1. Strategies for Unseen Written Exams
MSc International Management
Gerald Dampier, RHI

2. Our Focus Preparing for the exam Revision Using past papers Self-study
Revising in groups
Taking the exam
Time management
Coping with nerves
Anecdotes

3. Preparing for exams: student experiences
Briefly consider the following questions and compare your ideas with the person sitting next to you:
How do you decide exactly which material to focus on in your revision?
How important are past papers and what can you learn from them?
Is it worth practising writing essay answers by yourself?
Is it worth spending time revising with classmates?

4. Preparing 1: Get familiar with the exam
Check and re-check your examination timetable.
Make sure you know: what form the exam will take; how much time you will have; how marks are allocated; and what aspects of the course will be examined.
Check formal examination requirements in your department and programme handbooks.
Read the College’s examination regulations.

5. Preparing 2: Revision strategies
Select topics for revision
Make a revision plan
Make notes
Making a Revision Plan
As always, you need to think through your work in advance. Here are some key points for you to think about:
Revision method. Where are you going to revise? Do you work best in short intensive stretches or over longer periods? Is it a good idea to work with other people? Whatever method you choose, stick to it and organise your revision around your method.
Balance. Balance the time you have available between your various courses. Do not neglect courses you find particularly easy or difficult.
Topics. For each course, you need to select topics to revise. At the very least, you should cover twice as many topics as the number of questions you need to answer (e.g. 6 topics for a three essay exam). Select topics based on:
The content of the course
Past examination papers
Your own interests and abilities
Revision Timetable. This should start at least five or six weeks before your exams are due to start. Allocate topics to days, and make sure you have enough time for everything you want to revise.
Materials. You will have lecture notes and seminar class notes, your own notes from books and journals, essays with your tutor's feedback, handouts and other photocopies and references. You will also need textbooks, other books, past exam papers etc. Arrange to have everything you need well in advance.
How to Revise
There are three key revision strategies: taking notes, answering questions and memorising. We will look at each of these in turn:
Note Taking
For detailed information on how to take good notes, see our Note-taking section. When it comes to revision, the main objective is to slim your notes down to manageable and digestible proportions - to make them memorable.
Concentrate on key points and arguments. Don't try and remember large chunks of factual narratives - try and link factual information with the argument it supports.
Work out and summarise outline answers to questions. Don't only prepare for one question, however. Try and work out the different questions that might be asked on a given topic by using past papers etc. Recombine your key points and ideas to cover these possibilities.
Answering Questions
Working out model answers to questions should be central to your revision process. It is a process through which you remember your material, develop your critical skills and practice for the exam. You need to develop and abbreviated version of the essay writing process outlined in the Assignments section of this website. The following stages could all be practices:
Analyse the question. Using past exam papers, think about the wording of questions (see the Glossary of Exam Terms page for help on this). What are the problem or key words? What approach is being asked for? You could practice rephrasing the question in your own words to highlight the exact meaning.
Generate ideas. You are going to need at least five or six major points or arguments with which to answer most questions. Often these will be fairly obvious from your seminar/lecture notes, and from your reading. If not, try to generate ideas based on who, what, why, where and when.
Authors and controversies. What are the main schools of thoughts on a given topic? Are there any major developments between them? If you can summarise these briefly it will improve your essay, especially if you can work out a position for yourself.
Other angles. Some topics are dealt with from one particular perspective. You could improve your essay and catch the examiners eye by introducing an alternative perspective, where relevant.
Check. Go over your outline answers looking for errors and irrelevant points and ways to improve the argument.
Write under exam conditions. Practice writing at speed under exam conditions. It is useful to get someone else's opinion on these fully written answers afterwards. Your tutor may be prepared to do this, otherwise, ask a friend to look at them.

6. Preparing 3: Avoiding pitfalls
Reading notes over and over again
Writing out notes over and over again
Writing out essays and learning them off by heart
Leaving revision until the last minute
Panicking

7. Preparing 4: Checklist I know exactly where and when the exams are.
I know how many questions are required in each exam.
I know how many topics I need to revise.
I am aware of the range of questions that can come up for each topic.
I have made realistic timetable with clear priorities.
I am practising exam answers on past papers, writing under timed conditions.
I am getting enough rest and relaxation…

8. Taking the exam: student experiences
Briefly consider the following questions and compare your ideas with the person sitting next to you:
Do you have any suggestions on how best to manage your time in the exam room?
Do you have any advice on coping with nerves during exams?
Have you had any bad experiences in an exam? What happened, and how did you react?

9. Taking the Exam 1: Preview
Skim over the entire exam to get a sense of everything you have to do
Estimate how much time you have to spend on each question.
Read Paper and choose questions (10 mins.) Plan all three essays (30 mins.) Start Essay 1, finish at Start Essay 2, finish at Start Essay 3, finish at 4.55 (45 mins. each essay) Check paper (5 mins.) Finish exam

10. Taking the Exam 2: Preview
Identify which essay question you want to answer first.
Read the question carefully.
Underline key words or phrases.

11. Taking the Exam 3: Planning
Write out a brief outline of your ideas
Essays need a structure
jot down a simple plan
make sure you know where the essay is going before you start writing, i.e. your conclusion
Essays must be a response to a specific title
avoid writing everything you know on a given topic, irrelevant material gains no marks
respond to the command words in the question
Do not forget the essay title
refer back to the question regularly - probably at the end of every paragraph
every paragraph should answer the question set, aim for one theme per paragraph
Avoid one-sided essays
usually the only questions that A level examiners will set are ones which can provoke differing viewpoints
always consider what your argument depends upon, i.e. the factors or assumptions inherent in your argument
Demonstrate your depth of knowledge
analyse the question with care to show your understanding of the subject content
avoid paragraphs of textbook description
use appropriate graphs which must be accurate
use topical examples to back up your points
make references to other writers if appropriate
Remember the higher order skills of analysis and evaluation
break down the material in a way that helps reveal the issues involved
use relevant business concepts to explore causes and effects
examine arguments critically
state which arguments you believe to be the most important and why
Try to please the examiners!
use appropriate concepts and terminology
avoid slang e.g. 'The firm will go bust...'
be concise and relevant
leave enough time to write a conclusion

12. Taking the Exam 4: Writing
Be careful not to write down everything you know about a topic
Remember that your goal is to answer a specific question in as much detail as possible. Answer the question directly.
Remember the higher order skills of analysis and evaluation
break down the material in a way that helps reveal the issues involved
examine arguments critically
Think of specific examples you can use to support your argument
Refer back to the question to make sure you have covered everything in your outline

13. Taking the Exam 5: Review
Use your time efficiently, but don’t rush.
When you are finished writing, read through your essay to check for errors and coherence.
If you run out of time, try to write at least a partial response or detailed outline rather than leave the question blank.

14. Good Luck!!