Reset your mind to resit your exams

Okay, the results didn’t quite work out. There could be very valid excuses or, perhaps, you know you didn’t put in the right amount of effort.

Whatever the reasons, you might consider resitting the exam.

To do this successfully, you have to reset your mind and then follow a plan. Here’s how.

Make the exam result history

While your score might be changed by a re-mark, the paper you wrote will never change. It’s important that you put all that behind you and concentrate on passing a fresh exam.

Don’t dwell on your mistakes or the perceived mistakes of others. The only thing you can change is your approach. So focus on that.

Make your approach fresh

Though you will be revising and relearning things that you did before, try to approach the subject with a fresh angle. Buy a new textbook, find some new advice, even sit in a different room to work.

Of course you will draw on your previous knowledge, but if you want to move on from what you have done before, you need to create the energy to improve.

Create two hit lists

A hit list contains the topics you want to nail.

The first hit list holds your favourite topics. You definitely want to revise them again in the hope they come up. Too often resitters leave those aside, thinking they have them covered. Then, when they come back to the exam, they find they’ve forgotten some of the key points.

The second hit list has the hardest elements. The good news is that you are a bit older and a bit wiser now. It should mean some are a bit easier. Still some will remain a struggle.

With this hit list, crack onto these topics straight away. Seek out advice from new sources, try different approaches. Don’t leave them to the last few weeks before you get help.

Practice properly

Everyone says you need to practice past papers. You probably did plenty before the last exam.

This time around you need to be cuter, sharper and better organised. How?

First, put yourself under proper pressure in exam conditions. Turn off the music, set yourself a proper time limit and go for it. You don’t have to do a full paper though. Just make it as close to what might happen on the day.

Second, have three question options ready to do and randomly pick one just before you start your session.

Be ready to fail as well. If you don’t like the question, don’t give up. Fail by doing your best. Then work out afterwards what you could do differently.

That’s proper learning. Painful, yes. Hard work, yes. It’s all about growing yourself before the next time and that’s going to be messy sometimes.

Resitting an exam isn’t easy, mostly because you have to do the extra work around your normal day-to-day routine. Make the most of your time by this fresh, focused approach.