Silly mistakes are 100% avoidable on exams so do not become a victim of them. One of the most head shaking mistakes that I see on exams is in regards to multiple choice questions. Students are in such a rush to get through the questions, they accidentally go:

13. D
14. A
16. C
17. D
18. B
19. A
20. B

Notice anything? Like the fact that #15 was skipped?? When this happens, even though I know that the person is answering #16 as though it is #15, I have to mark it wrong. It is such a waste when the person obviously knew the material.

Next important thing to remember is NEVER leave any blank questions. Even if you do not know what the answer is, write down anything even if it is just a definition of what the question is answering or an example of when that situation may occur in real-life. Exams within a few marks of passing are remarked and it can be partial marks for these snippets of information that can make the difference between a pass and a fail. Nothing is worse than failing someone who is only a few marks shy of passing but because they didn’t write enough information down, I can’t find them any ½ marks to help boost their grade.

And if you find yourself stumped on a question, skip it, and maybe a different question will unknowingly give you information that you can use for the one you were stuck on. As exams are computer generated from a bank of premade questions, this can happen more often than you think!

Read the questions carefully. Read the questions at least twice, in case you missed something before. Underline the keywords in the question. Don’t rush. If possible, read the entire exam through before beginning to work. This will give you an idea of what is in store and will help you to manage your time better. It also prevents any nasty surprises with only a few minutes left.

Go with your first answer. Your first answer is probably correct and if you go back and change your mind several times, you are likely to make a mistake due to self-doubt.

Use logic when you’re stuck on a multiple choice question. Usually 1 or 2 of the question choices are sometimes wrong, so take those away. Now you should have two answers, so now there is a bigger chance of you getting it right. Now go over everything and find the best answer out of the 2. The key to multiple choice isn’t thinking “Which one is right?” but instead “Which of these are not right?” and using that until you have one answer left.

Simple suggestions but when it comes down to those last few marks to pass, they can make all the difference in the world!