How to successfully prepare for your exams and keep yourself well

So you're a 'University Teacher rather than a 'Lecturer'? 

Yes. My role is more academic-based in terms of teaching, and the research I do is more pedagogy rather than a subject area in psychology. The webinar I'm going to run is an example of that – ways in which we can support students and help them with revision. 

I'm one of those weird people that actively enjoyed exam time. How was your exam experience? 

A mixture. There were some really complex topics, that I wasn't 100 per cent sure of. Funnily enough, those were the topics that I've gone on to study as part of my PhD, and that I now teach – areas of learning and memory. I had biological psychology exams, which were difficult because they were very factual… some areas of psychology, like social development, are more theme-based, more interpretation of results. 

I struggled to revise as well. I'm drawing on those experiences in the webinar. And as I progress through different jobs, I've seen how students have struggled as well. We need things in place to support them. 

What is the main element of that struggle? Is it knowing what to revise, or how to revise, or just getting around to it in the midst of everything else students have to deal with these days? 

I think it's mainly how to revise and how to structure time. A lot of students will be aware they've got more than one topic to revise for an exam. At Loughborough our students do two or three modules at the same time, so they could have quite a variety of exams, and they need to plan their own time. It's not possible to do everything in one go, and it's not a good idea to do revision right at the last minute. So yes, I would say it's a case of time and revision planning more than the actual content itself. 

Have aspects of that changed in the last few years? The Higher Education experience as a whole has changed massively since Covid, and was probably changing before that, through the use of technology and the like. Has that fed through into differences in how students prepare for exams, or how they should?

Yes, especially since Covid and everything going online, I think in some ways it has made students a bit more scared of 'in person' exams. The cohorts that are in university now have been impacted by Covid – maybe they were teacher assessed and didn't do in person exams.  and they were maybe you know teacher assessed or they may be didn't do in person exams. For online exams, they feel as though they've got that backup, they're on a computer and have got the resources there. But for in person exams they are essentially sitting in a room with a pen and paper and having to remember things that they learned maybe 12 weeks ago. 

We've had students over the past year or so where it's been their first in person exam ever. We've had to slowly try to support students and essentially teach them how to revise as well.

That begins to speak to the purpose of exams – what we're trying to assess. Because I've heard educators say, 'Look, if we were genuinely just interested in what the students have learned, we would do away with the time limit for a start'. Why have a time limit? It makes you think about the whole concept of an exam.

I think in some cases, exams are good things, because they allow students to put themselves under a little bit of pressure. But at the same time, it does cause a lot of stress to students. At Loughborough and other universities I've worked at, we've had a mixture of exams and coursework. Some students are stronger with exams, no matter what format they are in; some students are stronger with coursework. Either way, we need to think about how best we can support our students.

The second part of your webinar title is around 'keeping yourself well'. Do students recognise the signs themselves, that they are starting to fall down on that side of it? 

In all honesty, I don't think they really do. I'm a personal academic tutor, have been for many years. I've supported students who have gone from first year all the way up to third year, so I've seen the different stages of what students go through. Normally what you'll find is that as educators we can pick up on if we see students becoming a bit overwhelmed, a little bit stressed. But it's often more difficult for the students to pick up on that. I think in some cases, they just feel it's a normal part of university life. Whereas as educators, we know exams are stressful, but if we see a student become really anxious, really overwhelmed, that's when we need to step in and say, 'Let's talk about the exams, let's talk about revision'.

Sometimes when the exams are going on, students might be finishing off coursework as well, and have paid work commitments. Everything in our students' lives is pretty stressful, even without exams. So for us as educators, it's about making students aware of what they might face, if they're feeling a bit overwhelmed, a little bit stressed, and who they can go to for support as well.

What would that support involve, in practical terms?

My normal advice to my students, if I can see them becoming overwhelmed, is to make a revision plan. Manageable, 30-minute chunks, or one-hour chunks of revision. And give yourself a good hour break between revision sessions. Often, when I've spoken to students, one of the reasons they're becoming overwhelmed is because they're trying to fit everything into one day, or to revise 'Psychology' as a whole. My PhD is in memory – we don't remember every minor detail that we're taught. We need to break that revision plan down.

Sometimes, we need to speak to the student to see whether it is the revision that's causing them stress, or outside things, family life, whatever. Students need to know where they can go for extra support and student services.

Without wishing to throw my own kids under the bus, they seem to be very good at what they describe as 'balancing their time'. They don't seem to have a problem taking the breaks. Whereas my view was always that if I knew my stuff, it's that which would reduce any exam stress.

Perhaps that comes back to the purpose of an exam – it is a test, we can see it as a test, and rise to that challenge?

As our students go through second or third year, it's not about just memorising the information. It's about understanding it, being able to critically analyse. Sometimes, students don't see what to do with that information. We can look to help and support them with that. But they can't do it all day, every day.  So we start thinking about tasks that we can help students with, that will help them be more critical and that, you know, could help them analyse a piece of research. But then at the same time, also making sure that the students are not doing that all day, every day. As educators, we can't work 24/7. So we can't expect students to do that either! I'll make a point of saying, 'yes, spend a morning doing revision, but then take the afternoon as a break. Go and do something that's not University-related.' And some of them can be quite reluctant to do that. But it's not going to do them any good if they sit and revise all day every day, stressing themselves out. 

What would your advice be to a student on the day of an exam?

Don't have a lot of coffee or caffeine. Yes, on the day of an exam, their anxiety might be a little bit higher. But if they pump themselves full of caffeine, energy drinks, coffee, that might have a great effect for the first 10 minutes of the exam, but it will wear off. By the end of the exam, they will be absolutely knackered.

I also advise that if it's an afternoon exam, take the morning to just not do anything, if possible. If it's a morning exam, then relax in the afternoon as well. 

What about sitting down and actually looking at the paper? With my sons we've tended to have the feedback that looking out for those 'trigger words' is absolutely crucial.

Yes, we often find that when students do poorly on the exam, it's because they haven't picked up those keywords. I'll cover that in the webinar that I'm doing as well. What's the difference between an essay question and the short answer question? How much information would you expect in a two-hour exam? It's about reading slowly through the paper and highlighting key words. Making notes on the question can help to stay on topic. 

Any final thoughts?

Exams are important. But degrees are not designed to be 100 per cent exams. We understand that students learn in different ways; some are stronger at coursework, some are stronger in exams. If you're a student struggling around exams, there are ways in which we can help. See who you can go to for support. It might be a fellow student, or a tutor, or if it's in the realms of health-related stress, student support services are there as well.

Dr Laura Jenkins is a Chartered Psychologist and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a University Teacher in Psychology at Loughborough University.

The webinar, 'Exam Preparation: How to successfully prepare for your exams and keep yourself well', runs on 5 November 2024. Book here.