The Exam Knack

Some people seem to find exams easier than others – and are said to have got ‘the knack’. Now if someone finds an exam difficult because they haven’t put in the work and actually learnt the subject matter, well that’s just an ‘own goal’. Exams are designed to fail those people and rightly so.

No, I mean people who have put in the work and still struggle with exams – they lack the knack. I read a great piece in a local paper from Wicklow in Ireland (isn’t the internet a great tool!) about a high achieving student called Katie Sherlock (Link: http://www.wicklowpeople.ie/news/technique-the-key-says-scholar-katie-1344524.html) who describes the exam knack really clearly:

It's just a knack I have for focusing on what I need to answer an exam question and paring down all the information to what is relevant, which is a formula that seems to have worked for me so far!

Remember the exam axiom I mentioned a few weeks ago? Young Katie has got it sussed and is really just re-stating the exam axiom (To pass any exam, score more points than the pass mark) – it’s all about being really clear about what needs to be done and then focusing on just that.

Haven’t got the knack yet? Don’t fret. Like any skill, it is learnable. If you can learn an academic subject, then you can learn study and exam performance skills. But like any skill it also requires awareness, focus and a bit of work on your part.

Get the exam knack, and you might even start enjoying exams. Yes, that really is possible!