With the end of term three approaching, it is time for students to be looking ahead to their end of year exams. They are about to start their “last leg” in the long-distance run through the school year. The finish line has come into view, and it is time to dig deep, stay focused, and finish well.
But, with holidays just around the corner, and the fatigue building from three terms of work already completed, this is often the last thing students feel like doing!
So how can students stay motivated in the lead up to and during exams?
Approaching the Exam Period
The last couple of months before end of year exams are critical preparation time. To finish well, students need to maintain their motivation by working at a steady pace, while being careful not to peak too early and burn out before exam time arrives. Here are our top tips for the lead up to exam period.
Making good use of the holidays
This doesn’t mean study all the way through them! Instead, it is about balancing study with downtime. The aim is to be able to start Term 4 feeling well prepared and rested, rather than starting it off feeling behind or worn out.
Having a plan
Exam preparation without an exam plan can leave students unmotivated in several ways:
- Students can feel too overwhelmed to prepare because they’re not sure what a successful day, week or month of study should look like.
- Not knowing where to start can also make students feel overwhelmed – all they can see is a big list of things they need to get done.
- Students can feel like there’s no need to prepare because the exams are out of sight and out of mind – a problem for some future time, but not for today – often leading to procrastination.
If students instead plan out what they need to revise, and when, this will help their motivation by bringing things into perspective and identifying what they need to do. Their exams will feel important and urgent enough to motivate them, but not so impossible that they are too overwhelmed to get going.
Taking a first step
Once they have a plan, it is important that students don’t wait for motivation to magically arrive. If they begin with one small, achievable step, the motivation will come later. The experience of ticking something off and making progress can encourage them to persevere.
Being Realistic
One of the challenges at exam time is that students can feel as if they need to do it all: x number of practice exams for each subject, x number of essay plans, and the list goes on… Sometimes schools can put this pressure on and create expectations that don’t suit all students. Instead, students should be realistic about what they can get done, rather than trying to do more than is necessary, struggling and then potentially giving up because it all becomes too hard.
Studying smarter rather than harder
Hours of unproductive “study time” can leave students feeling tired, frustrated and defeated—the perfect recipe for reduced motivation. If students find that that they are spending hours with their books without getting much done, they can seek out help to remove sources of distraction and be accountable to their parents or a classmate.
Each new day is a new chance to try again
The lead up to exams is a long distance run that lasts weeks, not a sprint, and all students will have some days when they do not work as well as they would like. It’s important that they don’t let those days be a reason to give up. Instead, they can approach each new day as a new opportunity to do something a bit differently, like putting more time in or mixing up their approach with a different subject or task.
The same applies if students find that they have left their exam preparation later than they would have liked. Maybe the best time to start would have been weeks ago, but the second best time is always today.
During the Exam Period
When exam period finally arrives, it is time for peak performance. Here are our final tips for staying motivated right up to the finish time.
Maintaining a school routine
The flexible schedule of exam period provides lots of opportunities for study, but the change of routine can throw some students off course. The easiest way for them to make the transition is to maintain their school routine as much as possible, continuing their usual waking, sleeping, start, finish and break times.
Inserting some variety
Without the usual enjoyments of the school week, some students can be at risk of becoming unmotivated due to boredom and monotony. If they find this happening, they can try adding some variety to their routine by exploring different study locations or studying with other people.
Looking ahead to the reward
Students, you have made it so far already! You don’t want to be in a position where you get your results and say to yourself or others ‘I only wished I had done more’. Believe me we hear it every year!
It can help some students to have a reward, celebration or something to look forward to when it is all over. It doesn’t need to be anything too big but a carrot of some sort at the end, or throughout the journey, can be a motivating factor. Students should find an approach that will work best for them.
At this point it can be helpful to encourage students to dig deep for the last stretch because before they know it, it will all be over. Every year we have students who cannot believe how fast the time flies from the end of Term 3 to the end of their exam period.
For more tips on preparing for exams click here.
If you feel your child would benefit from some further support or guidance with preparing for their upcoming exams please get in touch.
