Countdown to EXAM day
Spring is a wonderful time, preparing for summer holidays and enjoying more and more time outdoors. It is also a busy time for exams as a lot of language learners are sitting their IELTS, FCE and CAE exams in the next coming week.
7 days to go…
Try to do a complete exam under exam conditions. Take a break before you mark it but be honest with yourself. If you make a spelling mistake for instance, it has to be marked incorrect.
6 days to go…
Look through this and previous attempts at the exam and pick one area of weakness and one area of strength for each section. You can focus on these during your next few days of study.
5 days to go…
Choose online activities to practice your weaker areas.
IELTS : http://www.ielts-exam.net/
PET/ FCE/CAE : http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/
4 days to go…
Time for some GRAMMAR revision. Don’t only focus on newly-learnt structures, it’s a good time to review simple structures as it’s easy to make silly mistakes.
3 days to go…
Now, VOCABULARY! Without opening your books, brainstorm vocabulary for individual topics. Check spelling and meaning as you go. Check by opening your vocabulary/text books then add to the list, in a different colour of pen, a few words that you had forgotten that you’d quite like to use.
2 days to go…
Go back to online activities, use the links above, this time focus on your strengths. Think about how you can avoid silly mistakes and really push your strong points as no matter what exam you sit, your strongest sections will always pull up the weaker ones.
1 day to go…
Make sure that you know where to go, use google maps to plan your route.
If you have to take public transport, check the times of your train or bus, it’s always best to plan for an earlier train/ bus in case there are any delays.
Pack your bag, take any print outs of information you’ve been sent from the exam centre and your identification e.g. passport or identity card
Don’t stress yourself by studying. Have a long hot bath and get an early night.
EXAM DAY!
Breathe, relax and remember that the examiner is looking to give you marks not take them away so give it your very best shot!
Good luck to all of you sitting exams this year!