EXAM TIPS

Make sure to bring coloured pencils, a ruler, eraser and calculator into the exam with you. The longer questions are marked on the basis of ‘statements’ and ‘developments’. Make sure that you expand on the points you are trying to make. This tends to take care of itself once you have a good knowledge of the relevant content, but marks can be lost by not explaining the geographical terms that you use. It is very important that you have read the question carefully and are clear on what is being asked before you start writing. For example, if you write an excellent essay about the impact of global warming you will receive zero marks if the question asked you to discuss the causes of global warming. Use headings within your answers. If the question asked you to discuss two problems associated with unplanned urban development write out two separate headings where you name two specific problems and then go and discuss each of these in detail. This will help you to organise your thoughts and ensure that you supply enough detail for both aspects of your answer. Questions that use terms like state, name and list require very short answers. Questions that include words like discuss, explain and describe require longer answers. As you study and revise Geography you will come across words and terms that might seem complicated and unfamiliar. Instead of shrugging your shoulders and effectively ignoring what seems difficult and strange, you should instead to be paying extra attention to such terms. Each subject has its own set of terms and vocabulary which you need to familiarise yourself with. Some textbooks have a glossary of geographic terms at the back of the book. An excellent way of learning these new terms is to make flashcards relating to the various topics within the course. Going to this effort will hugely increase the likelihood that you’ll be able to remember the relevant content in the exam. The process of sorting and categorising new and unfamiliar information will help to lodge the content in your long term memory. It would be best if you can make flashcards covering the whole course yourself. If you find yourself under pressure time-wise, perhaps you can agree between three or four friends that each of you will do flashcards for four or five chapters. That way you can condense the course down to the essentials in a format that helps you to remember it. Between now and the exam you should be using your past papers regularly. For most people, just sitting down and reading your textbook is not going to be an effective method of preparing for an exam. Once you have studied a topic, go to your past papers and find some long questions relating to this topic. Allow yourself six minutes to write an answer without the aid of a book or notes. After you’ve done this, compare your answer to the textbook to see what relevant information you failed to include in answer.