Series of tips and tricks are being given to students appearing for the CBSE board exams. All this information could be detrimental to the student’s preparation. Students shoulder lots of hopes of their parents, teachers and society around. This pressure, either works in favor or against in case of some brilliant students; depending on their mental abilities. Here are some useful tips and tricks to handle the internal and external challenges while facing CBSE board exams.
How to approach CBSE board exams?
There are many rules for writing answers in CBSE board exams. Majority of the students have lots of information on every topic in their syllabus. But they aren’t able to sort that information into logical text, thereby ending up with the answers that are left wanting. All preparations will go in vain if a student is not able to perform well on the day of the CBSE board exam.
Here are some useful tips that will help you to plan and execute effectively in order to score maximum marks in your CBSE Board exams:
1. Set your priorities straight
As soon as you get the CBSE Exam question paper, make a list of the questions you feel are easy and attempt them first. This will help you gain confidence and will also spare you enough time to think about the other tougher questions. These should be attempted in the ascending order of difficulty.
Few questions in the paper are choice based. Student shouldn’t be in a hurry to choose which questions to attempt. Each question should be read twice and eventually a decision should be made on what to attempt and what to exclude.
2. Answers should be comprehensive and succinct:
Unwanted information while answering should be avoided. Lengthy answers do not translate to maximum scores. Always keep in mind that you have to impress examiner; not yourself!
Here are some perfect tips and tricks in order to write an innovative and smart answer:
- Begin your answer with the core idea of the topic
- Enrich your answer by adding examples, theories, figures and quotes
- Coherent flow of the information should be maintained
- Answer should be well summarized by concluding lines.
3. Use simple language and avoid decorations
As English is the medium of instruction in most of the CBSE Board Schools, it is imperative to know how to write in simple and clear English. Subjects such as Geography, History and Science that have difficult to memorize jargon need to be written in exact/proper words. Using of an academic style of writing with little flavor added in the language grabs the interest of the evaluator. Novels, magazine, few newspapers and most websites use the least complicated language in order to connect with audiences instantly. A student needs to do the same.
Remember to avoid heavy language and try to explain the concepts in your own words.
Although presentation is key, there is no need to decorate answers with multiple colours. Students tend to use blue, green and black coloured pens for headings and underlining each one of them to please the examiner. Examiner will only be impressed by the content; not by the colourful presentation. This practice will not help you to gain any extra marks but will definitely take away your precious time which you could have utilized in answering questions. Neat and legible writing will suffice to maximize your marks in your CBSE Board exams.
4. Avoid using contractions
Do not use contractions such as didn’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t and should’ve in your answers. Use their full forms like did not, would not, could not or should have.
For Example:
Incorrect: I won’t be able to attend the meeting.
Correct: I will not able to attend the meeting.
5. Write Fact-based answers in Passive Voice
Always write in passive voice whenever you write long answers in the form of experiments or the step-by-step procedures in your science practical. Use of passive voice is more academic and appropriate.
6. Use appropriate single word instead of phrases
Students should practice to increase their vocabulary. Don’t stretch your answer using a bunch of words. The answer should be framed concisely. The perfect single word alternative is more impressive than the phrases. It would be definitely helpful to fetch more marks in your CBSE Board Exam.
For Example:
Incorrect: Ramesh always believes in a fate.
Correct: Ramesh is a fatalist.
7. Avoid Spoken English slangs and instant messaging styles while writing answers
Do not use ‘shud’ and ‘woud’ instead of should and would, respectively. Also, written English is different from spoken English. Using filler words in speech may be overlooked but using words such as ‘like’ in answers will be detrimental to maximizing your score.
8. Manage Time Effectively
It is advised that students appearing for CBSE board exams manage their time effectively and efficiently. You may know all the answers but what matters is how many you complete. It is ideal to devote your last 10 minutes for cross-checking of your answers. Rechecking to make your answer fool proof could fetch you more marks than attempting to answer a difficult question at the end.
