You just ended your latest paper.
Maybe it went well. Maybe it did not. But there is another upcoming paper. While you are walking out of the exam hall, someone has already started: "Eh, what did you put for question 7 huh?"
Here is my honest advice: walk away.
I have been teaching for many years now, and one thing I notice every single exam season: the students who do well are not always the ones who studied the hardest in school. They are the ones who manage the time between papers well.
That time is precious. Most students waste it without even realising.
Mistake #1: Comparing answers
I know it feels like closure. Like you need to know if you got it right. I actually wrote about this before in my post on How To Feel Confident During Examination. One of my top tips there was simply: do not compare answers after a paper. But think about what actually happens when you do.
If you got it right -> shiok, confirm one. But that feeling lasts maybe five minutes.
If you got it wrong, your brain will be on it for some time: "wasted, sh*t, I should have". You go home stressed. You cannot focus. You keep replaying that one question in your head at 11pm when you should be sleeping.
And here is the worst part: that paper is already submitted. Nothing you do now changes it. But everything you do now affects the next paper.
So just walk away. Go eat something first (somehow I always feel very hungry after a paper 😅).
Mistake #2: Either cramming everything or switching off completely
Generally there are 2 groups of students. One group goes home and immediately starts doing TYS questions for the next subject. The other group goes home, eat, scroll IG until midnight, and hope for the best.
My take is, both are wrong.
The students who cram after an exhausting paper are not retaining much. Your brain is tired. Tired brain, tired memory. You are essentially re-reading your notes and think that you are productive, but not much is actually sticking, or those that stick are what you have already known. Worse, you end up going to bed at 1am and taking another 2-hour paper the next morning will be disastrous.
Switching off completely with no mental warm-up is not ideal either. I understand lah, exams are exhausting and you deserve a break. But going into a paper without a short simple revision isn't great also.
What to actually do then?
After the paper, enjoy the trip home. Eat a proper meal. Walk around. Lie on the bed. Do whatever helps you relax.
Then sit down for your two to three hours of light revision for the next paper. Focus on what you already know but need to remind yourself of. Don't get started on trying to master a topic you never understood. At this point, you are consolidating, not learning from scratch.
By 9-10pm, stop. Pack your bag, make sure you bring what's necessary for the next day. Then sleep. Don't start scrolling your phone as it will affect your sleep.
I always repeat this: sleep matters more than that extra hour of studying at midnight. Your brain consolidates memory during sleep. When you have enough sleep, you will recall things better, think more clearly, and write faster. I know it feels like you are not prepared. No one is ever 100% prepared anyway. Just relax.
One more thing, especially if today's paper did not go well
Some of you had a really bad/difficult paper today. Maybe you blanked out on a question you thought you knew, or even mastered. Maybe you ran out of time and couldn't finish the last question.
Please know that one bad paper does not define your O Level results. Anyway, what's done can't be undone.
I always have students who come out of their first paper say "die liao, so hard". But they choose to focus on the next paper fully, and trust me, you won't die too hard. The grade you get is based on all your papers, not just one.
The students who really "die" are not the ones who had a bad first paper. They are the ones who let that bad paper affect them in the subsequent papers.
Don't let what has been done affect what has not yet been done.
All the best and JIA YOU!
Maybe it went well. Maybe it did not. But there is another upcoming paper. While you are walking out of the exam hall, someone has already started: "Eh, what did you put for question 7 huh?"
Here is my honest advice: walk away.
I have been teaching for many years now, and one thing I notice every single exam season: the students who do well are not always the ones who studied the hardest in school. They are the ones who manage the time between papers well.
That time is precious. Most students waste it without even realising.
Mistake #1: Comparing answers
I know it feels like closure. Like you need to know if you got it right. I actually wrote about this before in my post on How To Feel Confident During Examination. One of my top tips there was simply: do not compare answers after a paper. But think about what actually happens when you do.
If you got it right -> shiok, confirm one. But that feeling lasts maybe five minutes.
If you got it wrong, your brain will be on it for some time: "wasted, sh*t, I should have". You go home stressed. You cannot focus. You keep replaying that one question in your head at 11pm when you should be sleeping.
And here is the worst part: that paper is already submitted. Nothing you do now changes it. But everything you do now affects the next paper.
So just walk away. Go eat something first (somehow I always feel very hungry after a paper 😅).
Mistake #2: Either cramming everything or switching off completely
Generally there are 2 groups of students. One group goes home and immediately starts doing TYS questions for the next subject. The other group goes home, eat, scroll IG until midnight, and hope for the best.
My take is, both are wrong.
The students who cram after an exhausting paper are not retaining much. Your brain is tired. Tired brain, tired memory. You are essentially re-reading your notes and think that you are productive, but not much is actually sticking, or those that stick are what you have already known. Worse, you end up going to bed at 1am and taking another 2-hour paper the next morning will be disastrous.
Switching off completely with no mental warm-up is not ideal either. I understand lah, exams are exhausting and you deserve a break. But going into a paper without a short simple revision isn't great also.
What to actually do then?
After the paper, enjoy the trip home. Eat a proper meal. Walk around. Lie on the bed. Do whatever helps you relax.
Then sit down for your two to three hours of light revision for the next paper. Focus on what you already know but need to remind yourself of. Don't get started on trying to master a topic you never understood. At this point, you are consolidating, not learning from scratch.
By 9-10pm, stop. Pack your bag, make sure you bring what's necessary for the next day. Then sleep. Don't start scrolling your phone as it will affect your sleep.
I always repeat this: sleep matters more than that extra hour of studying at midnight. Your brain consolidates memory during sleep. When you have enough sleep, you will recall things better, think more clearly, and write faster. I know it feels like you are not prepared. No one is ever 100% prepared anyway. Just relax.
One more thing, especially if today's paper did not go well
Some of you had a really bad/difficult paper today. Maybe you blanked out on a question you thought you knew, or even mastered. Maybe you ran out of time and couldn't finish the last question.
Please know that one bad paper does not define your O Level results. Anyway, what's done can't be undone.
I always have students who come out of their first paper say "die liao, so hard". But they choose to focus on the next paper fully, and trust me, you won't die too hard. The grade you get is based on all your papers, not just one.
The students who really "die" are not the ones who had a bad first paper. They are the ones who let that bad paper affect them in the subsequent papers.
Don't let what has been done affect what has not yet been done.
All the best and JIA YOU!