Now is the busiest academic period for O Level students. Their prelims are coming up soon and the real exams will kick start in October. To prepare them, schools conduct many extra classes and give many mock papers and tests for them to do.

Given that there are only 10 weeks left to the first week of October, how does an O level student ensure that he/she is well prepared in this limited time?

Answer: Effective and efficient use of your time

To make full use of the last 10 weeks, you need to come up with a good time table. What are the ingredients of a good time table?

I recommend the following five steps to construct a time table.

Step 1: Prepare a time table that you will follow.

Be realistic and do not be overambitious by packing too many topics in 1 day.

Estimate how many hours you have a day for every single day of the week for revision and divide the time according to the needs of each subject.

Once you have a time table, stick to it as closely as possible. This requires a lot of self-discipline, resilience and determination as there will be interruptions and there will be days you will feel so tired you just want to take a break. Just continue to hang-on there. Remember, this is the last lap.

Step 2: The time table must be comprehensive.

It should cover all the subjects and all the topics in each subject. It must have breaks and rest time too. For example, there are a total of five themes to cover in Chemistry. Since there are 10 weeks left, plan a time table so that you can revise each theme at least twice in the 10-week period. It is best if you can revise 3 rounds per topic.  Plan the topics such that you cover your weakest topics first and best topics last as it is usually your weakest topics that cost you your marks. Below is an example of a time table for chemistry revision.

Make sure you have sufficient breaks between studying. It will be beneficial if you can have a 10 minutes break for every 50 minutes of intensive studying. Go for a walk, chit-chat with your family members or have some yummy food to boost your energy!

Chemistry Example

Week 1: Organic Chemistry

Fuels, Alkanes, Alkenes, Alcohols, Carboxylic acids, macromolecules

Week 2: Chemistry of Reactions

Electrolysis, Energy from Chemicals, Speed of Reaction, Redox reactions, Acids/Bases/Salts

Week 3: Periodicity and Atmosphere

Periodicity, Metals, Atmosphere, Ammonia

Week 4: Atomic Structure and Stoichiometry

Kinetic Particle Theory, Atomic Structure, Chemical Bonding & Structure of Matter, Stoichiometry

Week 5: Experimental Chemistry

Experimental Chemistry, methods of purification and separation, Identification of Anions/Cations/Gases

Step 3: Always put in Buffer time.

Emergencies always happen! There will definitely be interruptions that prevent us from following the time table or even lag behind. Some of these interruptions you can reject (e.g. going out for tea with your friends) but there are some which will definitely cause you down-time (e.g. if you fall sick).

Hence, we must always build in buffer time in our time table. Buffer time can be daily or weekly. It can be a half-hour slot you set aside every day to catch up on what you did not manage to complete previously or a 2-hour slot on Sunday for catching up.

Step 4: Acquire and Practice, Acquire and Practice, Acquire and Practice ……

To gain a mastery in any topic, you must always acquire the facts, concepts and principles first, follow by testing your understanding by practising questions. Practise any questions you can lay your hands on: be it past year questions, questions from text books and even questions found on the internet. Through practice, you will realise what are the facts or concepts you did not fully understand and this is the time for you to clarify your doubts by looking through your notes again or asking your educator.

This repeated cycle of acquire and practice is critical to acing the Exams as it will help you identify your weak areas and help you to strengthen them through reinforcement. It is important to read through each topic at least twice as most of us are not endowed super-memory and need repeated readings to remember the facts.

Step 5: Be Specific

Make sure you write down exactly what time you intend to do each task and for how long. If not, chances are, you will not get down to doing it. Remember to schedule the learning of your weakest topics during the freshest time of your day to maximise learning. To demonstrate how to add the specifics, we will use the Chemistry time-table example I suggested in Step 2. Let’s take week 1.

For week 1, let’s say, I only have half an hour a day to spend on Chemistry each day and there are 6 topics to cover in Organic Chemistry. I will plan to study a topic a day from Mon to Saturday. I will set aside the half-hour time slot on Sunday as buffer time (Step 3). Next, for each half-hour slot, I will spend the first 15 minutes acquiring the facts and the next 15 minutes practising (Step 4). Last but not least, I decide the best time to revise chemistry is from 8 pm to 8.30 pm every night (Step 5).

Your success in your O Levels is highly dependent on how you decide to spend these last 10 weeks. Please use this time wisely. Meanwhile, you should quickly get started on creating a feasible battle plan for yourself now to win the battle.

I wish every student success in the upcoming exams. All the Best!