How To Score An Additional 10 Marks In Exams

Many parents shared with me that their children are smart, but very careless in exams. I could not agree more.

This is one of the first things I tackle in my students. Believe it or not, eliminating careless mistakes can bag you at least another 10 marks in examinations.

That means, if your child is getting 80/100, eliminating careless mistakes will help your child score 90/100.

So, how can we do it?

First, we need to dig deep into the child's mindset. There are four main patterns.

-----------------------------------

1. Complacency - "I know my work. There is no need to check."

2. Avoid area of weakness - "I forgot to check Qs 18 (because it was too hard for me)."

3. Anxiety - "Oh no, Tom already finished. I must hurry."

4. Competition - "I am faster than John. Hence, I am smarter than him."

------------------------------------


Then, we need to come up with a system.


Step 1: Neat handwriting and clear working

This is the most important step. If the child has poor handwriting, he would have problems reviewing the working. This will discourage the child from checking. To counter this, train your child to write neatly first.


Step 2: Systematic checking
To check MCQ, show your child how to plug in all the options in the question to check the answer.

To check Math word problems, check that there are no mistakes in the working. Check that the models and steps are correct.

To check open-ended Science questions, check that the keywords are there.

To check the English paper, read and re-read and re-read and re-read. If it sounds strange, it means something is wrong. Check for full-stops too. 


Step 3: Manage the given time

Teach your child not to rush and not to dwell. If the question is too difficult, just move on to the next question first. Come back to the difficult question later.

By right, the time given in any exam paper is sufficient as long as the student does not dwell on certain questions.


Step 4: Show the impact of checking

This is the part where you sit down with your child and go through his past papers and ask him to check. Show him that if he checked, he would have scored more marks.


Lastly, we need to drill this into the child and make it into a habit. For me, I took the longer route. I will do the checking with the child for the first 5 papers. Then, he will show me how he does the checking for the next 5 papers. Monitor the child for a few sessions to see if he does his checking. If the habit did not stick, I will do the checking with him again. It is important that we do the checking with him and not for him.

The actual process is very long. Some students get it within 3 months. Some get it within 6 months. Some still do not get it after one year.

Unlearning a bad habit and starting a new habit is much more difficult than learning a right habit in the beginning.



I hope this little system will help your child bag another 10 marks in the upcoming exams.

Have fun and please share my post!

Stay tuned!