At Uptown English, all our teenagers and adult students are getting ready for their mid-course exams. In this blog post we want to give some ideas to all students who are preparing for important exams and would like some advice, tips or techniques to help them maximise their study time.

When it comes to preparing for exams, everyone has their own techniques that help them to study. But what everyone agrees with is that we prefer studying efficiently than for a long time. Uptown English is going to give you a few tips that can help you to study for your English exams and, of course, for any other tests you may have.

1. Studying sessions are more effective in small, short chunks. Instead of spending 4 hours studying without having a break, spread it out in a few 30 minute sessions. You will see that you gain concentration and motivation.

2. Don’t study later than the time you usually go to sleep, you may fall asleep or be tempted to go to sleep, instead try studying in the afternoon or early evening. If you are a morning person try studying in the morning. Set up specific times or routines. If you always study at the same time, studying becomes easier, as your brain is trained to learn at these specific times.

3. Set a specific goal for each study session. Pick one aspect you want to focus on – if you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.

4. Make sure that you understand the material well, don’t just read through the material and try to memorize everything. A good technique is imagining that you have to teach it to another student. This is because when you are expecting to teach, your brain organises the information in a more logical and coherent structure. This makes understanding the main point much easier.

5. Rereading, underlining or highlighting text books can be ineffective as it doesn’t improve your understanding of topics or link key concepts together. They can also be detrimental as they draw your attention to less important information. Instead you can make your own study materials such as flashcards. They are an excellent memory reinforcement tool as they link the ideas and key concepts together and help you understand the whole topic or point.

6. Use tests to practise, because even if you make mistakes, tests help to help gaps in your knowledge. They have also been shown to increase confidence leading to a better performance.

7. Find a secret spot for studying. Make sure that the place is tidy and you don’t have a lot of distractions. Put away your phone, as messages and social media notifications severely decrease your concentration. Also, make sure that you are well equipped with every tool that you need.

We hope that all the tips mentioned above come in handy for your next tests. Good luck with your exams!