8 Tips to get the most out of your study time

Exam time is fast approaching - find out how to make the most of your NCEA study with these 8 helpful tips.

1. Use the exam timetable to find out exactly when your exams will take place.  

2. Work out how long you have between now and each of your exams - what other events do you need to take into account?  Which exam will be hardest for you?  Allocate specific blocks of study for specific exams on the LearnWell exam study planner, making sure you allow extra time for anything you find complex.  

3. Break up your planned study time.  There is limited benefit to hours and hours of study in one day.  Can you wake up half an hour earlier and fit a block of study in?  Can you take a few notes on a car trip or to your sports game and find time to read over them?  Could you call by the library for an hour and get in a study bracket before you get home to your siblings fighting and the lure of Netflix? Fitting lots of small bits in will be more effective overall than one large block.

4. Make yourself some study guidelines.  You could print a list and put it in a glass frame, and use a whiteboard marker to cross it off each time.  What helps you concentrate - classical music or silence?  Cashew nuts and your water bottle or gum?  What do you need to have set up before you start a planned session?  We recommend leaving distractions (i.e., your phone) in another room for each of your allocated study times.  One scroll turns into 20 minutes wasted in the blink of an eye.

5. Create checklists for each subject in a book or in a spreadsheet.  Use old exams or your notes from that subject to create lists of what you need to study.  Each time you come to study that subject, get your checklist out.  If you're starting to feel more confident with parts of your checklist, you can highlight them cross or tick them off.  Add to the list whenever you come across something you haven't thought of before.  With a checklist, you'll be more focused and spend more time on what you need to.

6. Is writing something on paper valuable for you to retain what you learn?  Do you want to know how to get achieved, merit or excellence and what the differences are?  AME Workbooks are for you!

7. Do you prefer interactive resources - giving yourself the opportunity to test your knowledge and then compare your work against an answer?  Then LearnWell Digital is a convenient option.  Have you left it till the last minute?  Download a LearnWell Digital resource in seconds and a percentage ticker will let you know how far through you are at any stage. 

8. Motivation is spelt R-E-W-A-R-D!  Okay, that's not actually sound advice, don't quote us on that in your English exam.  But rewarding yourself is the key way to get through when motivation is low.  If you make it through seven hours of study this week, think of a treat you can have.  If you pass that really hard exam, what is an even bigger treat you'd like?  And if you get an excellence in your favourite subject, what will your reward be?  Dream big and download a few pics to scroll through of your rewards for when the going gets tough (and when you get back to your phone... because remember, it's in another room)!