Board exams are just around the corner and you must be busy with your revision. Read, Quick revision tips for Board exams. The pressure of the examinations leads you to make some common mistakes in board exams. Even though you spend whole year effortlessly preparing for exams, there are times when you ignore basic things because of which you tend to struggle during the peak examination time. There is no doubt that the key to excel any exam is hard work and preparation, but to score well in the exam, avoiding certain mistakes is equally important.
This post will acquaint you with some common mistakes in board exams that one does and which should be avoided. You can greatly improve your marks and give yourself the best chance of achieving the top grades by not falling into the trap of the mistakes that we will discuss in this post.
Not reading the question paper properly: One of the most common mistakes in board exams that students commit not reading the question paper properly. Just in haste of answering the question, students do not utilize those first 15 minutes of reading time efficiently. In the high-pressure environment of the exam hall, student’s brain easily tricks them leading them to write a completely different answer. So, read the question carefully, absorb exactly what the question is asking and circle or underline important words to keep you on track.
Copying incorrect data: Extra care should be taken while copying the data and it should be correctly entered. Several times it is seen that students copy wrong data from the question paper, which results in incorrect answers (especially in case of numerical questions, or from one step of the problem to the next). Read, how to excel in Mathematics board exam? Often they do not convert the data into appropriate units. Remember, examiners deduct marks if you fail to write the unit of measurement in your final answer.
Mismanagement of Time: Spending too long on the first few questions and not leaving enough time for the rest of the questions is another common mistakes in board exams. Time management is equally important for acing board exam. Spending more than the required time on a particular section leaves you struggling to complete the paper. While writing the paper, stick to the word limit and the time limit allocated for attempting questions of different weightage. Keep a check on the ticking of the clock and try not to run out of time.
Don’t attempt easy questions in the eleventh hour: It might seem sensible to try and answer the difficult questions first; leaving the easy ones to finish at the end, but this is not always a good idea. The questions which you think can be answered easily, do them first. This way, you pick up marks ‘upfront’. If you start with difficult questions, you may end up spending a lot of time on them, leaving little or no time for the ones from which you could have gained more marks. So, work through the exam paper and tackle the trickier ones later. Get as many marks as you can from the questions that you find easy, convenient and straightforward.
Not using Diagrams: If you want to gain more marks and that too easily, try and make diagrams and flow charts for answering maximum questions. It helps to show that you are well informed and also helps you to say your answers in a better and creative way. Neat and properly labeled diagrams and flow charts fetch more marks.
Writing full length answers when running out of time: Another common mistake in board exams because of which you can easily loose marks is working hard on answering a question or an essay when your time is running out. In such critical situations, quickly jot down the bullet points. That way, the examiner can see that you’ve thought about the question, and they’ll know what you would have written if you had the time to properly deal with the question. You may also gain more marks this way.
Improper planning of the order: Answering the questions in improper order or not following the hierarchy is another mistake committed by most of you in Board exams. Keep in mind that certain value points, technical terms and keywords are always required in the answers on the basis of which your answers are evaluated. For this, it is always better to spent one minute prior to writing the final answer in jotting those points, which you surely want to work on. This will help you in presenting a comprehensive answer and the content of your answers will then be constant. Also, by doing this your answer will be relevant to the question and will be within the word limit.
A good exam technique can make the world of difference. By remaining calm and planning carefully, you can avoid doing these common mistakes in board exams and losing your precious marks. Hope you are aware that CBSE has restored class X board exam structure from academic year 2017-2018. Apart from these, neat handwriting, highlighting keywords and technical terms, sequential presentation of answers and their sub parts also help in fetching good marks.
You might like to read our post on prepare for class XII boards exam and Law Entrance exams simultaneously, Important science entrance exams after class XII and important Commerce entrance exams after class XII.
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