how to avoid silly mistakes

I don't know what's wrong with me? I make the most stupidest mistakes. Like for a mock exam paper for physics, I worked everything out correctly I managed to do all the complex working out right. I typed everything into my calculator but I forgot to WRITE IT ON THE EXAM PAPER. So I always lost the last 1/2 marks for the actual answer! I did this 6 or 7 times! Even for chemistry I do the same, I worked out the order (rate reactions), it was zero order, I wrote down the fact that as it's concentration increased the rate did not and I knew in my head it was zero order. But when I went to mark it, for some reason I wrote first order. This may not sound that bad, but I was really shocked. I probably do the same in real exams without realizing. HELP! What should I do!

Reply 1

Minecraft27

Don't worry, we all do this. On my C2 paper I did in January I made SO MANY silly mistakes. I screwed up the dot and cross diagram, wrote 8 for the answer about how many electrons were in an iodine atom (i thought it said ion) and also screwing up a calculation and a couple of others. Had I not have made these, I would have got an A*. These silly mistakes cost me an A* so I know how this feels.
My advice is to read the question twice.

Reply 2

Biology boy

I have the same problem. I think I'm going to start reading the question slowly and make sure I understand before i start answering. I completely missed a question because it was inside two larger ones and dropped a mark or two. Try taking a deep breath and going back through your paper this helps me alot!

Reply 3

tazmaniac97

Original post by Biology boy

Yeah I'll definitely try this, I think I panic in exams that's why. Thank you for the suggestion :smile:

Reply 4

dragonkeeper999

Underline key words in the question (e.g. "iodine atom" and "electrons" in the example someone gave above), to ensure you are thinking about the correct chemical and are answering all parts of the question (particularly for those longer questions where they ask you to e.g. first discuss the intramolecular bonding for some molecules, then use this to compare their melting points and then suggest a method for evaporating them at a lower temperature - it's very easy just to answer the first part and forget about the rest. Also, check through your answers more carefully at the end.

Reply 5

tazmaniac97

Original post by dragonkeeper999

Yeah I always do this! I always answer the first part of the question and forget about the rest. I'm going to try this, and maybe tick parts of the question after I've done it so I know which parts I've done? I don't know, I'll try all the suggestions on this page in my next mock exams and see which one works for me. :smile:

Thank you

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 6

SecretDuck

I still make silly maths mistakes (like 3 * 6 = 9 ) but I double and triple-check my maths answers and run them through just to check that I didn't make a simple mistake.

Reply 7

tazmaniac97

Original post by SecretDuck

I still make silly maths mistakes (like 3 * 6 = 9 ) but I double and triple-check my maths answers and run them through just to check that I didn't make a simple mistake.

Even when I read through my answers, I always seen to miss the mistakes. But this might be because I just skim through it.

Reply 8

DPLSK

tazmaniac97

I don't know what's wrong with me? I make the most stupidest mistakes.

Spend 5 minutes at the beginning of the exam reading through the paper and ensuring you understand what is expected of you. From experience WAY too many people start writing on the exam paper a few seconds after opening the exam paper. Your brain hasn't had enough time to process what is being asked of you and this leads to a greater chance of screwing up.

Also, pace yourself through the exam. Wear a watch with a stopwatch function and spend your time throughout an exam evenly. Unless you have to rush through a question - don't.

I hope this helps.

Darren