Top 6 study tips for matrics

For many matric pupils across the country, final exams are right around the corner. We’ve put together a list of helpful study tips that could help you do your best in the exam room:

Start exam preparation early and don’t leave it to the night before

Give yourself ample time when studying. Don’t wait until the week of finals and start cramming. Study a little at a time until you’ve studied everything you need to know. Then just review to keep the information fresh. Your brain can only commit to memory so much information at a time. If you try to cram it all at once you will not remember it very well and can end up confusing information.

Take good notes

Paying attention, going to every class, and taking good notes are always best. And you won’t have to spend X amount of hours trying to relearn something you first did at the beginning of the term. Hand-written notes are better for studying and memory than just highlighting, but one or the other is recommended. Using different colours to take notes helps too, for example: red for definitions, blue for background or side-points and green for descriptive information.

Build a strong foundation

While you are studying for some specific subject, don’t just limit yourself to what you need to know for the test. Try and make sure you understand everything you read and try to connect it to other things you have learned before. Having a broader understanding of the background or context for some material will go a long when you are trying to learn the material itself, and chances are it will come up again later. Use past exam papers to familiarise yourself with the exam format.

Don’t procrastinate

Avoid procrastinating, especially the internet. When you get that itchy feeling of worry about your exams, know that it’s a reminder that the best thing to do is study. Studying will be a relief because you will know that you are spending your time in the best possible way you can, which is all you can ask of yourself. Don’t lie to yourself about where, when and how you study best. If you are procrastinating at home go to the library. If your friends are distracting you, go study by yourself. For the few weeks between finals, it’s okay to be selfish, your friends will either forgive you or won’t remember because they’re so stressed about their own study.

Study in a group

Find a study group with someone who is better at the subject than you as well as someone who is worse at the subject than you (teaching someone is the best way to learn it, but there will always be stuff you don’t quite get). Even the day before the exam, their doubts will become your knowledge.

Rest and relaxation

Exams time is a pretty stressful period, and many students feel the need to put in long hours of study and forego something very important in the studying process: sleep. It’s best practise to show up at the exam well-rested, so get the right amount of sleep that your body reequires. A common recommendation is between 6 to 8 hours. Your brain needs enough sleep for you to be able yo perform at your best. A tire brain retains very little information, so pulling an all-nighter the night before could do you more harm than good.