The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) class 10 and 12 board exam date sheets are expected to be released soon. This enables you to start your revision for the exams. The pre-board exams, therefore, which many schools have slotted from January 8 to January 19, will help you both in assessing your performance and in gearing up for the boards.
Listed below are tips and tricks to help you gear up for the pre-board exam:
Catching up with the syllabus, one topic at a time
This is the time to keep your worries and self-doubts at bay, and delve into your books. It is important to thoroughly and comprehensively study the entire syllabus instead of specific chapters which you find difficult to grasp. Break down the course work, subject-wise, into different topics, depending on the level of complexity, and make sure you cover the basics before engaging with more advanced themes. This will ensure that you have a solid foundation on which to build a deeper understanding. For this, studying NCERT books cover to cover is most helpful. Reference books should only come into the picture once you have already exhausted the core syllabus.
Plan well, perform better
Systematic studies are key to achieving success during any examination. Break down the number of days left for the exam for each subject and assign it to particular sections and topics. It has been observed that studying different subjects in a day, with proper allocation of time, exercises different parts of the brain – thus improving your overall retention capacity. Make use of learning apps and other tech-based solutions to plan out tasks and set reminders for everyday tasks.
Be prepared, avoid exhaustion
One of the key concerns during an exam is the length of the paper. Anxiety over exams, lethargy from lack of sleep, or a lack of practice often results in students not being able to answer all questions. By attempting regular, time-bound tests students can ensure optimum performance even if they’re under pressure on the exam day.
Healthy mind in a healthy body
Students should take extra care of their health during this time, as they cannot afford losing out on time because of illness. Stay well-covered and warm, increase the quantity of salads, nuts, and milk in your diet. Do not allow any stress to build up - so ensure that you get at least half-an-hour to engage in sports, and other recreational activities of interest.
Night watchman or early riser
While waking up early is a much better option and allows you to retain most of what you learn, many students find it preferable to stay up and work late into the night. You, therefore, need to identify your study pattern early on, and plan your entire preparation schedule accordingly. Try to meditate to improve your concentration during these vital months to overcome distractions.
Track your performance
It is important to utilise the pre-boards as a sounding board to track your performance. Careful evaluation of each paper will not only help pinpoint any shortcomings in your revision, but also further strengthen areas where you are scoring well. But you must take care to not stress out or panic too much, if the results are not good; instead, push yourself harder each day to improve upon your mistakes to try and not repeat them.
What you also need to know is that pre-boards are meant to teach you that there is always scope for improvement. You must ponder over your score, but not get too stressed out if you don’t do well. Consult your teachers as to why you scored less, and how your answer script could have been improved. Getting stressed over results is unnecessary and definitely not the way out.
These examinations are meant for evaluating your performance before the board exams. You should revise seriously for the same to know if there is scope for improving your performance in the final exams. If your scores are good you should push yourself a little more to get better scores.