Common Mistakes Learners Make When Studying for an Examination

You must be big enough to admit your mistakes, smart enough to learn from them, and strong enough to correct them. John C Maxwell

Tests and exams are part of life.

While you prepare for tests and examinations, there will always be a time where you come out of the exam room thinking that you have made a huge mistake or countless blunders in the paper.

If you feel that you are the only person who leaves the examination room kicking yourself due to the silly mistakes that you have made, we are here to tell you that everyone makes mistakes. Some people, however, make bigger mistakes than others.

If you have noticed that your friend has made the same mistake as you have, you may begin to realise that mistakes are normal. You are bound to make mistakes from time to time, but you need to make sure that you are making far fewer mistakes than other people.

The truth is that you will only be able to rectify your mistakes if you know what mistakes you are making.

Sometimes, the bulk of your mistakes are not made during the actual exam or test, but rather while you are engaging in exam preparation.

One of the biggest mistakes that you can make during examination preparation is to go through past papers and mock exams without checking your answers against the memoranda.

Not correcting mistakes that you make while you are studying for the exams means that you will make the very same mistakes in your exam.

We are here to guide you through the common examination errors so that you can take note and try to avoid these mistakes at all costs.

If you are still interested in learning more about exam mistakes and how to stop yourself from making them, read the article on common exam mistakes to avoid!

Want to give private lessons?

Join the Superprof community and share your knowledge with inquiring and motivated students.

Create an advert

Common Exam Mistakes You Can Easily Avoid

The best way to eradicate your chance to make a mistake is to note what mistakes you could possibly make and avoid making these mistakes. Rushing through questions without underlining key words in the questions, having anxiety due to the mismanagement of time, and not knowing what is expected of you when you read the questions, are all mistakes you probably make but can easily avoid.

Start rectifying these mistakes, and you may save yourself from losing marks unnecessarily.

However, get on top of these mistakes and you’ll save yourself from losing vital marks in the future.

In the words of Johnny Cash,

I learn from my mistakes. It's a very painful way to learn, but without the pain, the old saying is, there's no gain.

Let's look at the errors we all so often make and gain by learning from these mistakes.

Mistakes Learners Make During an Exam

Careless Mistakes/Not Reading the Question Properly

Intermediate phase and further education and training (FET) teachers all state the importance of reading and understanding each question before attempting to answer.

When actively engaging in an exam, you need to scan through the question, understand each word and perhaps underline key words as well.

If you know what a question is asking of you, it is simpler to write down the answer. Oftentimes silly mistakes are made when a particular question in unclear to you.

Plan your time well so that you have enough minutes to spare in order to read the question more than once, highlight key words, and make sense of the question.

If you cannot make heads or tails of what a question is asking you, avoid answering something entirely different to that which is being asked.

Answering a Different Question to the One Asked

It is often that you get so caught up in the stress of writing an examination that you wish to regurgitate all the information you have learnt even when a question is not asking for all that information.

You need to see if the answer that you intend to write is relevant or not. You are mainly challenged with knowing what is acceptable for essay questions, and longer questions. You are rarely ever faced with the problem of not knowing how to answer a multiple-choice question.

Once you have prepared well for an examination and have been through many past papers, you will find it easier to answer all the types of questions that are thrown at you.

Another strategy to ensure that you understand what was asked of you is to pay attention to memoranda. Each memorandum for a past paper contains information that has been dished out by markers and that will be helpful to assist you in understanding where you may go wrong.

In fact, scrutinising the memoranda should be a fundamental element of the study plan.

You must know how to avoid common exam mistakes from happening in the future.

Anxiety Due to Mismanagement of Time

If you plan your study time well, you may also be able to pre-plan the amount of time that you need for answering questions. Cramming all your work the night before exams really isn’t a great idea.

Summarising your study guide is an excellent thing to do, but not a few hours before your exam. If you cram information the night before a big exam only, you may end up writing your exam after having no sleep. In this way, you may lose focus and energy, while trying to stay in control of time as you are writing your paper.

Panic can cause you to get stuck on a question for longer than is required and in turn you will lose out on precious time.

Study well, sleep well, and plan your time well.

A good tutor will be able to help you should you still be struggling with time management.

Exam Paper Errors

Good time management is vital, however, answering well whilst avoiding making any careless spelling errors and the like is important.

From the onset, you need to ensure that you have enough time to answer all of the questions. The biggest exam error of all is spending all your time tackling the first few questions only and not having any time for the end questions that often carry many marks.

Don't throw away your marks unnecessarily. Focus on your time and you will be just great.

In terms of time management, not planning your answer is one of the reasons why you will run out of time. Many students find it hard to get to the point and hence ramble away and in turn lose the right answer in the process.

Think your answer through before you put pen to paper. While you may think that it is unnecessary to plan your answer, it saves you much grief in the long run.

To get better at planning your answers, try out past papers.

Want to tickle your funny bone, read about funny exam mistakes,

Mistakes Learners Make During an Examination

It inevitably all boils down to time. Running out of time during an examination may be a breeding ground for errors. If you are left with time to spare in an exam, you can avoid mistakes.

You can spot some mistakes that you have made. You may have spelt something incorrectly. You also may have made a grammatical error in an English paper which could have been avoided.

Not checking your answers after you have written a paper is the gravest mistake that you can make.

Check for Spelling and Grammar Errors

In your haste to finish an exam, you may be making far more spelling and grammar errors than others. Spelling may just not be your strong point. In this case, you need to revisit your answers so that you can identify and possibly fix incorrect spelling.

You need to find synonyms for words that you are unsure how to spell. Make sure you have perfect spelling, as a paper filled with spelling and grammar errors just doesn't cut it!

Check That Your Handwriting is Legible

Rushing is all well and good but when your "s" looks more like a "c" than an "s", you could be facing big trouble.

If your teacher is struggling to read your handwriting, you already have created a moody marker.

You can very well be marked down for bad handwriting, and this is something you want to avoid at all costs especially when you are struggling to do well in a specific subject.

You want to win over your marker by presenting a neat and legible paper. Read through all your answers to ensure each word and statement is clear.

Check that You Managed Your Time Well

You do need to learn from your mistakes. So, learn from every paper. Consider how much time it took to answer every question and see how you can improve your overall time management skills.

If you needed extra time as you couldn't finish all the questions, take heed and don't cry over spilt milk. Learn from this mistake and improve your time management in the next paper. Leave the questions that you are battling with for last and tackle the questions that you know well first.

Mistakes are easy to make, however, they can just as easily be avoided.

Are you still making mistakes in an exam? Well, don't beat yourself up, as exam boards make mistakes too.