How to stay consistent in preparations for Semester A exams. 

Although January may seem ages away, it quickly comes around! Especially with the exam weeks being pushed forward when compared to last year this means there is less time to prepare for exams coming back after Christmas. Therefore, it is paramount to start preparing now, so you’re not panicking when you return to university after the Christmas holidays. In this article I’ll be sharing the best tips to get ahead and stay in control whilst still making the most of your university experience!

The first thing to do is write down all of your deadlines and exams so that you’re aware of how much time you have. Along with allowing you to visually see how many weeks you have before these deadlines and removing that “I have enough time I’ll do it later” mindset, it enables you to plan accordingly. Write down all of your events, like plans with friends, your timetable or any reading weeks, then plan your revision and preparation around that. Therefore, you’ll be able to see that you can get it done if you stick to your plan. This prevents stress later down the line and keeps you on top of things. 

Moreover, make sure you’re paying attention to lecture content now. It can be all too easy to say to yourself you’ll do it later and forget to get it done. However, taking the time to look over and make sure you’re understanding harder concepts means you’ll have less to revise later on and will be able to focus on applying this knowledge. This will also result in better exam results, as since exams are usually application based, particularly if these are online, you can spend more time practicing these questions, rather than getting stuck understanding what you have to apply. 

As well as this, it’s important to make sure you’re making the most out of office hours from lecturers. They’re an incredibly underused resource that can help you out a lot in the long run! No matter if your question may seem silly to you, lecturers are more than happy to help. Their office hours are meant to be used to help you and they’re especially useful if you’re struggling with content or how to use lecture knowledge for the exam, as sine they’re the ones writing it their knowledge will be tailored. 

Finally, you only get one go at university so it’s important to make the most of it. There is lots of support to help you in exams so you may as well use it! These could be using the library, emailing a lecturer, attending their office hours, revisiting old lectures, completing mock exams and supporting your learning with additional reading. All of these will pay off in the long run and reduce the stress of looming exams, especially so you can enjoy your Christmas holiday!