How to Pass Exams with Top Grades: 7 Proven Strategies

7 min readJun 11, 2024

My experience and tips to help you prepare for the exam effectively.

The picture illustrates a text with tips on how pass exams with top grades.

The topic of exams and grades is highly personal, not just because I am a teacher. While in school, I tried my best to prepare for each exam.

Moreover:

I attended every single class (even when I had a fever). I can’t remember missing any homework. I was an anxious student, but the story here is not about it.

Imagine my frustration when my results left much to be desired! It didn’t happen all the time, but when it did — it was the worst time possible. On the third or fourth failure like that, I sat down and thought about my attitude.

Why do I invest all my time into studies and end up worse than those who don’t?

But let me skip the first four stages of grief and proceed with the fifth one, acceptance.

This article explains how I switched from the try-hard to a more efficient approach to studying.

It helped me get pleasure from learning and improved my well-being in general.

Strategy #1: Focus on the Process

The first problem to tackle was my multitasking, which was the root of my school stress and anxiety. I did some simpler tasks while listening to an educational podcast. Of course, both processes were less effective than if I had done them separately. But that was the surface part of the iceberg.

All humans are lousy multitaskers. A research by Madore and Wagner has demonstrated that we don’t multitask; we swiftly shift back and forth from one activity to another. The only result you get is study stress.

Focusing on one thing at a time, ignoring intrusive thoughts, and avoiding background noises (even music) can help you learn more over the same time.

Think of multitasking as a bad habit rather than a handy skill.

Strategy #2: Strive to Understand, not Memorize

The material you memorize without proper understanding stays with you for a short term. Yes, you will make it to the next exam session, but no further. If you want to recall the stuff in a year, you need to make some effort, and here’s how.

Read one paragraph at a time, ensuring you understand each concept’s meaning. Thus, new information won’t override the one from the previous section.
Note it down in your own words. Trust me, you will never do it if you don’t understand the passage.
Place the new concepts into the framework of the lecture or chapter. For example, you can dedicate a separate page to an infographic you build while reading the text. Creating a structure of meanings solidifies fresh information in your memory.

While you put the notion in your own terms, you take the time to process it. Well-chewed food is better digested, and well-processed facts are better retained.

Strategy #3: Mind Your Learning Preferences

Learning styles are often viewed as outdated. Still, think of them as a guide for self-learning and knowing what works best for you. For this reason, I’d instead use the concept of learning preferences (not “styles”) — I prefer to be the one who chooses. After all, Mother Nature, genes, and parents decide a lot, but not everything.

Below, I’ll list people’s four learning preferences and the respective methods to boost their learning efficiency. Note that your learning preferences can be hybrid, but one will still be dominating.

Visual Study Methods

Demonstrations show concepts in action. We have YouTube for that, and it works great.
Outlines structure large chunks of information, demonstrating each term’s order and rank of importance.
Graphs and charts showcase relative figures. They’re best when you need to memorize how one phenomenon relates to other similar ones.
Flashcards help build your vocabulary.

Auditory Study Methods

Audiobooks are the best invention ever for auditory learners. They’re a must for you.
Podcasts happen to engage in empty talk and waffle on about various bits and pieces. I’m not fond of them, but many find them helpful.
YouTube is an endless source of lectures on every discipline possible. Many of them were read by professors at the world’s leading universities.
Debates and discussions offer an excellent self-check practice for a group of friends. How to pass exams with top grades? Invite your friends around for a preparatory discussion.

Kinesthetic Study Methods

Intermingle you’re learning with exercise. If you think your brain has a rest while you’re scrolling the feed, it hasn’t. Replace checking the social media with push-ups and burpees. It brings more benefits than I can reasonably fit into this paragraph.
Stand or walk while studying.
Strain and relax your body from time to time. It’s a lazier (and more roommate-friendly) option than burpees.
Change study locations. Your brain will reference new information in the new setting.
Use physical aids with different textures. Take several objects and imagine they represent the concepts you’re struggling to understand. Place them according to their relations.

Reading/Writing Study Methods

Cornell notes is a note-taking method that breaks your page into two parts. One is for notes themselves, and the other is for keywords and comments. (The standard Cornell note thing has the other two sections of date and topic, but I always miss those.)
Highlight, annotate, comment, and write down your questions.
Symbols and acronyms shorten your notes and increase the word-to-meaning ratio.
Organize your notes afterward. Such a double processing perpetuates your new knowledge.

It took me a while to understand why I struggle with listening tasks and wonder why people listen to audiobooks instead of reading them.

The theory of learning preferences demonstrated that I’m a typical visual learner. All sorts of illustrations, presentations, and graphics should be my best friends if I want to study smart. Eventually, I started mentally visualizing what I heard from my teachers and switched to infographic note-taking.

Strategy #4: Test Yourself

By a reversal of logic, if you don’t test yourself, you’ll think you know everything but fail the exam. Indeed, while you are reading the text, all is clear. But can you reproduce the critical points in 20 minutes after you close the book?

Reading the notes or textbook line-by-line is one of the least practical approaches to learning.

However:

It becomes the most efficient once you mix it with a self-test. The easiest way to do this is by making flashcards and using them as often as possible.

Go through the text and write flashcards for the essentials. Then, study them repeatedly until you learn them front and back.

I remember making up to 200 cards for an end-of-year exam. It took a lot of time, but I already spent it anyway, with less efficiency. I also remember that my results were far above average once it became a habit.

Strategy #5: Take Care of Yourself

The problem with recommending how to care for yourself is that everyone understands it differently. Some think it’s about nutritious and healthy food, while others think of beauty procedures or psychotherapy. My advice is to take care of the basics.

The brain of a hungry and sleepy student wanders away from the book. If you try saving up some time on skipping meals, you’re sowing the branch where you’re sitting. Make sure your body feels comfortable.

I cannot overstate the importance of sufficient and regular sleep. It is a cognitive enhancer that provides optimal conditions to boost memory capacities beyond the norm. Sleep enhances previously acquired memories and even builds links between related memories.

But if you prefer less evident advice, I’d suggest mindfulness techniques and physical exercises.

By the way, some types of physical activity influence our brains better than others, and yoga is one of them. It improves mood, concentration, motivation, sleep, and even eyesight. Wow!

Strategy #6: Enjoy Studying

Have you noticed that people in love with their jobs work wonders? The same applies to education. You’ll never get a good result if you hate what you’re doing.

I have shared my rocky path to enjoying my studies.

In brief:

I made myself physically comfortable.
I made my study space pleasant and attractive. Simple cleaning and inspiring quotes and pictures made a big difference. Spending more time there and studying felt more fun.
I rewarded myself for the effort with little mundane things like a new garment or a box of sweets. Still, long-term rewards in the form of better grades were the best motivator.

Strategy #7: Start Early

As I mentioned above, I was an anxious student. But despite my destructive attitude, it had an intrinsic benefit: I started my preparation early.

You need time to discover your learning style, try various study methods, and deeply understand the meaning. Getting ready for an exam overnight doesn’t work, period.