Other types of exams

Open-book and multiple-choice exams often seem easier than essay-writing exams, but you still need to revise or you could find yourself throwing away easy marks.

Open-book exams

In an open-book exam, you don't have time to look up things you don't know – the books are just memory aids so you don't have to remember pages of information. In an open-book exam:

• trust what you know from your revision
  
  
• only look up key information, like quotes and formulas
  
  
• if you're allowed, place flags in key sections to save time.

Multiple-choice exams

In multiple-choice exams, you have to recall lots of information quickly, because you can only spend a short period of time on each question.

When revising for multiple-choice exams, focus on factual information, like definitions and multi-step processes. Working with a friend and testing each other out loud is good too.

In multiple-choice exams, it's useful to:

• read each question carefully
  
  
• predict the right answer
  
  
• read all the options before you pick one
  
  
• eliminate obviously wrong options
  
  
• spend a short amount of time on each question
  
  
• skip questions you can't answer and come back to them later.