Exam Preparation prompts

Help me understand this exam.

THE EXAM: [SUBJECT, LEVEL, BOARD OR INSTITUTION]
FORMAT: [WHAT YOU KNOW - number of papers, duration, question types]
PAST PAPERS I HAVE: [PASTE A QUESTION OR TWO, OR DESCRIBE THEM]
MARK SCHEME: [PASTE IF YOU HAVE IT]
SPECIFICATION OR SYLLABUS: [PASTE OR DESCRIBE]

Produce:

1. WHAT IS ACTUALLY BEING ASSESSED - from the papers and mark scheme, the skills being tested rather than the topics. Most exams test a small set of skills repeatedly across different content: recall, explanation, application, analysis, and evaluation. Identify the mix and its weighting.

2. THE COMMAND WORDS - every command word used, what each requires, and how marks are awarded for it. This is the highest-value thing to know about any exam and is routinely ignored. Students lose marks by describing when asked to evaluate far more often than by not knowing the content.

3. THE MARK DISTRIBUTION - where the marks are: which topics, which question types, and which skills. Revision effort should follow this distribution, not personal interest.

4. THE PATTERN - from the past papers, what recurs: question types, topics that appear every year, and the structure of the paper. Note explicitly that past patterns are a guide, not a guarantee, and that relying on a topic appearing is a risk.

5. THE MARK SCHEME READING - what the mark scheme reveals about how answers are credited: whether marks are for points or for quality, whether a conclusion is required, whether specific terminology must be used, and what is credited that students often omit.

6. THE EASY MARKS - the parts of the paper where marks are most reliably obtainable, and which students commonly lose through technique rather than knowledge.

7. THE TIME PRESSURE - marks per minute available, and whether this is a paper where time is the binding constraint. If so, technique matters as much as content.

8. THE TECHNIQUE GAINS - the marks available from exam technique alone: reading the question properly, answering the command, using the data provided, planning long answers, and checking you answered what was asked.

9. WHAT TO PRIORITISE - given all the above, where revision effort produces the most marks.

Help me practise exam technique.

THE EXAM: [SUBJECT AND FORMAT]
MY PROBLEM: [running out of time / losing marks on questions I know / freezing / careless errors / not knowing where to start]
A RECENT ATTEMPT: [PASTE A QUESTION AND YOUR ANSWER]
TIME UNTIL THE EXAM: [TIMEFRAME]

Produce:

1. MY PROBLEM, DIAGNOSED - from what I described and my attempt:
   - RUNNING OUT OF TIME: usually caused by over-writing early questions, not planning, or spending too long on low-mark questions. Identify which.
   - LOSING MARKS ON KNOWN CONTENT: almost always a command-word problem or not using the information provided in the question.
   - CARELESS ERRORS: usually a checking problem or rushing at the end.
   - FREEZING: often a starting problem rather than a knowledge problem.

2. MY ATTEMPT, MARKED STRICTLY - what would and would not earn marks, and specifically what is correct but uncredited because it does not answer the question asked.

3. THE TIME ALLOCATION - minutes per question based on marks, with a checkpoint: where I should be at the halfway point. Write it as something to memorise and apply.

4. THE OPENING ROUTINE - what to do in the first three minutes of the paper: read through, note which questions are straightforward, decide the order, and start with one you can do. Starting with a hard question costs time and confidence.

5. THE PER-QUESTION ROUTINE - underline the command word, note the marks, plan briefly if it is a long answer, write, then check you answered the question asked. Drilled until automatic.

6. THE OVER-WRITING PROBLEM - writing more than the marks warrant costs time and earns nothing. Say roughly how much a mark is worth in words for my exam.

7. THE STUCK PROTOCOL - what to do when a question will not come: leave it, mark it, move on, and return. Write down what you do know rather than nothing. Time spent staring is the most expensive time in an exam.

8. THE PRACTICE PLAN - given my timeframe, how to practise technique specifically: timed questions, then full timed papers, marked against the scheme strictly. Untimed practice does not train the skill that is failing.

9. THE CHECKING PASS - what to check in the last few minutes, prioritised.

10. THE FREEZING RESPONSE - if that is my problem, practical steps: start with the easiest question, write anything to break the block, and breathe out slowly. Also the honest note that if anxiety is severe, speaking to someone at the institution is worth doing; support and adjustments often exist.

Help me with exam essay technique.

THE QUESTION:
"""
[PASTE]
"""

SUBJECT AND LEVEL: [DETAIL]
MARKS AND TIME: [HOW MANY MARKS, HOW LONG]
MARK SCHEME OR CRITERIA: [PASTE IF AVAILABLE]
MY ATTEMPT OR PLAN: [PASTE, or 'I do not know how to start']

Produce:

1. THE QUESTION DECODED - the command word, the topic, and any limiting phrase that narrows the scope. Essays lose marks by answering a broader question than the one asked. Identify exactly what is in scope.

2. THE MARK SCHEME READING - what the marks are for. Essay marks are usually awarded for: a clear argument, relevant evidence, analysis rather than description, addressing counter-arguments, and a conclusion that answers the question. Say which apply here and their weight.

3. THE PLAN - what a plan should contain and how long to spend on it. Five minutes planning a forty-minute essay is the highest-return five minutes available, and it is the first thing sacrificed under pressure.

4. THE STRUCTURE for this question:
   - The opening: address the question directly and state the line of argument. No throat-clearing, no defining terms unless the question turns on a definition, no 'throughout history'.
   - The body: each paragraph making one point, with evidence, and explicit linking back to the question
   - The counter-argument: where and how, because most essay mark schemes require it
   - The conclusion: answering the question, not summarising the essay

5. THE ARGUMENT - for this specific question, the line you could take, and two alternatives. An essay with a position scores better than one that surveys views without committing.

6. MY ATTEMPT, ASSESSED - where it describes rather than analyses, where it is relevant but not credited, and where the link back to the question is missing.

7. THE ANALYSIS TEST - the difference between description and analysis, shown with a rewritten sentence from my attempt. Description says what happened; analysis says why it matters for the question.

8. THE TIME PLAN - planning, writing, and checking, within the stated time.

9. THE PARAGRAPH TEMPLATE - a reliable shape to use under pressure: point, evidence, explanation, link. Not elegant, but it scores.

10. WHAT LOSES MARKS - narrative rather than argument, evidence without explanation, no conclusion, running out of time mid-paragraph, and answering the question you revised for rather than the one asked.

Help me revise a subject I am bad at.

THE SUBJECT: [WHAT IT IS]
WHERE I AM: [WHAT YOU CAN AND CANNOT DO]
WHY I THINK I STRUGGLE: [YOUR VIEW]
HOW LONG I HAVE: [TIMEFRAME]
WHAT I HAVE TRIED: [WHAT HAS NOT WORKED]
THE ASSESSMENT: [FORMAT AND WHAT IT REQUIRES]

Produce:

1. THE DIAGNOSIS - 'bad at' a subject is rarely the whole story. Usually it is one of:
   - A MISSING FOUNDATION: a concept from earlier that was never secured, making everything built on it unstable. The most common and the most fixable.
   - A SPECIFIC WEAK AREA rather than the whole subject
   - A TECHNIQUE PROBLEM: the knowledge is there and the assessment format defeats it
   - AVOIDANCE: it feels bad, so it gets studied last and least, which makes it worse
   From what I described, which is most likely.

2. THE FOUNDATION CHECK - the earlier concepts this subject builds on. A short diagnostic: five questions covering the prerequisites. If these are shaky, that is where to start, and it will feel like going backwards while being the fastest route forward.

3. THE WEAK AREA MAP - break the subject into components and identify which are actually weak. Usually it is fewer than it feels. 'I am bad at maths' is almost always 'I am weak at three specific things'.

4. THE STARTING POINT - the one thing to fix first, chosen because other things depend on it.

5. THE APPROACH - for a subject I have avoided, short and frequent beats long and rare. Twenty minutes daily on this produces more than a three-hour session at the weekend, and is far more likely to actually happen.

6. WHAT HAS NOT WORKED - I said what I have tried. Say why it did not work, which is useful information rather than a reflection on me. Rereading does not work for anyone; it just fails more visibly in a subject you find hard.

7. THE CONFIDENCE ISSUE - avoidance of a subject is usually driven by the discomfort of being bad at something, which is rational and self-reinforcing. The practical countermeasure is starting with something achievable so the session produces a success rather than a confirmation.

8. THE PLAN - for my timeframe, specific and modest. A plan that assumes I will suddenly work four hours a day on the subject I dislike will not happen.

9. THE PROGRESS CHECK - how to tell it is working, since progress in a weak subject is slow enough to be invisible without measurement.

10. THE REALISTIC TARGET - given the time, what is achievable. An honest target I might reach is more useful than an ambitious one I will abandon.

Help me prepare for a spoken assessment.

WHAT IT IS: [viva / oral exam / language speaking test / practical assessment / interview]
SUBJECT: [WHAT IT COVERS]
FORMAT: [DURATION, WHO EXAMINES, HOW IT RUNS]
WHAT I HAVE PRODUCED: [thesis / project / portfolio, if relevant]
WHAT I AM WORRIED ABOUT: [YOUR CONCERN]
LEVEL: [STAGE]

Produce:

1. WHAT THEY ARE ASSESSING - spoken assessments test something different from written ones: whether you understand what you produced, whether you can think under questioning, and whether you can defend a position. Knowing this changes how to prepare.

2. THE LIKELY QUESTIONS - for my format and subject. For a viva: why you chose this approach, what you would do differently, the limitations, how it relates to other work, and what you would do next. For an oral exam: the core concepts and application. For a language test: the standard topics and functions.

3. THE QUESTIONS I WILL FIND HARDEST - including the one about the weakest part of my work. Every examiner finds it; preparing an honest answer is far better than being surprised.

4. THE 'I DON'T KNOW' SCRIPT - the single most useful preparation. The honest response, done well: acknowledge it, say what you do know that is adjacent, and say how you would find out. This scores better than a confident invention, which examiners identify immediately.

5. THE DEFENDING WITHOUT BEING DEFENSIVE distinction - how to hold a position under challenge while genuinely engaging with the objection. Examiners often push to see whether you can think, not because they disagree.

6. THE STRUCTURE FOR ANSWERS - a shape to use under pressure: a direct answer first, then the reasoning, then any qualification. Starting with context and arriving at the answer eventually is the common failure.

7. THE PRACTICE METHOD - out loud, with someone asking the questions, without notes. Rehearsing answers in your head does not prepare you for the experience of speaking them.

8. THE PACE - nerves cause speed. The countermeasure is a deliberate pause before answering, which also makes the answer better. Practise the pause.

9. WHAT NOT TO DO - do not agree with every criticism to be agreeable, do not answer a question you were not asked because you prepared for it, and do not fill silence with padding.

10. THE PRACTICALITIES - what to bring, how to handle a question about something you have forgotten, and what to do if you realise mid-answer that you are wrong.

Help me learn from this result.

WHAT THE ASSESSMENT WAS: [SUBJECT AND FORMAT]
MY RESULT: [WHAT YOU GOT AND WHAT YOU EXPECTED]
THE PAPER AND MY ANSWERS: [PASTE WHAT YOU HAVE]
FEEDBACK RECEIVED: [PASTE, if any]
HOW I PREPARED: [WHAT YOU ACTUALLY DID]
WHAT COMES NEXT: [resit / next assessment / final]

Produce:

1. THE MARK LOSS ANALYSIS - where the marks were actually lost, categorised. This is the whole exercise, and it usually surprises people:
   - DID NOT KNOW IT: a content gap
   - KNEW IT, ANSWERED THE WRONG QUESTION: a command word or comprehension problem
   - KNEW IT, RAN OUT OF TIME: a timing problem
   - KNEW IT, EXPLAINED IT POORLY: a technique problem
   - CARELESS ERROR: a checking problem
   Count the marks in each category. The distribution tells you what to fix, and it is frequently not the content.

2. THE SURPRISE - which category holds more marks than I would have guessed. Most people assume a poor result means they did not know the material, and frequently the marks were lost elsewhere.

3. THE PREPARATION AUDIT - I said how I prepared. Assess it honestly against what the assessment required. Common mismatches: revising content for an assessment testing application, rereading rather than retrieving, and never practising under timed conditions.

4. THE CONTENT GAPS - the specific topics where knowledge was missing, listed, so revision targets them rather than starting again.

5. THE PATTERN - if several errors share a cause, name it. One misunderstanding can produce errors that look unrelated.

6. THE FEEDBACK, INTERPRETED - if I have any, what it actually means in practical terms. Examiner feedback is often terse and general; translate it into specific actions.

7. THE PLAN FOR NEXT TIME - proportionate to the mark loss analysis. If most marks were lost to technique, the plan is technique practice, not more content revision.

8. THE THINGS THAT ARE FIXABLE QUICKLY - timing, command words, checking, and answer structure. These often account for a substantial share of lost marks and take days rather than months to improve.

9. THE PROPORTIONATE RESPONSE - a poor result feels worse than it usually is. Say what this result actually means for my stated next step, without either minimising it or catastrophising.

10. THE ONE CHANGE - if I do one thing differently, what.

Help me plan the last week before my exam.

THE EXAM: [SUBJECT, DATE, FORMAT]
WHERE I AM: [HOW WELL PREPARED YOU FEEL, AND WHAT IS COVERED]
WEAK AREAS: [WHAT YOU KNOW IS SHAKY]
OTHER EXAMS: [ANYTHING ELSE IN THE SAME PERIOD]
HOURS AVAILABLE PER DAY: [REALISTICALLY]
HOW I AM FEELING: [calm / anxious / panicking]

Produce:

1. WHAT THE LAST WEEK IS FOR - consolidation and retrieval, not learning new material. Attempting to cover untouched topics in the final days usually displaces the consolidation that would have secured what you already know, and produces a net loss. Say this plainly.

2. THE EXCEPTION - if a topic is high-weight and completely uncovered, a shallow pass may still be worth it. Identify whether any of my weak areas qualify, and be strict.

3. THE DAILY PLAN - each day with: topics, activities, and a timed practice element. Retrieval and past papers, not rereading.

4. THE PAST PAPER SCHEDULE - at least one full timed paper in the final week, marked strictly. This is the highest-value activity available and is commonly skipped because it is uncomfortable.

5. THE WEAK AREAS - targeted work on my stated weak areas, but capped. Spending the whole week on the weakest topic while the rest fades is a common and costly mistake.

6. THE FINAL 48 HOURS - lighter. Review summaries, past questions, and the things most likely to be forgotten: formulas, definitions, dates, and key terminology. No new material.

7. THE DAY BEFORE - a short review in the morning, then stop. Cramming the day before produces fatigue that costs more than the extra material gains. Say what to do with the rest of the day.

8. SLEEP - the practical point rather than the moral one. Sleep consolidates memory and sustains the judgement the exam requires. A late night before an exam reliably costs more marks than it adds.

9. THE ANXIETY RESPONSE - given how I said I am feeling, practical steps. If panicking: reduce the plan rather than expanding it, because an unachievable plan increases anxiety. Do one thing, finish it, and note it as done.

10. THE EXAM DAY PLAN - what to take, when to arrive, what to review beforehand if anything, and what to do if you go blank in the first five minutes.

11. THE HONEST NOTE - if I said I am panicking, add that this is common, that it does not predict the result as strongly as it feels, and that if the anxiety is severe, the institution usually has support worth contacting.