Advice and Study Tips

Looking at past papers prepares you for the types of question you will be asked and the time you will have to answer each question. 

Past papers

If there has been any major change in the format of the examination, then you will have been told about this in the course literature. 

You should go into the exam with enough knowledge to answer questions on any of the major topics in a course. 

Even if your predicted topics do come up in the exam, there is no guarantee that you will be able to answer the specific questions that were set on these topics.  

If you have a 3-hour exam in which you must answer 4 essay-style questions, then that means 45 minutes per question.  

However, you should allow yourself: 

• 5 minutes at the start - to read the questions and decide on the ones you will attempt  

• And 15 minutes at the end so you can come back to any questions that you need to finish off. 

That leaves you 40 minutes per question. 

Following this approach will maximise your chances of success. You should have time for all the question because you have kept some time in reserve.   

You will also have scored the highest overall mark that you can get, because you get most of the marks for a question early on (in the first 20-30 minutes), and after that you have to work harder for the remaining marks.   

Some students fail an exam or obtain a lower degree class than they deserve because they miss out questions.  They cannot answer all the questions (usually because they didn't revise enough) and so they decide to spend all their time on the questions they can answer. 

If you can only answer 3 of the required 4 questions, then you cannot get more than 75% of the marks for the whole exam. 

Even if you think you know nothing about a topic, you can always get a few marks by making some sensible comments, and that can make the difference of a grade. 

The same advice applies to questions that require you to answer several parts - each part of a question has marks allocated to it, and if you miss out a part then you cannot get the marks for it. 

Read the question carefully, underline all the relevant words, and stick rigidly to the question as set. 

Answer the questions as set 

Examiners think very carefully about the wording of every question and expect your answer to be directly on that topic.  

For example, if you are asked to write about the wall structure of bacteria then you will get no marks at all for mentioning the other features of bacteria - the membrane, the genome, etc.   

For every question, stop writing after the first few minutes and re-read the question. Checking periodically if you have drifted off the subject will prevent you drifting into "irrelevant". 

Notes 

Make rough notes at the start of a question, so as to organise your thoughts. Then start your proper answer. 

You will almost certainly be told to cross out the rough notes. Anything you cross out cannot be marked, but if you leave your rough notes then the examiner should look through them (if only briefly). Perhaps you made a point in your notes that you forgot to put into your proper answer. 

Never answer more questions than required

You can only get marks for the required number of questions.  Every marker sticks rigidly to this rule, because they have to be fair to all the candidates - including those who did exactly what was required. 

• The examiner will get frustrated if they cannot read your writing.  If a badly written answer cannot be read, it cannot get marks.  

• Don't try to hide a lack of knowledge (e.g. a scientific name or a technical term) by illegible writing.  

• Underline key words or phrases. After reading through the whole answer, an examiner looks back at the number of ticks they have made, or the number of key words or phrases that you have identified. If you highlight these then the impression is favourable - the main points covered, so you will get good marks. 

• Never repeat things, even in a concluding paragraph. You can only get the marks once, no matter how many times you repeat the same point. 

• Learn the Latin names of organisms and other technical terms.  It might be a pain, but it impresses examiners and shows your competence.   

Long Essays 

In some examinations you might be asked to write 'long essays'.  This does not mean that you have to write for the full time. It means that you have enough time to assemble your thoughts and construct your answer carefully. The answer itself might not take the full time given to write. 

Essay-style questions 

In all other examinations the essay-style questions are shorter. These questions require a large amount of relevant factual information, and understanding of the subject.  

However, you would not be expected to produce a polished and grammatically correct essay. The important thing is to write down as much relevant information as possible, while sticking rigidly to the question that was set. 

SAQs typically have 8-10 minutes time allocation, but check this carefully, because the time allocation does vary.   

The best approach to these questions is to produce short notes, with as much relevant information as possible in the time allowed.  If you really know the material and you address the question being asked, you could get full marks for these questions.