3 crucial steps the TOP 1% of students do

AFTER exams
What is this worksheet?
Use this worksheet to understand what steps you should take after an exam. Exams
are not the end of your learning journey for the year. Rather, exams are extremely
valuable learning opportunities that can bolster a lot of improvement and self-
development.

SCENARIO 1: YOU HAVE EXAMS SOON (HOURS

OR DAYS AWAY)
You might have back-to-back exams or a really packed exam schedule. In this
short period, it is crucial to maintain your energy and focus.

If your next exam is on the very same day, you must calm your mind. You can do
this by engaging in some meditation. You can follow the steps below to do your
meditation session or use guided meditation apps like Calm or Headspace.

Set a timer for 10 minutes and meditate.

Meditation guide:

Spend 5 seconds breathing in

Spend 6 seconds holding your breath
Spend 8-10 seconds breathing out slowly, and restart the process
Repeat these steps for however long you decide to meditate

If your exam is in a few days, you should aim to follow the revision timetable you’ve
sorted out for yourself. We covered this in Video 1 of Series 3; you can check this
out here.

During the time between your exams, whether it’s hours or days, you can engage in
post-exam reflection. This post-exam reflection can be about how to improve for
your next exams, what approaches and things you should do differently, etc.

Even if the exam's content differs, you can still reflect since exam-taking skills are
universal and can be applied to any subject or topic.

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SCENARIO 2: YOU HAVE EXAMS LATER (WEEKS
OR MONTHS AWAY)
Engage in post-exam reflection for each of your exams.

Exams should not be treated as the end of all learning. They should be treated as
valuable learning opportunities. Engaging in post-exam reflection lets you realise
what you can improve on and how to perform better in your next set of exams.

This isn't just about reviewing what you've learned but how you've learned it.

It is also through this reflective-process does one develop a growth mindset,

critical to achieving almost any goal.

Here are 5 questions you can use to guide your reflection after your exams.

1. What aspects went well?

2. What didn't go as well?
3. Why didn't they go as well?
4. How do I tend to act in these situations?
5. What can I do next time to improve?

Here is an example of what the reflection may look like. It is always better to go in-
depth to answer these questions:

“1. What aspects went well? Well, when it came to my revision, I was consistent with
doing my practice papers and note-taking and got it all done 3 days before the
exam.

2. What aspects didn’t go as well?

Now that I reflect, I should’ve spent more time doing more challenging questions. I
noticed that during my revision, I only did a lot of practice papers and eventually
didn’t find as many gaps as I did earlier in my revision. Therefore, my gap seeking
process wasn’t very robust.

3. Why didn’t they go as well?

I feel that my gap-seeking process didn’t go well because when I found my gaps
and felt revision becoming difficult, I tended to back down from the discomfort and
fear associated with getting things wrong.

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4. How do I tend to act in these situations?

Well, when any part of learning and revision becomes difficult, I tend to back out and
work on things that are easier.

It seems how I measured whether I was productive during revision was relying on the
quantity of questions done instead of the number of knowledge-gaps I found.

5. What can I do next time to improve?

What I can do is to be more aware of when I start experiencing difficulty.

For my chemistry exam which is in 3 weeks, I will focus my revision on finding a lot
more of my gaps by attempting difficult questions rather than breezing through easy
questions.”

SCENARIO 3: YOU HAVE NO MORE EXAMS

You may be one of the few who have no more formal exams.

However, this is the best time for a mindset shift.

Over time, your learning needs become more demanding and therefore, the more
important and valuable effective learning becomes.

For example, if you’re going to university, the content you learn in university will be
much more demanding and complex than in high school. If you’re entering the
workforce, you must learn how to upskill yourself continuously when entering the
world. The inability to keep up with new skills and knowledge will set you back in your
career and professional goals.

Remember to:

Understand that the end of exams is not the end but rather a valuable learning
opportunity
Engage in constant reflection around how you can aim to improve.
Develop your learning skills and ability to manage yourself. You can do this by
watching the other videos on the iCanStudy Student YT channel.

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