45 minutes/15 minutes.
- You might want to study for 50 minutes and take a 10 minute break.
- You might want to study for 30 minutes and take a 5 minute break.
- Or maybe you study for 25 minutes and take a 5 minute break.
The key here is to find what works for you.
Experiment and find the amount of time that you can concentrate for.
A lot of students kid themselves and think they study for hours and hours in a row.
You can’t be effective doing that.
Frequent breaks make it easier to concentrate and you’re more likely to remember the material.
Work smarter, not longer
You can study for 2 hours and learn waaaaaayyyyy more than students who “study” for 8+ hours.
Want to know the secret?
Come close.
I’ll whisper it….
Turn your silly phone off!
Don’t even have it in the same room.
When you’re studying, you’re studying.
You focus as powerfully as you can and you avoid distractions.
Those kids who say they are studying for 8+ hours are actually just getting constantly distracted by friends, texting, Candy Crush, and Try Not To Laugh challenges on YouTube.
Wouldn’t you agree it’s better to focus and get your work done in a short amount of time so you can then fully enjoy your time off?
How to structure a 2.5 hour study session:
Always break your studying into chunks of time.
- You always begin your first chunk of time by reviewing what you learned in your last study session.
- Then you learn new stuff.
- Then you finish the chunk by reviewing what you just learned.
- Then you take a break.
- In the next chunk, you begin by reviewing what you learned in the previous chunk.
Reviewing is extremely important.
Instead of steaming ahead and trying to cram as much information in your head as possible, really make sure you know, understand, and can remember what you’re studying.
This is how I would personally structure a 2.5 hour study session when I have 2 subjects to study for:
Study Chunk 1 (First Subject)
- 5 minutes = reviewing subject material learned on previous day/study session
- 20 minutes = learning new material
- 5 minutes = reviewing new material
- 5 minutes = break time! Go for a little walk, get a snack/drink, stretch.
Study Chunk 2 (First Subject)
- 5 minutes = reviewing material from first study chunk
- 20 minutes = learning new material
- 5 minutes – reviewing new material
- 5 minutes = break time! Go for a little walk, get a snack/drink, stretch.
Study Chunk 3 (Second Subject)
- 5 minutes = reviewing subject material learned on previous day/study session
- 20 minutes = learning new material
- 5 minutes – reviewing new material
- 5 minutes = break time! Go for a little walk, get a snack/drink, stretch.
Study Chunk 4 (Second Subject)
- 5 minutes = reviewing material from third study chunk
- 20 minutes = learning new material
- 5 minutes – reviewing new material
- 5 minutes = break time! Go for a little walk, get a snack/drink, stretch.
Study Chunk 5 (Mini Review)
- 10 minutes = review everything from all the study chunks you did today
That’s just an example.
If you wanted to study longer, you could add in more chunks/make the chunks longer.
If you are studying for many hours, I would advise putting a break in the middle (30-60 minutes) where you eat a meal, do some exercise, read a book, and just chill out, before continuing with your studying.
If you’re like most students, you’ve probably never studied like this before.
But give it a try, see how effective it is, and I promise you’ll never go back to studying like you did before.
Work —> Reward / Work —> Reward / Work —> Reward
I know some students who would give themselves a piece of chocolate whenever they finished studying a page of their textbook.
That’s probably not the best advice health-wise.
But it is a good idea to give yourself a little reward when you accomplish something. It conditions your brain to associate fun and pleasure with work.
So if you’ve just focused really hard for 45 minutes, celebrate that!
- Read a few pages of your favourite comic
- Watch a (short) funny YouTube clip
- Go play with your dog
If you don’t frequently reward yourself, it can be harder to motivate yourself to actually work.
Even if you’re struggling to understand something or focus, it’s soooo much easier to get through your work if you know you have a mini-reward/mini-break coming up.
Make a plan of action and attack your weakest subjects
List out all the subjects you’re sitting exams for.
Next to each one, put the grade you’re currently getting.
You now have your plan of action.
Always study your weakest subjects first when your mind is the most fresh.
You’ll also need to spend more time studying your weakest subjects.
I spent waaaaaaaay more time studying Maths than I did for English.
English was my passion and it didn’t really require much concentration. So I was able to do much less studying for English and still pull a top mark.
It seems like obvious advice but I know it’s tempting to put off the subjects you suck at. Don’t! You need to be strict with yourself and focus your attention there.
Plan your month and your weeks
I printed off a monthly calendar and stuck it on my bedroom wall.
You might want to use your laptop calendar but I prefer something I am physically forced to see everyday.
My calendar looked like this:
You can make and print your own personalised ones for free at Canva.
In the spaces for each day, I would write in 2-3 subjects to focus on. Sometimes I would put specific areas within those subjects.
Sitting down and figuring out a plan will make you feel way more calm when it comes time to study. You’ll know exactly what you need to do and when you need to do it.
Use the Feynman technique to learn faster
The Feynman technique is named after this super duper smart Nobel Prize winning scientist called Richard Feynman.
The technique is simple:
When you are learning a big difficult topic, try to explain it as simply as possible as though you were teaching it to someone else.
If you can’t explain the idea in language simple enough for a 5-year old to understand, you haven’t learned the idea well enough.
So you write out your own explanation over and over until you find an explanation that is super easy to understand.
Once you are able to do that – BOOM! – you understand the concept insanely well!
Seriously, teaching others is the best way to learn something yourself.
To see an example of exactly how you can use this technique, watch this fantastic video by Thomas Frank:
The video is 5+ minutes and will completely change your academic life!
Listen in class!
The secret to short study hours is actually paying attention the first time you hear the material.
I wasn’t the best at this in secondary school.
I often got distracted and sometimes didn’t even turn up to class…
As a result, my studying time was so much harder.
By the time I got to sixth form, I learned my lesson.
I attended pretty much every class, took detailed notes, and listened carefully.
I also made sure I was an active student.
This is how you become an active student:
- Interact with the teacher and classmates (in a constructive way)
- Ask when you don’t understand something
- Answer questions (seriously – volunteer)
- Ask your own thoughtful questions
- Take notes
Make the teacher work for you
If you don’t understand something, BUG THEM!
Most teachers love it when a student does this. That’s their job. They didn’t pick the profession because it would make them a millionaire. They’re passionate about teaching – so let them teach you.
Stay behind after class if you have to or find them during lunch and chat about whatever topic you need.
Anything you go out of your way to discuss with your teacher will be verrrrrry sticky in your mind. You’ll remember it easily on exam day.
CGP books
rule!
If you haven’t discovered the magic that is the CGP books
Technically, you could just learn everything that’s in these books and you will get full marks in your subjects.
Many of these study guides are funny and their colours and phrasing make them a pleasure to learn from.
I also recommend a website called Shmoop for all things English-related.
Do lots and lots of practice questions – and follow mark schemes
The best way to get great at passing tests is to….
You guessed it!
Take lots and LOTS of practice tests.
When you take lots of past papers, you’ll notice that the same/similar questions always seem to come up year after year (especially for subjects like Science).
Obviously, you can’t predict exactly what question will come up, but if you keep seeing patterns, make sure you get really good at answering those questions!
If you keep taking past practice papers and learning to write answers according to the mark scheme, by the time you get into the exam hall, you’ll be like a test-taking robot.
You’ll be like: “Oh, this? I’ve seen this before. No sweat! Lemme at it!!”
PEE all over your work
This formula will keep you focused and help you write answers that exam markers LOVE.
PEE!
It stands for:
- Point
- Example
- Explanation
Make your point in the first sentence.
Give an example from all the material you’ve learned in the next 1-2 sentences.
Explain it further in another 1-2 sentences.
Seems simple but the best things in life are.
Not that I’m saying PEE is one of the best things in life….
But it will help you get good grades.
Read the question! Then read it again and again!
I can’t tell you how many students (including myself) lost marks because they didn’t read the question properly.
You get into that exam hall and you feel all the nerves running through your body.
You just want to start writing because you’re worried you won’t have enough time.
Then you misread the question and end up writing a really awesome answer…. for a question that doesn’t exist!!
That really sucks.
This is what you need to do when you start your exam:
- Breathe
- Quickly through the whole paper
- Go back to the beginning and read the first question SLOWLY
- Then read it again
- Then read it again
Once you are 100% sure on what the question is answering you, plan your answer.
Don’t just dive in.
Sketch out a little plan. Make a few notes of the points you want to use.
THEN answer the question.
Get on top of your coursework
Don’t leave your coursework to the last minute.
Make sure you use all the time available to you in order to make it as good as it possibly can be.
I was blessed with a fantastic Geography teacher who refused to believe there was any reason for getting less than 100% on our coursework.
We had the time to make it perfect, we had the resources, we could bug him as much as possible, and we could see what previous years had done with their coursework.
So we worked on that coursework until it was perfect.
That gave us a safety net going into the exams.
We knew that no matter how bad we messed up in the exams, our coursework would save us from a bad grade.
So nail your coursework and you’ll go into your exams a lot more confident.
Relax before the exam
The day before the exam is NOT a time for last-minute cramming.
Your only job the day before the exam is to make sure you are well rested.
A good night’s sleep is going to help you way more in the exam than staying up, worrying, and trying to learn new material.
So here’s what you do the day before an exam:
- Exercise (running, swimming, yoga, dancing, Wii Sports, etc.)
- Do something fun (watch a movie, read a book, etc.)
- Take a relaxing hot bath
- Think happy thoughts
- Eat well
That’s how you get As and A*s in your GCSEs & A-Levels
If you have any exam-based questions, let me know in the comments below and I’ll be more than happy to help you! 🙂
Good luck with your exams.
You can do it!