Losing Marks on Silly Mistakes? Here’s how to Avoid Them.
I looked at my marks with utter shock - I felt so horribly stupid for ever thinking that the test was easy. The numbers morphed into some twisted smiley face that I could swear was mocking me condescendingly as I sat there despondently, one sweaty palm clutching my test paper and the other holding my aching head which, in that moment, seemed to no longer contain a brain inside.
Well, at least this is how I’d imagine myself if this ever happened to me.
Fortunately, I’ve had the privilege of using these special Alpha One Tips that have gotten me through every single exam to date.
What’s that? You don’t want this to be your fate either?
Even more fortunately for you, I will pass on this sacred knowledge so that you can also stop making silly mistakes in your exams.
Reading
With long, boring texts, it’s easy to lose focus or accidentally miss crucial information. In order to improve your reading comprehension, try implementing the following strategies:
IDENTIFY THE MAIN IDEAS OF EACH PARAGRAPH/STANZA
Many students make mistakes because they don’t look back at the text when answering the questions. To combat this, summarise each paragraph or stanza into one main idea/concept and write it down.
When reading the question, find the keywords and identify which paragraph/stanza the question is referring to. That way, you will be able to easily reread that section and pick out all the necessary details to accurately answer the question.
UNDERLINE KEY WORDS
Far too many students get questions wrong because they missed the “not” in “which of the following is not true?”. The writers of the exam print it in bold for a reason! Make sure you take note of these small yet crucial words in both the question AND text so you don’t lose marks for no reason.
REREAD CLOZE PASSAGES
Cloze passages are extremely easy to make silly mistakes on so it is vital to reread them and confirm that all the sentences are in the right place & make sense. While you might want to move to the next section immediately after doing your cloze questions, try to do a quick double-check. If your time management skills are not ideal, prioritise finishing the rest of the test but make sure to come back and recheck at the end with any extra time you have left.
Mathematical Reasoning
Maths is generally a subject where you can be sure whether you’re right or wrong. That being said, there are a large number of students who struggle to reach their maximum potential because they keep making silly mistakes! Use these few tips to put yourself above these errors.
WRITE DOWN ALL WORKING OUT
While this might seem like extra steps and a waste of time, writing out your working out is far more important than you may think! First of all, this cuts down on in-head calculations; the less numbers you have to remember, the harder it is to make mistakes! Having your working-out written down also allows you to double-check quickly by confirming you did not make any mistakes or by easily identifying where you went wrong in your calculations which can be a great time saver.
CATEGORISE TOPICS
Try sorting all your practice questions into their question types so you can train your brain into quickly recognising how to tackle each problem. For example, if you recognise that a question in the exam is asking you for the area of a composite shape, your formulas should come out instantly. Make sure you write all the relevant formulas down on the page! This is how you can focus on the important information and minimise your chances of making silly mistakes.
CHECK YOUR UNITS
The test can sometimes try to trick you and give you similar options with different units. Many students will often, in their excitement after finding the answer, circle the correct number with the wrong units! This is a huge pity because you have already found the right numbers - there should really be no excuse for getting these wrong!
Make sure you take an extra second and double-check all your units in both your working out and in the answers to whisk those silly mistakes away.
Thinking Skills
Thinking skills is a tough subject, full of traps and tricks that could even give Einstein a hard time if he was still around. Follow these tips, and feel your brain get increasingly wrinklier as you get perfect marks every time.
FIND THE MAIN ARGUMENT
The main argument is the core of almost half of all thinking skills questions, making this strategy of identifying the main argument of the paragraph as the first step in tackling thinking skills questions incredibly useful. Most of the time, the main argument is in the first or last sentence and everything in the middle is just extra evidence.
Silly mistakes occur when you haven’t carefully picked apart the paragraph and they provide you with two similar options in the answers. Make sure you read clearly and identify what the true purpose of the paragraph is.
IDENTIFY THE STANCE OF THE WRITER
Sometimes in strengthening and weakening type questions, the paragraphs given have ridiculous arguments that you completely disagree with, yet the question asks you to strengthen the argument. In other cases, the paragraphs say something you agree with, then ask you to weaken the argument. However, the question is not asking for your opinion. Make sure you understand the stance of the writer and what their views are or else you can quickly say goodbye to your marks.
CIRCLE KEYWORDS
In reasoning error type questions, keywords play a huge importance. For example, terms such as “will definitely” and “might” can drastically change the meaning of the question.
Whenever you do practice questions, note down all the different types of keywords and you will start to see the subtle differences in each. That way, you can circle them in your tests and easily identify what exactly the question wants you to do.
In General
Many of the reasons why students make silly mistakes extend across all subjects and are rooted in test taking technique. These are skills developed over long periods of time but can drastically improve marks in the long run.
GET USED TO TIGHT TIME CONSTRAINTS
A lot of silly mistakes come from the inability to keep up with time pressure, causing many students to panic and perform sub-optimally. If you are used to working with a time limit, the test will feel like every other practice paper that you have completed, helping you gain control of your nerves. This sort of practice also helps you identify which subjects/particular topics you’re weaker in as you get to see what is taking longer than expected.
LEAVE AMPLE TIME TO DOUBLE-CHECK THE ENTIRE PAPER
This is the most basic of the basics in test taking - your teacher in year 1 has probably taught you this already! Check, check, check, do NOT just sit there when you still have time. Make the most of your time limit since you only have one shot at the test. You don’t want to regret it afterwards.
EMBRACE YOUR MISTAKES! (BUT NOT TOO MUCH!)
Mistakes are inevitable, but so is success (if you work hard enough)! You are meant to make mistakes in your practice tests, so make them. However, make sure these errors are not made in vain and learn from them by figuring out what went wrong. If you make sure to analyse each question and understand the trick/trap associated with it, you will never get caught by it again.
With these tips, we hope you will no longer lose marks on questions you knew how to do and avoid silly mistakes! Good luck!
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Published 5 November 2021