7 Steps for Passing BGCSE and BJC exams

This post is written in response to a request I received from one of my readers who is a student. Here is her request.

I was just wondering if you can give me some tips for passing my BGCSE’s.

Many of you are probably interested in the same, so today I will share 7 steps for passing your BGCSE and BJC exams.

Before we talk about the steps, you should remember that in order to pass any exam, there is a good deal of studying involved. So these tips will address study methods which have been implemented in the past for many students both in high school and college.  Tried and true, these steps have been tested and resulted in excellent grades!

Here they are……..

1. Review Your Notes

You’re probably thinking that this is an obvious step, but bear with me because this approach is slightly different from what you expect.

On a weekly basis, stop everything and set aside about 2-3 hours to review your class notes. In this sitting, you are simply reviewing the lessons taught and the notes you’ve taken in your notebook.

On a separate notepad, make a numbered list of the topics that you need to do extra research on. You are simply making a note of these topics as you review your notes. However, this is not the time to do the research. I repeat, this is NOT the time to actually do the research.

 2. Internet and library research

Now that you have read up on your notes and made a list of all the extra material you need to research, set aside another day and take 2 hours to use the library and internet to do the research you need. Do not combine your research with reviewing of your notes in step 1. If you do, you may get sidetracked while doing your research. Your list is meant to keep you focused.

3. Answer past paper questions

Get a hold of past exam papers. Many of these papers can be downloaded easily from this site. BGCSE papers are here and the BJC Papers are here.

Open your textbook and notebook, and begin answering the questions. This is an open book test. You will be surprised how much more you learn when you do this. Let your teacher mark the past paper for you. If this is not an option, you can obtain past papers with answer keys here on the site also.

Keep in mind that even the much older past papers are beneficial for practice. The questions are repeated often and this is useful for learning the material.

4. Learn the structure of the past papers

This is not the same as the last step. This step actually involves analyzing the layout of the exam paper. Each BGCSE and BJC subject follows the same pattern every exam year. The only thing that changes is the question itself.  Complete as many past papers as you can, but leave (1) one past paper incomplete.

 5. Mock exam

Take the (1) one past paper you left incomplete, go into a quiet undisturbed room and time yourself as you work out the answers to this paper without any text or notebook.  You are creating a mock exam environment and building confidence at the same time. Try to complete the exam in the allotted time as stated on the exam paper.

 6. Write an essay and give it away

That’s right, gather all of your essays you have written and swap them with a classmate.  This is an underused but effective method of exam preparation.  By doing this, you are exchanging ideas with your classmates and working together to bring about the best possible grade for each other.

If you missed out an important point, maybe your classmate will cover that point in his/her essay.   This is a popular method used in college exam preparations and in the working world. The reason this method works so well is because some of the best results happen when 2 or more persons work together.

 7. Get some sleep

If you have followed these steps for each of your subjects all throughout the school year, then you will not have to stay up late and cram the night before your exam. Instead, go to bed at a reasonable hour, get a light healthy breakfast on the morning and sit your exam in total confidence knowing that “You got this covered!”  🙂

 These are just some of my tips on how to study for BGCSE and BJC exams. Do you have any other tips for passing exams?  Share them in the comments box. Or sign up below for our newsletter to get more exam prep tips.