The moment of truth has arrived for this year’s matric learners.
With fewer than 100 days to the start of the final examinations, the Class of 2019 now has to pull out all the stops to ensure it achieves its full potential.
In preparing for these assessments, one study tactic should be added to the overall strategy – completing as many past papers as possible.
“Writing past exam papers helps your preparation on several levels,” explains Wonga Ntshinga, Senior Head of Programme in the Faculty of ICT at The Independent Institute of Education.
“In addition to covering the material you studied in a practical way, you also get a deeper understanding of how you need to pace yourself to ensure you complete a paper within the required time.
“So you get used to the stress of being faced with problems and questions in different formats and the way papers are structured as well as deeply applying your knowledge,” he says.
Ntshinga says learners who are serious about their performance later this year should reflect on their mid-year exam experience and results.
“Your June exams would have given you a good idea of where you did well, and where you need extra focus. It is particularly those subjects in which you struggled, or that you could have performed better in, which can benefit from the completion of past exam papers.
“So in addition to your existing revision strategy, commit to writing a past paper a week in each of the subjects that can do with a boost – the benefit of taking this approach is that it will give you a much greater return on the investment of your time and focus than almost any other form of revision.”
There are several ways in which past papers can be relatively easily accessed. “Most schools should make past papers available to their learners. You will find countless past papers on the web and on educational and government websites.”
Ntshinga says that while the final exams may feel rather far away at the moment, the last few months of the matric year fly by in the blink of an eye, and learners should get into their preparation without delay.
