Crush Your Exams: Top Test Taking Strategies for Students

Difficult questions aren’t the main reason why people fail exams. In fact, research suggests that ineffective studying is the top factor why many students perform less than optimally in exam papers, on essay questions, and even when faced with multiple-choice questions. 

In other words, the fact that you know the material doesn’t give you enough to ace that next test. Test-taking stress is a real thing, and effective test-taking strategies put sufficient emphasis on dealing with it.

If you’re getting ready for an important exam, you’re probably thinking about strategies that will help optimize your performance. Luckily, numerous approaches can be employed to calm your nerves, get your brain functioning, and perform well under pressure.

Our guide will teach you how to:

• Employ test-taking strategies and tips that are aligned with the nature of the exam and your skills
• The best ways to prepare mentally and emotionally 
• Things to do before the test to gain confidence and optimize results 
• Things to do on the test day itself to get the best grade

Why Test Taking Strategies Are Important

Knowing the correct answer is obviously very important to achieve success during a test, but knowledge isn’t the only factor to be considered. You also need to be strategic about allocating your time, handling difficult questions in the most effective way, and controlling your emotions so they don’t overshadow critical thinking.

First and foremost, practice exams and strategies aimed at sharpening your long-term memory.

Here’s a simple example that highlights why tactic matters. Imagine coming across challenging questions that you simply don’t know the answer to. If you panic, there’s a serious chance of wasting too much time and energy on the problematic inquiry instead of moving on to cover the entire exam. Once you’ve looked over the entire test, you can answer the test questions that you’re comfortable with. Armed with this type of information, you can move on quickly to fill out as much accurate information as possible.

When you have everything sorted out, you can dedicate enough time to the question that you can’t answer. At least you’ll find comfort and confidence in the fact that the rest of the test is already completed.

Acing Future Tests: Test Taking Tips for Best Results

Taking a look at the personality of a “good” test-taker is always a good starting point. Good taste-takers are very effective in terms of time management, and they’re also exceptional at self-control and managing emotions. Achieving these goals and coming up with the right learning strategy will help you enhance your performance during future tests significantly.

Now, let’s move on to some specific test-taking tips you can employ while learning, in the few days and the night before the test, as well as during the exam itself.

Advice for Test Taking from the Pros: Preparing Mentally and Emotionally

Test anxiety is real and can have a big impact on your performance and thinking functions. Unfortunately, deep breaths during a test will often be insufficient to help you calm down and focus. 

To prepare mentally and emotionally for an exam, you may want to employ the following strategies:

• Get plenty of sleep the night before the exam, even if you feel that you need every minute to study.
• Come up with a plan for a worst-case scenario – imagine different situations that could challenge you and determine adequate solutions.
• Drink plenty of water and exercise in the days leading up to the test. Proper nutrition and exercise will help you control stress hormones and feel more in control of your emotions.
• Have realistic expectations. Your level of anxiety is proportional to pushing yourself too hard. If you have a very precise vision of what you’re capable of achieving, you’ll face the test in a much calmer state of mind.
• Dedicate plenty of time to getting ready and find yourself a study buddy. The positive attitude and calmness of someone else will easily rub off on you.
• Maintain a positive attitude toward tests. View them as opportunities rather than obstacles along the way.
• Do lots of practice tests, brush up on essential study skills, and get in that “exam mindset.” The more prepared you are, the easier you’ll find it to control the fear stemming from the unknown.

Employing the Best Learning Strategies and Test Taking Skills

To do a good job during an exam, you’ll need to be prepared enough. Difficult exams usually encompass a lot of material and could feature multiple elements – an exam essay, multiple-choice tests, listening sections, etc. It’s also important to know if you’ll be penalized for a wrong answer and whether employing blank answers makes sense.

Some of the most effective studying strategies to count on when getting ready are:

• Employ active learning: An approach that involves thinking, analyzing, and being logical or even critical when going over educational material.
• Use flashcards or any other learning tool that works well for you: Some people internalize information by rewriting their notes, while others need to verbally structure and present the information to someone to make the most sense of it.
• Employ the SQ3R method: The abbreviation stands for survey, question, read, recite, review.
• Try retrieval practice methods: Quizzes, worksheets, concept maps, and writing prompts.

How to Become a Better Test Taker and Optimize Results

Good techniques apply to all types of exams – from pop quizzes to tests featuring various multiple-choice tests and standardized tests with complex answer sheets. Here’s what you’ll need to do:

• Listen to the instructions and scan over the entire test to identify potential challenges and opportunities for excellent performance.
• If the exam requires a lot of information, take a few minutes to write down the most important formulas, facts, and other pieces of data you may need later on in order to answer correctly.
• Always start by answering the questions you know.
• When you’re done, move back to the questions you’ve skipped.
• Dedicate enough time to a systematic review of your answers – going back can help you pinpoint mistakes.
• If your anxiety about tests starts creeping in, dedicate a few minutes to calming yourself and getting rid of the negative voices in your head.

Remember that most students feel anxious, confused, and worried about tests. Strong test-taking skills will help you overcome those negative emotions and ace different test formats. The sooner you get started with such skills, the more confident and relaxed you’ll feel when the big day comes.

Test-Taking Skills Based on Subject and Exam Type

A math test is very different from a history exam. The format of the test will also have to be taken into consideration for the best results. Our tips for success based on test format and subject include the following:

Essay Tests

Skills to Master:

• Planning: Spend 5–10% of the time making an outline before writing. Once you know how much time you have, you can decide how many minutes to dedicate to each step.
• Thesis Clarity: Your argument should be clear by the end of the introduction.
• Evidence & Examples: Use specific examples—historical events, case studies, quotes.
• Structure: Paragraphs = 1 main idea + evidence + explanation.
• Time Management: If you have multiple essays, divide time equally and leave 5–10 minutes to proofread. If you feel that you’re running out of time, move on from a challenging task and try to cover as much as possible based on your outline.

Practice:

• Write 1–2 timed essays per week leading up to the exam.
• Get feedback from a teacher or peer.

Multiple Choice Tests (MCQ)

Skills to Master:

• Eliminate Wrong Answers: Increase odds by crossing out obvious wrong choices.
• Watch for Qualifiers: Words like always, never, most likely—know how they affect accuracy.
• Don’t Overthink: Go with your first instinct unless you clearly remember a correction.
• Practice with Quizzes: Use past papers or online quizzes on the subject. Practice looking over the test to identify the questions you know for sure and the ones that may be a challenge. Start with the easy questions first, after which answer the questions you skipped.

As you can see, to prepare for a test, you have to be a strategist, apart from being a good student. If you familiarize yourself with formats and subject specifics in advance, you’ll feel more confident before the big test comes up. Active attempts to improve your test-taking skills, however, should happen way in advance if you want to get the best results.

The Test Day Is Here! What Now?

Start with the day before! Take some time to relax, overcome sleep deprivation, and try some calming breathing exercises. Eat a healthy meal and enjoy yourself. 

Here’s everything you need to get into the right test-taking state of mind:

• Arrive on time and give yourself a few moments to calm down and take some relaxed breaths before the test begins.
• Control your negative thinking through positive affirmations.
• Have something to eat – you don’t want your blood sugar levels plummeting in the middle of the exam.
• Warm up your brain with a favorite book or a puzzle (avoid going over the exam material before the test).
• Wear comfortable clothes.
• Hydrate throughout the exam – a bottle of water is a must-have.

It doesn’t matter if you’re taking computerized tests, exam essays, or a two-hour exam for college admission. The approach is always going to be the same. If you have studied enough and know how to master your emotions, you will do a good job. Being strategic about answering questions is another approach that will improve your performance even further.

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