Many students have always wondered how to score an A for General Paper especially leading up to their examinations. Besides knowing your basic content for the essay question that you are attempting, it is also critical for students to have some basic examination skills. The aim of this post is to highlight some important examination and revision skills that you should have to prepare you for the A levels.
Some tips to take note of:
- Practice past year papers under exam conditions. You should always strive to complete the papers under timed conditions like how you would face in the exam hall. Not completing them on time would have lulled you into a false sense of security and made you think that your practice grades were better than they were. At this point in time, you shouldn’t be facing time management issues such as not being able to complete your AQ on time.
- It is also vital that you plan effectively before writing a response. Planning enables you to organize your arguments and the key arguments that you need to bring into your answers. This also means that you have a clear directon for your answers.
- Remember that “less is more”. By looking at examiner reports, I found that a common mistake that students make is to try and bring in a whole range of issues and only mention them superficially. Examiners expect “Good” students to take a smaller number of issues and develop these into a sustained line of argument. Far better to have 3 arguments developed well than 5 or 6 arguments that are only touched on.
- Finally, the skill of evaluation is key to getting an A. Examiner reports say that you need to make a clear and distinct judgement that is justified in relation to the exact question set. Consistently focusing on the question and using it as the central aspect of planning would mean that you did not drift away and lose focus. This will enable you to make “Good” judgements rather than “reasonable” ones. The ability to qualify and justify your views is an extremely useful skill in the university as well.
P.S Drop us a comment if you think you have other tips for students going for the General Paper exams! Alternatively, if you are interested to find out more about how we teach evaluation and analytical skills during our lessons, please drop us a call. Our numbers are on our profile page and we promise we won’t bite!
