5 Things not to do on exam day

Its exam time, you have read, studied, revised, practiced for weeks (or even months) and frankly, there is no one better prepared than you right now for exam success – all that remains is to survive the day. Check out the top five things not to do on exam day, and how to avoid them.

Turn up in the middle of your exam.

Being late isn’t a good look, being late for an exam is even worse – it either means less time to complete it, or not being able to do it at all. Check and double check the time and location well in advance, and have a backup plan for if the bus decides its time to break down.

Attempt to win the ‘best tummy rumble’ competition.

Your brain needs food as well and it is also much harder to concentrate when you are hungry (there are even some foods that are better for your brain than others). Eating a good breakfast (or lunch) before an exam avoids embarrassing rumbles in the silence of the exam hall. Perhaps save the pain au chocolat for the post exam celebration though.

A post shared by MDXmym (@middlesexmakeyourmark) on Feb 3, 2017 at 1:36am PST

Borrow a pen, calculator, paper, ruler …

Most of the time there will be someone on hand to help out if you have forgotten anything, but try to avoid wasting precious exam time requesting items by making sure you bring everything you need. Your teacher will be able to tell you exactly what you can and can't take into the exam room with you. We're not sure our Make Your Mark slap-band rulers are allowed in exam rooms, but they do look very cool.

A post shared by MDXmym (@middlesexmakeyourmark) on Feb 24, 2017 at 7:45am PST

	Take a mid-exam snooze. OK, you are probably not going to nod off half way through an exam, but getting a good night of sleep before exam day is as important as that last minute cram session – your brain works better when it is well rested. Have a 'night before' plan, where you know what revision you'll be doing, and set yourself a bed time.

Become the post-exam analysis reporter.

Once you leave the exam hall there is nothing you can do about your answers, avoid post-exam worries (and annoying ‘I definitely got that one right’ braggers) by steering clear of social-media and post-exam analysis.