General LC advice

errlloyd

Ok lads I am sorry if this thread already exists but I wanted to smash it in here.

Here are some tips I have, maybe you have some you want to ad, and maybe it will make life a little easier for people in the exam hall.

Bring a few different sizes and shapes of pen, if one is killing your hand you can switch, the change of grip will results in a change of the pressure points helping your hand recover for a while before switching back to that pen.

In maths I hear its a good idea to skip every second page, screw the environment.

I'll be bringing in 1 liquid bottle of water and one frozen one. The hall is going to be hot, and sometimes a little cool off is all you want, there may be no actual reason it helps, but morale from a cold drink.

Comfortable clothes, at the risk of sounding very D4, I will be wearing Canteburys so I can unzip the sides if it gets seriously hot.

In English always leaving a line, indent, quote, leave and line and continue. Examiners love "white space".

For Maths bring two calculators, and if you haven't already got used to using natural display, make sure you buy one of the ones your used to.

You are far far more likely to gain marks if you have extra time by reading over than by doing another question.

You are allowed bring food into the exam hall in a clear plastic bag. Chocolate is good, but if your exam hall has windows then keep it out of direct sunlight, and try not to get it on your fingers.

Always leave space at the end of essays, in fact always leave a page in case you want to ad something to them.

Write till the end, they can't take marks off you for being over specific or over creative, however finish everything first.

Get the timing right.

No seriously, get the damn timing write.

For maths / physics / applied maths ect always right out the formula and define the parts. That way if you get it wrong they will take marks off you for error and give you all the marks for the maths.

In DCG they can only penalize you for a mistake once, so if you can#t get a point, but need it to finish the drawing, just make it up, and continue from there. So long as you don't make the question any easier you'll only lose 1 mark.

In DCG its a handy trick to stick your page on top of another to give your compass something to stick into in order to stop it slipping.

(Additions)

Consider the use of coloured pen, highlighter or underlining for quotes and important pieces of info (however not comparisons, I am told)

If you're running out of time in History / Classics / Religion write in bullet points, it won't get you full marks but it may get you most of them (Note in classics the marking scheme allows full marks for bullet points regarding Alexander's battles)

Avoid drinking red bull (or the likes) JUST before going into an exam. It's amazing for the first hour or so, then you will slump over and die. Well, maybe not die, but you'll definitely slump.
(I did it last year before one of my papers. Awful, awful idea)

Glucose barley sweets- little globs of energy. Nyom.

Blueberries. Eat blueberries. I don't know why, but those magical little berries are just epic before exams. And delicious.

Ladiessssss, bring hair bobbles, clips & so on. I always ALWAYS leave my hair down, but like, you'll go crazy during your exams and a bit of hair will actually start to piss you off so much or something that it'lll be all you'll notice.

Beforehand, do not ask people what they've covered. Don't do it.
Especially not the swots who know everything- they'll make you panic. They really will.

Reward yourself after every exam. Give yourself something to look forward to- be it chocolate, cigarettes or whatever you're into yourself.

Cram like **** right before going in. Those extra little bits of knowledge can save you.

Read through your paper first, and jot down everything all over it. Even just keywords. Trust me, halfway through a paper you can forget stuff- stuff that you knew going in.

Bach's Rescue Remedy- it's soothing. (I don't know what this is, but the girl who posted is confident it helps.... Banter)

Berocca- it's magical.

German
Theres no negative marking, so write down ANYTHING that might be relevant, if you take enough shots in the dark you will probably hit it.

Ag.science
Again write down anything that could be relevant, remember the marking scheme only requires a word or two to give you some marks.

Do not leave the exam hall and start asking others what they wrote. Someone will have written something different and you will get worried for no reason. Also, do not check your notes when you get out. What's done cannot be undone.

DCG
TWO COMPASSES.

In DCG, stick a ruler under the clip if it's loose, so the page doesn't move about.

Also in DCG, ask the supervisor before the exam if you can drag over an extra table if you need it. With the size of the sheets, you'll need all the room you can get.

As already mentioned, re-read your work, but especially do it in Geography to make sure you have enough SRPs.

Ask beforehand can you stand up during the exam, just to be sure.

Use colours in DCG for the planes question

If your doing cams, smash a load of masking tape under the compass hole, cause your going to need it to hold firm.

I think DCG will be on A2 as well, even though its mean to be A3.

Extrasupervery

White space, cold water, timing. Got it.

Pity bout the clothes though, I'm stuck with an itchy uniform.

errlloyd

Our school waves uniform rules for the exams, are you sure your's doesn't too?

sheehy898

Good advice, our school just changed their policy on uniforms this year i think.

Daemos

In DCG, stick a ruler under the clip if it's loose, so the page doesn't move about.

Also in DCG, ask the supervisor before the exam if you can drag over an extra table if you need it. With the size of the sheets, you'll need all the room you can get.

As already mentioned, re-read your work, but especially do it in Geography to make sure you have enough SRPs.

errlloyd

oh yeah, and in DCG

Ask beforehand can you stand up during the exam, just to be sure.

Use colours in DCG for the planes question

If your doing cams, smash a load of masking tape under the compass hole, cause your going to need it to hold firm.

I think DCG will be on A2 as well, even though its mean to be A3.

bythewoods

Avoid drinking red bull (or the likes) JUST before going into an exam. It's amazing for the first hour or so, then you will slump over and die. Well, maybe not die, but you'll definitely slump.
(I did it last year before one of my papers. Awful, awful idea)

Glucose barley sweets- little globs of energy. Nyom.

Blueberries. Eat blueberries. I don't know why, but those magical little berries are just epic before exams. And delicious.

Ladiessssss, bring hair bobbles, clips & so on. I always ALWAYS leave my hair down, but like, you'll go crazy during your exams and a bit of hair will actually start to piss you off so much or something that it'lll be all you'll notice.

Beforehand, do not ask people what they've covered. Don't do it.
Especially not the swots who know everything- they'll make you panic. They really will.

Reward yourself after every exam. Give yourself something to look forward to- be it chocolate, cigarettes or whatever you're into yourself.

Cram like **** right before going in. Those extra little bits of knowledge can save you.

Read through your paper first, and jot down everything all over it. Even just keywords. Trust me, halfway through a paper you can forget stuff- stuff that you knew going in.

Bach's Rescue Remedy- it's soothing.

Berocca- it's magical.



Anyway, yeah, that's me done. I'm sure I have more epic advice, but they're the key bits.

Calum196

Im going to divide this up by subject....

German
Theres no negative marking, so write down ANYTHING that might be relevant, if you take enough shots in the dark you will probably hit it.

Ag.science
Again write down anything that could be relevant, remember the marking scheme only requires a word or two to give you some marks.

DCG
TWO COMPASSES.

lorna100

errlloyd wrote: »

In English always leaving a line, indent, quote, leave and line and continue. Examiners love "white space".

Do NOT leave white space in the middle of english essays, i got that advice from a teacher who was the chief examiner of english before - he said under no circumstances, it looks as though you have nothing to say and are trying to fill up page space. Also that it makes the answer look disjointed.

Rest of the advice great though, frozem water brilliant idea, especially when its so nice out.

We

bythewoods wrote: »

I'm sure I have more epic advice

made me laugh :D

happydayz182

lorna100 wrote: »

Do NOT leave white space in the middle of english essays, i got that advice from a teacher who was the chief examiner of english before - he said under no circumstances, it looks as though you have nothing to say and are trying to fill up page space. Also that it makes the answer look disjointed.

Rest of the advice great though, frozem water brilliant idea, especially when its so nice out.

It think he jus means with qouting no? ...like in macbet blah blah the witches state -"foul is fair and........." - blah blah blah

hopeful_girl

i am sooo screwed

Toto Wolfcastle

Do not leave the exam hall and start asking others what they wrote. Someone will have written something different and you will get worried for no reason. Also, do not check your notes when you get out. What's done cannot be undone.

HQvhs

For maths, start paper 1 with differentiation, not algebra. Algebra involves more thinking than differentiation, which is mostly method so you need to be the frame of mind to do it. For paper 2 I've always found it best to start with further calculus for the same reason.

Paddy001

errlloyd wrote: »

oh yeah, and in DCG

Ask beforehand can you stand up during the exam, just to be sure.

Use colours in DCG for the planes question

If your doing cams, smash a load of masking tape under the compass hole, cause your going to need it to hold firm.

I think DCG will be on A2 as well, even though its mean to be A3.

Yes DCG is on A2, the scabby department want to use up their stock of A2 but the exam is meant to be on A3 from now on. I would have thought they could just cut the pages in half... Timing in DCG is going to be a problem too so try to watch it, they have taken out alot of time since the old course, questions are easier but still take time to complete.

Extrasupervery

My school said we definitely need to wear uniforms. Screw them, itchy green jumpers in this heat? I may be making some alterations.

I'm not gonna discuss my papers with friends...just say how it went generally. Some people get SO paniced.

ironictoaster

bythewoods wrote: »

Bach's Rescue Remedy- it's soothing.

Do you think this works? I tried this before, it just made my tongue taste icky!

For the first English paper, bring three different colour highlighters into the exam with you. Highlight the key words of each of the comprehension questions in a different colour, then when you're reading through the extract, highlight pieces of information that pertain to each question in that questions respective colour. It saves me about 5 minutes of trying to find quotes and references etc.

degausserxo

bythewoods wrote: »

Bach's Rescue Remedy- it's soothing.

That stuff saved me during the orals!

I was told by an examiner not to leave white space for quotes but to either highlight them or write them in a different coloured pen to make them stand out.

Toto Wolfcastle

degausserxo wrote: »

That stuff saved me during the orals!

I was told by an examiner not to leave white space for quotes but to either highlight them or write them in a different coloured pen to make them stand out.

Coloured pen is great. A girl I teach writes with a black pen and uses a green one for quotes. It's an unusual green so the quotes really stand out.

Also, remember to use properly structured paragraphs. If an examiner has to read huge blocks of writing you just aren't going to do as well as you could. Blocks of writing are awful to read.

MrPirate

janeybabe wrote: »

Coloured pen is great. A girl I teach writes with a black pen and uses a green one for quotes. It's an unusual green so the quotes really stand out.

That's exactly what I do. Red for full headings and blue for subheadings/questions (history).

Fad

creggy wrote: »

Do you think this works? I tried this before, it just made my tongue taste icky!

Its basically just brandy, of course it works!

Jam-Fly

janeybabe wrote: »

Coloured pen is great. A girl I teach writes with a black pen and uses a green one for quotes. It's an unusual green so the quotes really stand out.

Also, remember to use properly structured paragraphs. If an examiner has to read huge blocks of writing you just aren't going to do as well as you could. Blocks of writing are awful to read.

What if you know loads of quotes for Macbeth, for few quotes for poetry? If you highlight quotes in both, it shows you don't know many in the poetry. Should u just highlight the one you know well or neither :rolleyes:

Toto Wolfcastle

Jam-Fly wrote: »

What if you know loads of quotes for Macbeth, for few quotes for poetry? If you highlight quotes in both, it shows you don't know many in the poetry. Should u just highlight the one you know well or neither :rolleyes:

You should know enough quotes for the poetry. Problem solved. Whether you highlight the quotes or not it will become obvious eventually whether you know your stuff or not.

snazzy

MORE TIPS:

It is advised that you DO NOT write your Maths Paper or Aural Tape scripts in PENCIL.

My teachers of both subjects told me that pencil can fade.
Which is a bit of a balls so if you do write in pencil make sure it comes out dark and strong.

timmywex

errlloyd wrote: »

oh yeah, and in DCG


I think DCG will be on A2 as well, even though its mean to be A3.

+1, the department somehow forgot that they had ordered x amount of paper and now have to use it up :rolleyes:

Gi joe!

History: If you are on your last essay but have only a minute left just write the rest of it in bullet points. Obviously won't not ideal but you should scrape a few more marks for it.

lorna100

Dont use red or green pen, the examiner corrects in red and his supervisor corrects in green.

hopeful_girl

just black and blue.


black is such a dull colour

degausserxo

Spruce it up with neon pink highlighter

tootyflutty

lorna100 wrote: »

Dont use red or green pen, the examiner corrects in red and his supervisor corrects in green.

Not exactly true, my mam is a corrector, and depending on what the student used she would have to change some times. And from what I remember the supervisor marked it the same colour, just scribbled out some stuff that she had written.

Just remember to bring in a blue, red, and black, or green pen. Two or more colours will help you and make your papers examiner friendly.

Also it may seem obvious, but my mother swears by it. R.T.F.Q!! (READ THE F*CKING QUESTION), don't just read half the question, see a word you know stuff about and write every piece of info you have on the page. Answer what your being asked. You won't get marks for irrelevant information, and your just wasting your time, and the examiners.

After that, get there early enough to be settled and happy, but not early enough to be around the worryers!

Good luck peeps! :pac: