Getting ready for prelims

Resources, revising and sitting exams

Thinking about exams …

• Can bring about feelings of anxiety …
• You put yourself under pressure to do well
• Feel pressure from parents/carers to do well
• Feel pressure from teachers to do well
• Worry you don’t have time to revise everything
• Worry you won’t do well
• Worry about the future …

Remember the Super 6 Skills

1. Be resilient - stick at it
2. Communicate with your Teachers
3. Collaborate - work with others if this helps
4. Use your ICT skills to access online resources
5. Be creative in your study - try something new
6. Be organised - stick to a study plan, meet deadlines and manage your resources

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Being anxious doesn’t mean you won’t do well

Research shows that anxiety does not affect performance if you know your stuff. If you are well prepared before going into an exam, being anxious should not affect your ability to perform well and to retrieve that knowledge from your brain in the exam

Don’t do nothing … speak to someone

Things to help you keep calm

Click here to access resources

Breathing exercises for stress

10 Stress Busters

How to deal with exam stress

Best Apps for Anxiety of 2022

Click here to access resources

Click here to access resources

Click here to access resources

Remember that exam anxiety is normal

SOME PRACTICAL STUDY TIPS

Have a set study area

Get into the revising mindset by studying in the same place. Ensure you are comfortable and have your resources around you

Organise your notes

Having separate folders or notepads in different colours for each subject helps keep you organised

Study plan

Start studying now and plan what units need to be covered for each subject. Set yourself daily/weekly targets. Study in blocks of 45 minutes with short breaks for water/fresh air

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ACCESS REVISION RESOURCES

E-sgoil

Google Classrooms

Scholar

BBC Bitesize

See your teacher if you still don’t know your scholar password (username is your Scottish candidate number

Resources available for many National 5 & Higher courses

Details of the live study support and webinars available for a wide range of subjects.

See Mrs Rhynas if you need help accessing with your Glow password

In each subject classroom you will probably find revision materials - ask your teacher

Revision Techniques to try

It takes learning something 3 times to retain it

A way of getting information into your brain

4 - Flashcards

6 - Past Papers

1 - Brain Dumps

3 - Self-quizzing

Creating quizzes to test your knowledge

Creating questions which you can use to test your knowledge

Testing your knowledge by trying questions

5 - Cornell Notes

2 - Mind Maps

Organising information in a visual format

Organising your study notes into sections

More details on these on the following slides

Revision Technique 1

Revision Technique 2

Revision Technique 3

Revision Technique 4

Revision Technique 5

Cornell note taking method

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This involves writing topic notes in the notes column, keywords or questions in the recall column (think of these as hints or prompts about the topic) and then a summary of the topic (in a few words) at the bottom

What Makes Cornell Note-Taking So Effective?

• In order to summarise a topic, you need to have a certain level of understanding. This note-taking method prompts you to get there.
• Cornell notes encourage mindfulness and focus when taking notes. You have to pull out key points and reflect on the material, instead of simply writing every little thing down.
• When it comes time to revisit your notes, they’re logically organised

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Revision Technique 6

• The key to revision is testing what you have learnt - if you don’t test, how do you know that the knowledge has been retained?
• Work through past papers to familiarise yourself with the question paper
• Using solutions is a great way to develop your understanding of the standard required in the exam
• Solutions can also help you understand how to answer different types of questions eg explain, describe, outline etc
• Remember that your course will have been modified for 2023 so you may find questions on things you haven’t studied, don’t panic, remember you have not covered the whole course yet!

Click on image above to access past papers from SQA

SQA Exam timetable is out …

Click here to check when your final exams are

Speak to your Teacher …

• Their perception of how you are getting on could be different from yours - remember they have years of experience of putting students through exams - listen to them!
• Read/listen to the feedback your Teacher gives you - ask if you don’t understand it
• Most students perform better in the final exam than they do in the prelim - the prelim is a practice exam!
• Exam technique improves the closer you get to the exam
• Think about attending after-school study

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