Host
Jag Dhaliwal
Guests
- Shaun Robertson, Director, Education and Qualifications, ICAEW
- Hazel Powling, Head of Qualifications Development, ICAEW
Transcript
Jag Dhaliwal: Hello and welcome to ICAEW Student Insights. My name is Jag Dhaliwal, and today we’re discussing what you can do before and after exam day to give you the best chance of success. It’s natural for exams to make you feel nervous, but by putting strategies in place and making the best use of the available resources, you’ll feel more confident that you’ve done everything you possibly can. To share their top tips, I’m joined today by Shaun Robertson, Director of Education and Qualifications, and Hazel Powling, Head of Qualifications Development. Hi Shaun and Hazel, thanks for coming in today.
Hazel Powling: Hi Jag, yeah. Thank you for inviting us.
Shaun Robertson: Thank you.
JD: So, let’s get straight into it. Twenty-four hours before an exam, a very daunting place to be. What can students do to stay cool, calm and collected?
SR: The last 24 hours, I would say it’s natural you are going to feel under a bit of stress. As you say, exams will make you do that. So that last 24 hours has got to be into full-on pampering, looking after yourself mode. And that’s when you treat yourself, that’s when you look after yourself, because you’ve done the hard work. But to give you that confidence to do that, you have to have planned before you got to the last 24 hours, to ensure that by the last 24 hours, it should be your favourite food, a good night’s sleep, a nice bath, whatever does it for you that makes you get into your happy place. That is important, because you will feel anxious, wound up, so therefore you’ve got to do everything you can do to effectively distract yourself into feeling much more confident.
JD: Now, Shaun, you’ve made it sound really lovely. I feel like I want to sit an exam tomorrow.
SR: The thing is, it’s much easier to say that than actually do it. And I understand. I’m only saying this because I’ve been through it. I’ve been through quite stressful exams and didn’t do it properly. So yeah, I’ll just have a quick look at something the night before, and you end up stressing yourself out because you’re reading something for the first time. You shouldn’t be doing anything new on that last day. So it’s only wisdom and experience that’s got to me saying this: is to look after yourself on that last day.
JD: Hazel, what do you think? The same kind of advice?
HP: Yes, no, absolutely. But I would add to that, that keep to your normal routine for that particular night of the week. I’m somebody that’s quite structured, so I do certain things on days of the week. If your exams are on a Tuesday, I’d be going out for a swim on a Monday evening, so I’d keep that as part of my routine, because that would be my normal Monday evening. And then that way you will remain a bit calmer, and it would mean that you wouldn’t be focusing on what was happening tomorrow. It would just be your normal evening.
JD: So we’ve pampered, we’ve lowered the stress levels, but what can we really do to boost that confidence?
HP: It’s all about the preparation. Make sure that you’re fully prepared when you go into that exam, and it will just give you that boost of confidence then that you know that you’re going to perform on that particular day and be the best that you can be. So yeah, really plan out your time to make sure that you can go in there and you feel confident and prepared. Yeah, absolutely.
JD: Is there anything more, Shaun, that you think?
SR: It’s preparation. You know when your exam is going to be. You’ve got months beforehand to plan. So you’ve got to, like, more like an absolute operation to make sure that you’re doing a little often. So you arrive on the day of the exam fully prepared. But on the day itself, you will feel, like, you’ll definitely have a different emotional state. It’s how we react to anything like slightly fearful. And use that, that’s your body getting ready for fight, in a way. So use that, because it’ll help you perform a little bit better. However, we also know as well that for some people that anxiety or that pressure could be too much. So therefore, if you do feel that you are underperforming, you should seek professional help. And luckily, if you’re an ICAEW student, you have got caba, the Chartered Accountants’ Benevolent Association, and they can help you. They can give you coping mechanisms from their website, and potentially even further information there. So, while some stress is good to help you perform, if it is becoming debilitating so it’s reducing your performance, do get professional help so you can manage it better, so you perform, because we all want you to pass. That’s what we want in the end of the day.
JD: Absolutely, and that’s very helpful. So students should definitely reach out to caba?
SR: It’s caba, yeah, it’s an association just to look out for members and students to help them perform and do their best.
JD: So a simple question. How important is sleep the night before an exam?
SR: Yep, it’s very important, sleep, because if you’re tired or underslept, you’re not going to perform well. It’s easy for me to say, in the cold light of day here, get a good night’s sleep. We know it’s going to be difficult, but I think, as Hazel mentioned earlier on, it’s sticking to routine. So if you, once again, it’s always working backwards and planning. If you’ve got to be in the exam hall by nine, you’ve got to leave your house at half past seven, an hour and a half to get up and have breakfast - plan all the way back and then go to your bed at the proper time. You might not have the best night’s sleep, but at least if you give yourself a chance to, once again, pamper yourself: a nice book or a little bit of TV or whatever.
JD: Definitely. I’ve just remembered one exam that I had, and I think my sleep was just broken. And I felt I got mind blanks in the exam. So is that, Hazel, a reason as well?
HP: I completely understand that sleeping is so difficult as well, when you are anxious and you’re clock watching as well. I’m terrible, if I know I’ve got to get up the next morning for something in particular, then I start waking up and looking at my clock continually in case the alarm doesn’t go off. So yeah, absolutely, make sure that you give yourself that time to relax before you go to bed. So you’ll know what it is for you personally, and I know that I can sit, if I just give myself maybe half an hour, reading a book, something of that nature, then it just switches my brain off and then allows me to go to bed and, you know, have at least a few hours of really good-quality sleep, even if I then wake up early the next morning. So yeah, completely.
SR: One thing would be not to wait until the night before the exam to have that good night’s sleep, build up a bank of sleep. So I would say, in the month, or few weeks before the exam, get used to going to bed at a certain time, getting up at a certain time. So your body is used to sleeping from, say, half past 10 to half past six, or whatever your time is. So then when you go actually go in that final night, your body’s expecting to go to bed. And so don’t change your routine. Definitely do not give yourself that weekend jet lag where you have a long lie-in on Saturday because it’s Saturday. Don’t do that in the run-up to the exams. Stick to the standard seven, eight hours, whatever you give yourself, the standard time. And then after the exams, then you can do whatever you want. You can get catch up on sleep, have a long lie-in, whatever. But don’t give yourself that sit-back-on-the-weekend jack there, if that’s the right expression. But make sure you keep to routine, not just the night before the exam, in the run-up to the exam, and that’ll help your body get used to having some sleep the day before the exam.
JD: So moving on to the morning of an exam then, I know we’ve touched on keeping the routine, everything kind of quite of the same. What should students really be thinking about on the morning of an exam?
HP: Well, it’s planning your day, isn’t it, so if you’re going to an exam centre, then, as Shaun said, work backwards, so you know the time that you’ve got to leave your house to get to the exam centre on time. But also have planned your plan B, because there’s nothing worse, if you’ve got to use public transport, for example, and they let you down on the day, then you’ve got to have your plan B in place. So I experienced that in one of my exams that I went to, and there were issues on my train line. And so my plan B was that I had to swap train lines. So you need to have in place that plan B so that it can go as smooth as possible. Otherwise that’s going to really build up your stress levels. If you’re actually doing it and sitting the exam at home by remote invigilation, then it’s to make sure that you’ve set up the room where you’re going to be sitting that exam, and make sure that you’ve put in place everything for that for you at home. So yeah, it’s just making sure that you know what you’re going to be doing at what time, so that you can get to your exam on time.
JD: You just mentioned remote exams and sitting at home. Is there a real difference between an exam centre or sitting at home and even your approach that you should take if sitting at home versus an exam centre?
SR: Well, the actual logistics of getting to an exam centre is obviously very different from sitting the exam at home. But as far as the actual experience, as soon as the exam starts, it’s exactly the same. It’s the same software, the same setup, everything is exactly the same. Obviously, your invigilator, if you’re at home, will be cameras. You’d set the cameras up beforehand, and we email you beforehand all the processes you’ve got to go through to set up. And I would definitely stress, if you are sitting the exam at home, make sure you put all those tests in place. It means your computer’s fully updated, and you’re used to actually setting up your microphone, your cameras, so we’ve got a record of that. But as far as the exam itself is concerned, it’s exactly the same as sitting it in a centre – all the specs, everything’s exactly the same.
JD: And Hazel, do you have anything to add on the approach between the two different sittings?
HP: No, you’ve just got to work out what works for you. And I think everybody needs to remember that they’re individual, and you feel and you work in different ways. So it might be that going to an exam centre is best for you, because then you can really focus on the exam and that builds the sort of adrenaline that you need to actually be able to go into an exam centre and perform your best. Other people will get quite anxious about going to an exam centre. And as I mentioned, the travel, that was something that I did used to get quite anxious about, the travel in itself. And so if for you, it’s better to be sitting at home, so you don’t have the added stress of that then, you know, remote invigilation is there and it’s available to you. So don’t be afraid to take that route, because, as Shaun has said, the exam delivery that you’re using, the exam itself, is all exactly the same. You’re working in the same way as well. And do remember, though, with your setup, Shaun’s mentioned about the software, and make sure you do all your checks beforehand. One of the extra things is that you’re only allowed your one screen if you’re doing by remote invigilation. So just remember that even if you’re used to using two screens at home, you only have one on the day.
SR: One further thing I would say to all the candidates out there, that if you are moving, say you’ve completed your Certificate Level exams and you’re moving on to Professional Level, the exam platforms are different, so therefore, especially if you’re sitting at home, remote invigilation, be ready for a different experience. Now you should be ready for it, because all the practice software we give you replicates the real exam. So it shouldn’t be a surprise, but some students who haven’t done their prep are surprised at the difference, and that trips them up. So realise there’s different systems for Professional and Certificate Level for good reasons.
JD: So what we’ve covered so far will suit the vast majority of candidates. But what about those who perhaps require any access arrangements?
HP: If you go to the website, you’ll find all the information about access arrangements, but it’s really important if you do have particular needs that we need to address during an exam sitting, then you need to have planned again that prior to your exam days, so make sure that you go online and have a look at those and you submit the forms. If those access arrangements are available to you, then submit those so that you are calm again and set yourself up in the best possible place.
SR: Also appreciate as well that we are a professional body with a different regulator to what you had at university or school. So what you may have had at school won’t just automatically roll over. We’ve got to collect the evidence for the different regulator at ICAEW, understandably. It’s straightforward, as Hazel says, it’s all on the website, how you apply, and we just need to do one more check. But once it’s all done, we’re very, very flexible in putting the right arrangements in place for the right individuals.
JD: That’s very helpful. So, say I’m a student, I’ve done all of the prep, I’ve sat my exam. What happens next?
SR: Well, people always think, ‘oh, we just mark the exam’ and you get your mark. If it’s Certificate Level exams, they are marked electronically by the computer, so you get your mark within 24 hours. With the Professional Level and Advanced Level, because this is long-form questions, it’s a bit more involved, and there’s quite a few thousand people sit each exam, so big numbers for each session. So there’s a process of marking, moderation, second marking, a very detailed process to go through. Because, believe it or not, we’re trying to make you pass the exam. So we’re trying every trick in the book to get you over the line, we want you to pass. And then an independent committee will sit down and look at all the process that we’ve gone through, any disruption appeals, if something’s happening during the exam, moderate all that out. And then five, six weeks after your exam, we’ll publish your result, and you get your results either on your training file, or you may have elected to receive a text with your results. And hopefully it’s what you wanted, but be reassured there’s a lot of work that goes into that period of time before you get your results. And the more marginal you are, you can rest assured that your mark has been looked at, your paper has been looked at many times to ensure, because we want to try and find that extra half a mark or one mark to get you over the line.
JD: So we have talked recently on our podcast around exam failure. So what are the next steps that a student should take if they do fail?
HP: I think one of the most important things is you work out why you failed. So you really need to take that time and think about what it was and be honest with yourself about it. Was it because you didn’t do enough preparation, and if that was the case, then make sure that you do that going forward. Maybe it was because you were particularly stressed on the day, something happened and triggered that, and therefore your mind went blank when you went into the exam. And, unfortunately, that does happen sometimes, and we are all human, and so you need to pick yourself up from that, and therefore try and move on and make sure that that doesn’t happen again in the future. So it is trying to work out what it was that resulted in that failure, and we all learn from that. That is one of the most massive things, yeah? Quite often when you just pass things all through life, there’s not much learning that comes as a result of that. But actually, when you have faced that failure, it builds your own resilience, because you work out now what you’ve got to do and how you move on from that. So it does make you a stronger person when you when you face these things. So yeah, it’s about, then, the planning: speak to your employer, speak to your tuition provider, work it out and how you move forward.
SR: I’d definitely say that the key thing is absolute honesty with yourself. So even before you go to speak to your tutor or your employer, but just spend a little bit of time on your own, really, really thinking about what happened on the day. Did I run out of time? Be honest with yourself. Be critically honest. Did I run out of time? Was the question a surprise to me, because it shouldn’t have been, because we’ve got past questions in the question banks. What made you fail? And if you really don’t know, you’ve got to sit and get counselling with your tutor to work out, or set a mock exam and work out what’s going wrong. The more honest you can be with yourself, it’s easier to fix, because you can address that. Is it question practice? Is it technical knowledge? We can do that. Beyond that, I think I would say, and I’ve taught quite a few retake classes in my time, is own the fact that you failed. Be honest. Right, I’ve done an exam. There’s a great experience. I didn’t do it how I meant to do it. And you can imagine, I’m speaking from experience, here, personal experience, but realise I now know what I need to do, to go in and pass. So if you own it, and then I would say, change the language as well. Use positive language. It wasn’t so much that I failed, or I’m a failure, it’s just I didn’t pass. I’m going to pass the next time. Use positive affirmation language. And in my classes, it was all about that, like, the next sitting in July, this is when I’m going to pass, and use that positive language. But the key thing has got to be honesty with yourself. Really be honest and own why you didn’t pass. And then that’s the way you can actually fix that.
JD: Yeah, just take the lesson so you can learn for the next time. And for the retake, then, do you actually think you should just book it as soon as possible? Is that the right solution?
SR: I think definitely you’ve got to book it quite quickly, because depending on the exams you’re doing, Professional Level, the time is short between results and then booking exam and next session, but you’ve got to invest that little bit of time and self-reflection yourself before you go and choose a retake course, that you find the right one for you. As an example, and this is purely an example so it won’t apply to everybody, if your mark is, say, 48 at Advanced Level, that’s very marginal, so I would suggest it’s probably timing or your time management in the exam. So question practice is what you need, so you want to pick a revision course that’s heavy on mock exams and question practice. If it’s 37 you’ve got, you might need to brush up on your technical knowledge, so you might need a bit more teaching. So that’s why it’s important to be honest with yourself so you can get the right revision course that suits you. And go and ask the tutors, what’s going to happen to me in the revision course? Am I going to get feedback from my mock exam? And embrace all those things, because most of the time, and I’m sure Hazel will agree, it is question practice and actually doing questions the right ... under exam conditions. I’m going to be evangelical here. You’ve got to do the questions under the exam conditions, and do not look at the answer. It doesn’t matter how hard, and you can’t start your answer, don’t look at the back, because in the real exam, no surprise here, there is no answer at the back to look at, to get a bit of a hint or whatever. So the more pressure you can put yourself through when you’re doing the question practice to get used to, something will eventually come to your mind, and you’ll start writing, and it will come but you’ve got to put yourself through that little bit of stress.
JD: Yeah, that uncomfortable stage. And Hazel, what are your thoughts? Do you think booking a resit straight away is always the right answer?
HP: Yeah, I don’t think it necessarily is always the right answer and that will depend on why you’ve actually not passed that particular exam. So once you’ve worked that out, then I think that will probably drive your decision anyway. So if it has been that, as Shaun was saying, that actually it was question practice, and actually you didn’t put in enough time. And if you work out that actually you don’t have that time available for that next sitting, then probably not booking at that time is the right answer. But actually, if there was something that caused you not to perform so well on that day, then it probably is the right answer to rebook straight away. And, you know, all of that knowledge that you’ve got and work that you’ve done up until that point in time is still there for you. So it would be, you know, would boost your confidence, then, to have that resit quite close by, and then you can just sort of go on and move on with the rest of your sort of career path with your exams.
JD: Just whatever is right for you. So we’ve covered a lot of ground here today. I just wanted to ask you both, I’ll ask you in turn, so what is one piece of advice that you would give just to really maintain the right mindset and approach for succeeding in an exam. So, Shaun, I’ll start with you.
SR: I wish I could say there’s a magic formula. If there was, I would be telling you, I’d be worth a fortune, I’d be selling it to everybody. There is no shortcut to any of this. So the key thing is planning. You know when your exam day is going to be: work backwards. So when I was performing my best, I planned to do two hours and no more every day, but I’ve been doing that for eight weeks before the exam, and that builds up to a lot of time. Don’t overstretch yourself. Build yourself in all the fun and relaxation on the way. And so it’s like a nice, smooth glide right up to the exam. That’s all the best advice I can give you. Don’t leave anything to the end.
JD: No that’s a good one. And Hazel, do you have anything to add?
HP: Yeah, so, so mine is just having that level of preparation so that you can go into an exam feeling confident. And for me, that would have been the biggest thing, that I feel like I’ve done the work and all I’ve got to do is therefore deliver on the day. But also, as well, think about what works for you. So really think about how you’ve built your resilience during your exams as well, so that you make sure that when you go into that exam you give yourself the best opportunity so you don’t get particularly stressed, or you’ve worked out what it is that can work for you to really make yourself feel calm enough to be able to face the exam and not have those blanks that we all get during exams when we’re particularly stressed. It is a stressful environment, and I have always been stressed about sitting exams. So you know, you really do have to work out what it is and put your resilience in there and make sure that you’ve got something that’s going to work for you and take that time out. So yeah, preparation and what works for you on the day.
JD: Great pieces of advice from both of you, thank you. So you mentioned lots of useful resources in our chat today. We’ll link to all of them in the show notes for this episode so students can easily find what they need. Finally, I want to say thanks again to you both for coming in. Shaun, Hazel, thank you so much.
SR: You’re welcome. Thank you for having us.
HP: Yeah, thanks, Jag, and it was lovely to talk to you.
JD: Make sure you visit ICAEW Student Insights for ongoing support during your studies. On the Student Insights hub, you’ll find resources for completing the ACA qualification and ICAEW CFAB, as well as inspiring stories of students and recently qualified members. That’s all available at icaew.com/studentinsights. Finally, if you found this podcast useful, then make sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode and let us know what you think by writing a review on your podcast app. Thanks for joining us. Bye for now.