Six common exam mistakes to avoid

There are so many revision tips out there, but what about advice for taking the actual exam? After all your hard work and preparation, you don’t want to fall at the final hurdle. With that in mind, we’ve put together tips for how to avoid silly mistakes during exams. Don’t let a slip-up stop you from getting the result you want (and deserve).

To smash that test, you'll need to avoid these common exam mistakes:

1. Misreading the questions
2. Rushing to write
3. Choosing the wrong questions – and answers
4. Having poor time management
5. Getting distracted
6. Not checking your answers

Once you're familiar with these exam mistakes, you’ll be in a better position to avoid them.

Have you read the question properly? You’d be surprised at how commonly people make the mistake of misreading a question in their exam.

It doesn’t mean you don’t know your stuff; it’s the result of being in a pressured environment. Take a deep breath before you start and approach each question calmly. Read every question three or four times before you respond. There’s no point in writing an amazing answer if it doesn’t match the question, so take your time.

Before you write, you’ve got to read. And we don’t just mean the question – we’re talking about checking the whole test.

It’s always worth flicking through the entire exam before you start. By doing this, you’ll spot any easier questions to tackle first (building up some early marks – and your confidence).

The questions might be numbered, but you don’t have to answer them in that order unless you’re doing an online exam that forces you to. If that’s the case, it’s another reason why reading every instruction before you start is crucial.

If you’re able to, reading over all the questions before you start also provides thinking time. It gives your brain time to subconsciously draw out all the points you buried deep in your head during revision.

It's extra important to check out all the options in exams where you’ll be given a choice of questions – which is more common with essay-based subjects.

With papers like these, your first test is to figure out which questions will suit you best. So, read through every option and think about what you know before you respond. Don’t rush into completing the first ones you see because they’re top of the list, as this is an easy exam mistake to make.

Finally, if you’ve been expecting a certain question but it doesn’t appear on the paper, don’t force that answer in elsewhere. It’s a common mistake that pulls down grades. If you’re not asked it, you can’t answer it.

Time is of the essence in an exam. While you don’t want to rush, you also haven’t got all day. So, when you’re stuck on something, you’ve got to know when enough is enough and you need to move on.

You need to spend an appropriate amount of time on each question. Wondering what that is? Pay attention to the mark allocation as a guide. The fewer the marks, the less detail and less time required.

If you’re taking an exam which contains a variety of essay papers and long answer questions, divide your overall exam time into different sections. So, if you’ve got two hours to write three essays, you’ve got 35 minutes to write each answer and 15 minutes to check over your paper at the start and the end.

Not confident in your maths on the day? Practice exam papers are great for perfecting your pacing.

Remember that time management matters beyond the exam hall walls, too. Make sure you turn up on the day in good time. Rushing to the exam is a sure-fire way to put you in the wrong frame of mind. For more advice on getting ready, check out our tips for the night before and day of an exam.

It’s easy to do. Maybe you’ve come up against a particularly tricky question and your attention wanders. Perhaps you look up and notice other people scribbling away and then spend the next five minutes checking around the exam hall.

Avoiding distractions is easier said than done, but keep your focus on your own performance. Just because the person next to you has written three pages in the first half hour doesn’t mean you’re being too slow. Try to block out everyone else and believe in your abilities.

Even if you’ve just completed an exam in a subject that's second nature to you, it's a common mistake to not check your paper. Knowing your algebra doesn’t make you immune from missing two pages stuck together. Give yourself time to go back and re-read every question and your answers.

It’s 100% worth running the following checks:

You've done all the hard work learning the material, so don't throw away those marks on grammar and spelling. Remember that an examiner won’t always give your work a second read if they can't understand it at the first pass. As you go back, make any tweaks to keep things clear.

It’s worth attempting every question. Sometimes, no matter how much you’ve revised, a question will come up that’ll catch you off guard. It’s OK, it happens.

The key is to remember that a question with no answer will give you no marks, but you won’t lose marks for having a go.

If you don't have lots to say, it’s not worth spending too much time on it. Just get the basics down and move on. You’ll hopefully pick up a few points.

As mentioned before, some papers have optional questions. Make sure you haven’t accidentally skipped a compulsory one. Plus, always turn over any physical papers to see the back page. Don’t miss the last question because you didn’t notice it.

In maths-oriented subjects, examiners often want to see diagrams, graphs and methods to show how you’ve arrived at your answer. Even if you calculated the solution in your head, don’t lose out on easy marks if more details will get you extra points. So, show your workings by adding them in.

Make sure you cover the basics. If you need to put your name or student number on the test paper, do it straight away. After all, what good is a perfect exam paper with no owner?

We’ve all made a mistake in an exam at some point. Nobody’s perfect, but our handy list of common exam mistakes will help you avoid making silly errors.

If you carefully read every question, go over the whole paper, manage your time well, keep focused and check your answers, you’ll set yourself up for success.

Good luck!