WHATS THE POINT OF THEM?

Most students hate exams. Exams cause stress, and most people feel that they don't do as well in exams as they do in other kinds of assessment like essays. It's easy to feel that exams are just a sadistic trick that your tutors play on you. Or that exams are designed to catch you out and make sure you fail.

So why do you have to do exams?

The main reason is because exams test how well you can think and work quickly. Being able to work quickly is an important skill, and exams test it. Preparing for an exam means that you develop this skill.

The other reason is to do with working under pressure. Doing an exam usually means that you have to go to a special room at a specific time and work in conditions which aren't familiar. You're in a place with lots of other people, not in the safety of your own room where you usually work. And there are invigilators there to make sure that nobody cheats. And you have to ask if you want to go to the toilet. It all puts pressure on you. But working under pressure is an important skill too. Like working quickly, it's a skill you can develop.

In this section on Exams, you'll find lots of things to help you do well in exams. First of all, there's a page on Common Myths About Exams. Lots of people have all kinds of false ideas about exams, and we'll look at some of the most common ones. After that, there are three main sections: Getting Ready, which is all about preparing for an exam, Tactics, which is about getting the most out of your time in the exam, and finally there's a Checklist of What Examiners Like (and What They Don't).