RHS Level 1 Certificate

Week 29 – Exam preparation and mock exam

Learning Outcomes

• Identify areas of information requiring final review for exam

• List three techniques for remaining calm in an exam• List three techniques for managing time in an exam• List three important steps in final preparation for the

exam• Identify one personal area for improvement prior to

the exam (could be in exam technique, presentation, time management etc)

Exam technique – staying calm

Good preparation is important – if you ‘know your stuff’ then you can feel more confident.

Get organised – know where you are going; prepare your bag with water, sweets, pens and ruler etc the night before; arrive 10-15 minutes early.

Do not wind yourself or other people up by discussing the exam before you go in.

Breathe – once you get into the exam room set out your pens etc and sit calmly and breathe deeply.

Suck a sweet or chew gum if that helps you.

Exam technique – managing time

Time management is vital – if you don’t answer all the required questions then you cannot get a good mark.

Take a clock or put your watch where you can see it. Divide up your time and make a note – and then stick to it. Move on when you reach the end of the time for a question. You can always go back at the end if you have time.

If you are going to run out of time – give a bullet point outline answer with the key information and add a sentence explaining that you ran out of time and apologising.

Don’t rush however – read over the questions, jot down the points you need to cover for the long questions (a couple of words to remind you). Rushing in can mean that you don’t understand what you need to do or miss things out.

Exam Technique – suggested timings

Five minutes (and no more) to skim read the question paper. Identify the long questions you can do.

30 minutes for the short questions in total (you may need less). If you can’t do one and can’t guess then leave it.

15 minutes per long question (45 minutes in total) – stick to this.

Five minutes to review your answers at the end – underline botanical names to show italics, add information, try to answer anything you had to skip.

Mock Exam

Exam conditions – clear desks and silence 50 minutes total time allowed 15 short questions and a choice of 1 long

one from three. Timings – five minutes to read the questions.

30 minutes for the short questions and 15 minutes for the long one.

Reflection on the Mock

What was hardest? Types of question? Time management? Etc.

How did you chose your long question? Is it better to do a question that you can do well in part or one that you can ‘sort of’ do overall?

What can you improve or change in your exam technique?

What is your personal target for the next two weeks? What do you want to review next week?

Final preparation

Past exam papers (on the web site) – read them, note what sort of questions are asked and what they mean, read the examiners feedback.

Complete at least two papers to time in ‘exam conditions’.

Review any areas that you know you have problems with – and tell me so we can look at them next week

Botanical names for examples – work on these.

Learning outcomes

• Identify areas of information requiring final review for exam

• List three techniques for remaining calm in an exam

• List three techniques for managing time in an exam

• List three important steps in final preparation for the exam

• Identify one personal area for improvement prior to the exam (could be in exam technique, presentation, time management etc)