I assume tutors have prob. read through most of the past examiners reports. Are there any common themes which come out of these, I'm trying to figure out where most people are dropping marks and hence failing. Things along the lines of, for example: Not knowing book work? Not enough detail Too much detail per point and not enough distinct points. Too general etc.. Do people tend to drop similar marks on each question, or is there always one or two questions which really seperates the wheat from the chaff? If so, what is it that the good people do differently? Any help much appreciated, trying to streamline my learning as much as poss! Cheers
Everything you say above is a potential pitfall. You need to carefully analyse which ones you fall in - are you doing a mock? Get it marked and that should help get feedback on YOUR position. But turning your question on its head, what is good exam technique? Know your bookwork: YES but this is the bear minimum - You must have application skills so...... a)What are the key things that help you filter the bookwork? Highlight adjectives -- eg big/mature/new etc. This is a good thing in reading time is getting down any aide-memoires for possible areas to think about. b)Follow the instruction LIST - just that - often one or two words no expansion DISCUSS - look for pros and cons DESCRIBE - need depth but look out for the word briefly and the number of marks. Don't be afraid to state the obvious. If its a process, get your chronological order sorted. c) Numerical/derivation question? Leave a good audit trail in case something goes wrong. Define your symols particularly if non-standard d) Definitions Need to be very accurate here. It's not as easy as it sounds! Layout - particularly in longer questions consider headers. Will give you a focus rather than having a general ramble/scattergun feel. Also should stop you repeating yourself (or possibly even more damaging; contradicting yourself!) No magical answer I'm afraid. Just practise as much as possible! Good luck
All bystander's points seems very sensible to me. Of the potential pitfalls listed in the first post the one that strikes me as a very common pitfall is "too much detail per point and not enough distinct points". I think people do tend to get the "width of ideas" versus "depth of discussion of each idea" balance different from the examiners in this direction, ie tend to say more than they need to score the 1/2 mark or 1 mark available for a point, but don't have enough points. (I do realise this is an easy thing to say, but is a difficult thing to judge in the exam.....) Another common problem is using a standard bookwork list or acronym in an answer, even though all the points don't apply to a particular question. Something the Examiners' Reports comment on as a good thing is when people give examples to illustrate the points they are making. For example ( ), I think "reduce expenses by outsourcing some tasks or by investing in systems to improve efficiency" is a better point than "reduce expenses"... Hope the revising is going well - best of luck Lynn
