With the English exam just around the corner, it’s the time of year when everyone realises: I need to get my sh*t together. If you haven’t done as much work as you should have this year, here are some tips for you.
- Read your books
If you haven’t already read your English texts, this is essential! Without detailed and specific knowledge of them, and yes, this includes things you can’t find on Spark Notes, you are dramatically lowering your results. You need a detailed and comprehensive understanding of these texts.
- Start planning to example prompts
Instead of writing essay after essay, practice quickly planning dot points for essays from topics and prompts. This will allow you to practice thinking fast on the spot, just as you will need to do in the exam, and it takes far less time than writing out full essays.
- Read the examiner’s report
Read the past English exam examiner’s reports, as these are full of helpful advice, telling you exactly what the examiners are looking for. You can also often see some great examples of successful students’ writing, which is always useful. Check these out here.
- Get some outside help
Get a second set of eyes to check out your essays – their advice might help you see just what you’re missing. Whether it be a parent, sibling, teacher or tutor looking over your work, never feel like you need to do it alone.
- Make a study plan
Work out exactly what your goals are in the weeks leading up to the exam. It’s all too easy to put things off over and over again, until it’s too late. Set manageable goals every week (e.g. 2 essays a week, or write one paragraph per day), to make sure that you are getting the amount of practice that you need.
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