Tips on how to prepare for exams
1) Master the Curriculum
The best thing that you can do to help your child prepare for their entrance exams is to make sure that they are confident with the entire curriculum! One of the most common misconceptions is that constant mock tests are the best way for students to revise, but this is not the case. Mock tests are fantastic for practising exam technique but the best place to achieve subject mastery is the Learning Journeys! We recommend your child spends 90% of their time in the learning journeys where they have access to helpsheets, videos and explanations.
2) Little and Often Approach
Not just a recommendation, the ‘Little and Often Approach is supported by considerable research! Our brains encode new information much more effectively and deeply when dealing with smaller ‘chunks’ of information with rests in between. Childhood development experts typically say that a reasonable attention span to expect of a child is two to three minutes per year of their age.
In practice this means it's much more effective to break revision up across the week, for example 20 minutes each morning before school.
3) Mix it Up
It is important to add variety to your child’s learning in order to keep them engaged. Don’t just focus on mock tests or a particular subject. Make sure to balance time between the Learning Journey, Custom Practices, Live Lessons, and Mock Tests. Not only will this keep your child engaged but it will also create a balance between introducing new content and recapping tricky areas.
4) Identify the Gaps
One of the most important ways to prepare for entrance exams is to identify any gaps in your child’s knowledge and address them! Whilst repeated practice in your child’s strengths will consolidate this material, improving their weakest areas is where you have the opportunity to excel. The Mastery Scores are one way for spotting which areas your child needs to improve. You can then set a targeted custom practice activity, we recommend 2-3 each week, to hone in on each particular skill. Click here to watch a short video showing you how to set a Custom Practice.
5) Exam Technique
Alongside a strong understanding of the exam content students need to be confident in their exam technique in order to be successful. Make sure that your child is aware of learning strategies such as the process of elimination so that they can answer questions correctly and efficiently. Exam technique is about recognising a question type, understanding what it is asking, and answering it in a complete and accurate manner, whilst balancing time management.
We recommend completing 1-2 mock tests a month until the final six weeks before the exam where you can increase to one per week. After each mock test make sure to spend 10 minutes looking through the transcript with your child to identify which corrections you need to work on in more depth and which ones are down to exam technique.
6) Set Targets
We find that students work best when they have a tangible goal to reach for, which is why we set your child weekly targets at the beginning of each week based on their individual ability. Preparing for the entrance exams can be an overwhelming process so to both help your child feel confident and ensure they are on track, set weekly targets that are achievable, and make sure they are meeting them!
Click here to watch Rachel Vecht from Educating Matters fantastic parent masterclass on motivating your child.
7) School Specific Skill Set
Where possible, think with a school specific skill set. There are hundreds of Mock Tests available on Atom Learning that mirror GL, CEM, the ISEB and internal exams. Whilst the vast majority of entrance exams are based on the same content the exam technique may vary. Once you know which school you are interested in applying to you can tailor your approach based on which subjects are examined and exam techniques. For example, the ISEB Common Pre-Test does not have a back button. This means that students who sit this exam need to be even more aware of accuracy!
8) The Exam is done, what next?
Once your child has completed the exams don’t lose momentum! Your child has worked hard to reach the level required to sit the entrance exams, and the focus should now be on maintaining this knowledge so that they enter Year 7 in a strong position. It’s time to downgrade to the Core Curriculum package to work on English, maths and science to consolidate learning and build a solid foundation for KS3.