NEWS: Exam Busters – Helping students prepare for the exams

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Knowing how to learn doesn’t automatically mean you know how to effectively prepare for an exam. Positively MAD’s EXAM BUSTERS Presentation is an entertaining way to help Key Stage 3 and 4 students understand the difference.

 When the examination season begins, many students focus a great deal of their energy and time on the process of studying – i.e. learning a subject well enough to get the desired grade in an exam.

Their schools provide exam support by offering extra courses on effective study tools – think of a mind map as an efficient way to improve learning – tools like that and many others. (In fact, Positively MAD has a course called Super Speed Study Skills that teaches students different learning methods to make studying easier.).

But what a lot of students fail to realise is that knowing how to study is not the same as knowing how to prepare for an exam – and both require equal attention and energy. Knowing how to study involves the process of studying; preparing for the exam requires a whole different set of necessary skills.

For example, a student might prepare very thoroughly for an exam, but because she doesn’t know how to de-stress, her performance in the actual exam could be hampered – and all the hard work studying for that exam would have been compromised. Also, a student might have a good memory, but because his diet is poor, finds himself, under the pressure of the day, unable to remember key facts.

So to use an analogy: it’s the difference between knowing how to run faster; and knowing what to do to prepare for a major sporting tournament. One involves performance; the other, preparation.

And exam preparation involves thinking holistically and paying attention to things like exercise, diet, sleep, mental state.

This is why Positively MAD’s EXAM BUSTER’S presentation is so popular with schools all across the UK. In just 2½ hours, using an engaging and entertaining delivery style, presenters motivate students to think differently about exam preparation.

Students are shown ways that they can de-stress and think positively about exams; they are invited to pay attention to physiology to overcome nerves. They are also shown how to encode information to shift it from short-term to long-term memory, and they learn how to improve learning by boosting recall and revision skills.

“I know now that revising can be made more interesting and that it doesn’t have to be boring,” remarked Cerys Lewis a Year 11 student who recently experienced the Exam Busters course. “The course,” she added, “was fun, enjoyable and very easy to understand.”

Renee Fosters, a teacher at Magnus C of E School, had this to say about Exam Busters:

The event was concise and very student friendly. The revision tools, techniques and tips were excellent. Overall it was very well presented and delivered at a good pace. A positive, bright approach which kept the audience’s attention throughout. Highly recommended.

Exam Busters is one of Positively MAD’s best-selling courses, with frequent invites for repeat visits to schools who have benefitted from the event.

It can be booked all year round to improve learning and suit those schools with varied examination dates. (Many schools tend to book Positively MAD’s Super Speed Study Skills presentation for their Year 10 students, and then Exam Busters for their Year 11 students.)

For more information about this dynamic event, CLICK HERE.