Exam Survival Guide. Top Five Tips.

Tip 1. What to revise?

For GDL students: Have a look at past papers to get a feel of how questions are worded, and for the best way to tackle them. Make sure you are aware of the grade breakdown to ensure you are adding relevant content to your answers. 

Consult your revision briefing sheet to remind yourself how many topics there are, and make sure you can answer them all.

For LPC students: Revise everything because you can't cherry pick your questions. And, if you leave anything out from your revision, you could really come unstuck in the exam. Remember, you must answer all the questions, you can’t pick and choose.

Tip 2.  Plan your revision

For GDL students: Plan your time well to ensure you cover each topic. Make a priority list. It might be easier starting with a topic that you are not as confident with. But don't waste too much time getting bogged down with one topic – as this might not even appear on the exam! 

Make sure you use the relevant tutorial and lecture notes. If you remember something that you struggled with previously, try to overcome this and re-read your notes. If you have completed a practice question, re-read your answers and any feedback given, this will give you a head start on what the examiner will be thinking. 

For LPC students: Plan your revision and stick to the timetable. The LPC is not a memory test and you must not prepare to write essays. 

Tip 3.  How to revise 

What's the best way to learn? Have you tried mind-maps, index cards, study groups, mnemonics or code-colouring? These are all proven methods for students, but which one works for you?

For GDL students: When planning your revision, make sure you start to structure your answers. This will help you to remember to structure during your exam. Another good tip is to use learning aids. If a reference name or certain case reminds you of something easier to remember, start to develop linking aids. This will help you with referencing and will encourage you to add all the relevant information during your exam. 

For LPC students: Focus on your SGS activities and materials. Make sure you know how to use your permitted materials to find the relevant law and then apply, apply, apply…

Tip 4. Before the exam

Practise timed mock exams. It might be good doing this in pairs or a group. You can mark each other's work and they might have added something in that you didn't think of. 

Make sure you know where you are going. Check the venue beforehand. Plan how you are getting there and make sure you prepare for any last-minute delays. It's always a good idea to do a 'dummy-run' a few days before. This will make you aware of how much traffic will be there at that time of day. 

It's also a good idea to write your notes on mini-cards. You can read this whilst travelling to the venue or before going into your exam. Make sure you don't put them in your pocket as this will be classed as cheating. 

Tip 5. During the exam

For GDL Students: Read the paper carefully and start by planning your answer. Use the time wisely to ensure you don't get carried away writing your plan. Highlight key points that you want to raise and make sure you keep looking back at them whilst writing your answer, to ensure you stick to the point. Write succinctly, clearly and logically, and don't repeat facts that are already in the question. Try to reference as much as possible to underpin your understanding. 

Make sure you are writing in the style of an exam. Use proper grammatical prose and avoid colloquialisms and slang. Answer your questions using the acronym IRAC:

• Issue 

• Relevant rule/explanation of the law with authority

• Application 

• Conclusion 

For LPC students: Read through the paper and plan the time allocation against the number of marks for the questions, to ensure you answer everything on the paper and give each question enough time. 

Make sure you put the answers to the MCQs in your answer book. 

We hope these tips will be useful in your exams. Remember to remain positive. Don’t panic. And study for success. 

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