Help is here. Cambridge Internationalâs research team have reviewed the evidence about the strategies that help students to do well in exams and put together some handy hints to support your students to achieve success in their tests.

At Cambridge International we take great care to avoid measuring skills such as how quickly a candidate can write under timed conditions, or how good they are at making clever guesses with multiple-choice questions without really knowing the answer.

However, it is challenging to assess studentsâ knowledge and skills of a subject area without interference from a range of factors. On the day of a test, candidates might feel nervous and make mistakes. They might:

Such instances can leave students feeling frustrated because they couldnât do their best. In these cases, candidatesâ results are affected by weak test-taking skills.

The good news is that test-taking strategies, which are the skills and approaches that candidates can use before and during a test to improve their outcomes, can get better with practice. Preparation and practice can help learners feel confident that their test results will reflect their ability in a subject, rather than measure their test-taking skills.

Here are some top tips and tricks for pre-test preparation.

Practice makes perfect: High achieving pupils often practise with past papers. Less successful students do not look at previous papers, or they might flick through the content without attempting the questions.

Prepare with peers: Top achievers are more likely to ask their teachers or peers for support with tricky topics ahead of tests.

Confidence is key: Feeling well-prepared is linked to better test outcomes. Preparation can also reduce test-anxiety which can affect studentsâ performance.

There is plenty that students can do during the test to improve their performance.

Perfect pace: Depending on the timings of the test, slow and steady might not win the race, nor will being too quick and hasty. High-attaining students usually work at a moderate to fast pace striking the right balance between speed and accuracy.

Attempt an answer: Students who submit more complete tests are likely to get better results. That is because those who attempt challenging questions have a chance at gaining marks for their efforts, whereas those who skip questions canât be rewarded.

Best to guess: For multiple-choice questions, if thereâs no penalty for incorrect answers, itâs best to make a guess. However, not all guesses are equal â before guessing, students should look carefully at the answer options to see if they can eliminate any that they know are wrong.

Review and rectify: High-attaining students are more likely to check their answers at the end of the test.

Keep practice in proportion: Dedicating a lot of classroom time to test-preparation might not be wise. Although some pupils may benefit from being familiar with test formats, too much focus on test-taking strategies can lead to narrow âteaching-to-the-testâ approaches. This exam-focussed style of teaching is not clearly linked to improved student outcomes and can limit learning.

Encourage enjoyment: Research shows that there is a link between enjoyment and test-attainment. Motivate your students to find fun in the learning and assessment process and encourage them to enjoy having the chance to show off what theyâve learnt.

This article has been published from Cambridge Internationalâs blog and was written by Dr. Jude Brady.