Improving your exam technique Preparing for GCSE exams – Tricks of the Trade

I know I’m good at this subject, but I ran out of time! I got 53. The line drawn between different grades has to be drawn somewhere! A simple fact! I know I’m good at this subject, but I ran out of time! I got 53. 72 A* 66 A 60 B 54 C 48 D 42 E 36 F 30 G One mark may make all the difference!

You need to know that most examiners are teachers You need to know that most examiners are teachers. They have already completed a full days work at school before they begin their marking! Faced with as many as 400 exam scripts to mark, in a three-week period……. Most start work in the early evening and work late. It could be your script which is being marked at the end of a long evening. Keep the examiner on your side by following rubric rules.

Eg. Answers like this make examiners tear their hair out…. A (a) i) What is the capital of England? ii) Which part of England is it located in? (b) Name two other large cities in England Describe the location of one of them. Follow the rubric and keep examiners on your side A (a) i) London ii) In the south-east (b) Manchester and Birmingham Birmingham is in the Midlands London in the south-east. Manchester and Birmingham are in the Midlands.

A (a) i) What is the capital of England? ii) Which part of England is it located in? (b) Name two other large cities in England Describe the location of one of them. If you really want to annoy the examiner….. A 1) London 2) In the south-east 3) Manchester and Birmingham 4) Birmingham is in the Midlands …… change the rubric!!

Running out of time in the exam Each exam paper provides you with a different challenge in terms of time keeping. No doubt your teacher will offer you advice in this respect. Looking at papers where candidates ended up with a grade D, about 25% of candidates ran out of time! Practise questions to time.

Don’t repeat the question! You can learn the most basic time-keeping lesson of all........ Don’t repeat the question! Eg. Q: How far does the traveller have to go before reaching Nairobi? A: The traveller has to go 10 kms before reaching Nairobi. X √ A: 10 kms.

Use the number of marks available as a guide to how much to write. Describe the changes on the diagram. The creature has less hair ✔ The creature gets taller ✔ For two marks…. The creature has less hair ✔ The creature gets taller ✔ The creature gets more upright ✔ It changes from ape to a human being ✔ For four marks….

Command words in exams Compare Describe Explain Evaluate List Identify trends

Describe .v. Explain Describe Explain Relax, describe questions are relatively easy as long as you remember that the examiners are only asking you to state what you can see (on a photo, a diagram, a graph etc.) Describe These questions are harder, you will have to show your understanding by giving reasons for something. Explain Every year, very able students waste valuable seconds by explaining something, when the COMMAND WORD simply asks them to describe something.

Explain how conditions caused poor health… Describe conditions….. The houses are crowded ✔ The houses are close to railway tracks ✔ Explain how conditions caused poor health… Reason 1: Crowded houses means disease spreads easily ✔ Reason 2: The smoke from the trains makes you ill ✔

List two positive and two negative ….. “This is a good beat to work. People are very friendly and serious crime is not very common. However, I am disappointed by the increase in nuisance crimes such as graffiti and petty vandalism. I often have to deal with complaints about large groups of youths being noisy at night, I suppose it’s because there’s very little for teenagers to do in the evenings around here. A growing problem is the dangerous on-road parking now that families often have two cars” Serious crime is not common, people are friendly, youths are a nuisance and graffiti is a problem. Positive Negative People are friendly Youths are a nuisance Serious crime is rare Graffiti is getting worse

Compare….. Use comparative words! “on the other hand” “however” In the USA the number of people living in cities is higher than in China In the USA you live until you are 76, whereas in China you only live until you are 58. Use comparative words! “on the other hand” “however” “whilst” “worse” “higher” “whereas” “lower” “better”

Identify Trends Taken from a GCSE P.E. paper, the candidates were asked to describe the trend in the number of people attending football matches at West Bromwich Albion The question was worth 3 marks. This style of question is common across many subjects, it tends to be badly answered, because of poor exam technique!

There are some basic tricks of the trade: State the overall change first Use figures in your answer Identify any points where the rate of change is variable or different from the overall trend This answer easily gets the 3 marks available: The number watching games has gone up 1994 – 2008 It has gone up by 7 000 from 15 000 to 22 000 The greatest increase was in the period 1999 – 2002 An anomaly can be seen in the 2005 – 2006 season, as numbers go down for a while.

Evaluate is one of the most difficult command words, it is often used in English exams Expect to give an extended answer You will be expected to give an opinion Expect to “weigh up” the pros and cons or the strengths and weaknesses of the information which has been provided. Use phrases like …….. I think this because…. In my opinion … On the other hand, you could argue that …… The most important thing that influenced me was ….