As we approach the end of the academic season, it’s a good idea to prepare for exams early by bettering your exam writing skills.
What Are Exam Writing Skills?
Exam writing skills are techniques used by learners to cope better when writing an exam. This skill range included everything from active reading to time management.
The main reason why students should practice good exam writing skills is so that they achieve better results in their exams.
Having these skills will also prevent you from panicking during the exam, as you’ll feel more prepared and confident in your writing.
10 Tips On How to Master Exam Writing Skills
Being able to master exam writing skills will give you the confidence you need to write your exam with a calm and rational posture.
So, how can you learn to master your examination writing skills? You can start by checking out our 10 exam writing tips:
1. Read the Exam Questions Carefully
Reading the question carefully may be an obvious tip, but many students often forget to do this and end up losing marks—all because they didn’t read the exam instructions properly.
That’s why it’s important to focus during your exam and make sure you understand exactly what the exam question is asking you to do.
Be sure to read the exam questions twice and underline any verbs so that you know what is expected of you.
Take, for example, the following verbs found in exams listed below:
Analyse | Break the question down into various parts and discuss them in detail. |
Argue | Make a case either for or against the given point and discuss your points in a logical manner |
Assess | Identify the importance of something and pay attention to the positive and/or negative aspects |
Critique | Give your opinion about the advantages or disadvantages of the given theory and back it up with evidence |
Define | Give a precise definition or meaning to the given phrase and explain it in significant detail |
Describe | Give a detailed explanation |
Discuss | Exam the question and give your judgment in the form of an argument; give reasons for and against the given theory or question |
Explain | Explain how something works or how something came to be in detail |
Identify | Choose the key features of something and explain why you are doing so |
Illustrate | Explain your point using a figure or diagram while using relevant examples |
Outline | Identify the main features of a topic or event and show how they relate to one another |
Prove | Explain the truth or accuracy of a given topic using a logical sequence of statements and evidence |
Relate | Explain how certain ideas relate or connect to one another and why they are alike or connected |
Summarise | Identify the key points and explain each one using only a single sentence to describe the point |
2. Use Past Exam Papers to Better Your Exam Writing Skills
Past exam papers will give you a good idea of the exam structure and the types of questions and instructions you may be given.
If you’re at a college or university, find out where you can get access to past exam papers available in your own institution’s archives.
You can also speak to friends who have written similar exams before and ask them for advice.
3. Practise Time Management During the Exam
Practising good time management is crucial, not only for exam writing but for the study time that precedes it. You need to figure out how to use your available time to maximise your productivity.
For the exam preparation:
Divide your time cleverly to prepare for your upcoming exams. Check which subject will demand the most of your attention, and figure out what time of the day your productivity flows best.
It’s a good idea to create a study timetable for the exam period so you can visually keep things on track.
During the exam:
Start with the exam questions you know and feel most confident about – it’s an easy way to guarantee those first marks. Keep an eye on the clock, and determine at what point time’s up for the rough drafts and scribbles, and when to start moulding your final answers.
4. Use a Rough Draft to Improve Your Exam Writing Skills
Rough drafts are key to answering your exam question with confidence, as it lets you clarify and expand on all your initial ideas, allowing you to put together a final draft that is meaningful, logical and devoid of errors.
You’ll often use rough drafts in English essays, however, it’s important to now that you don’t need to fully write out the entire essay as a draft. However, having a rough draft is incredibly useful to help you structure your writing.
A well-structured rough draft can help you to write down important points; or, if it’s a maths or science exam question, side calculations you need to remember while answering the question.
5. Attend Your Lessons and Lectures
Attending your lectures (given you are already at varsity), will cut the amount of time in half spend studying.
The reason why attending lessons, classes or lectures is so important is because the main content of an exam corresponds to what has been discussed during the lessons.
For example, if your Art History professor spends two entire lectures talking about the works of Braque, you can take the hint that you should probably study this particular guy more than other Cubists.
Attend your lessons and lectures, note down what the teachers or professors are saying, and be assured that you may make this the focus of your study time.
6. Write Leisurely to Improve Your Exam Writing Skills
Write leisurely to improve your exam writing skills. Writing leisurley means writing carefully and meticulously, without rushing your work.
If you write in a rushed manner, it may make it difficult for the moderators to read your work and you could lose marks for questions you may have gotten correctly had you written your work carefully.
7. Re-read Your Exam Questions and Answers
It’s important to re-read your exams to ensure that what you have written makes sense and that you’ve answered each question to the best of your ability.
When you are re-reading your exam questions with your answers, be sure to check your spelling and writing; for example, check whether that “3” won’t be mistaken for an “8”, and verify that you didn’t forget one of the multiple choice questions.
8. Eat Healthy Food Before Your Exam
Don’t study or start writing your exam on an empty stomach. Eat a healthy breakfast or snack in order to ensure that you can think carefully (and to avoid those awkward stomach growls during the silence of the exams).
You want to get in slow-releasing carbohydrates so your concentration lasts longer, so try to eat whole grain bread, oats, and other satiable carbs.
Combine that with some healthy fats (nuts, seeds, organic peanut butter) and you’re good to go. Leave the waffles and Coco Pops for after the exams.
9. Stay Calm During Your Exams
Try to stay calm during your exams so that you do not work yourself up or panic, as this could lead to you forgetting what you’ve studied or rushing through the exam.
The best way to stay calm during the exam is to first read through the questions that you feel confident answering, and answer the more difficult questions later.
That way, you won’t spend too much time on one difficult question and will get through a majority of your exam feeling calm and relaxed and can spend more time answering the harder exam questions. If you do get to a question that you are struggling to answer, take a deep breath and answer it to the best of your ability.
10. Prepare Well for Your Exam and Do Your Best
If you studied and prepared for your exam to the best of your capabilities, and give it your all during the actual exam, what more can you do? You can’t do more than your best, can you? Whatever the outcome, what matters most is that you go out there and give those exams all the best you’ve got!
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As mentioned in point 10 – at the end of the day, all you can ask of yourself is that you do your best. So, believe in yourself, follow these tips and hopefully ace those exams!
