Pre-boards are a good way to gauge where you stand as compared to other students in the class. Not only that preboards also tell how effective your board preparations have been as of now and act as a wakeup call.
A score ranging from 75% – 90% in pre-boards suggests that you have been preparing the right way but that does not mean you should sit back and relax. A not-so-good or bad score means that you have to pull up your socks and get your act together.
Here are some of the preparation tips that you aid you keep your cool and crack the preboards efficiently.
What should be the preparation strategy?
Your preparation strategy should include all aspects from alpha to omega. You should try to create a perfect blend of learning and revision and solving the mock papers as well as the past year papers.
Studying from NCERT books thoroughly is more than enough to get about 90% in the Boards exams. You should focus on each subject and go through all the topics in it. Also, do not forget to revise the diagrams, tables or graphs in the NCERT textbooks.
How to allot time to each subject?
Class 12 students have 6 subjects to prepare for. So, they should practice and revise each subject for 1 to 2 hours daily. You can make some adjustments based on how easy or difficult a particular subject is.
However, that does not mean you are studying continuously at a stretch. Do not avoid taking breaks in between to relax and get sufficient sleep. A minimal of 5 to 6 hours of sleep is a must to keep your brain attentive. Proper sleep and good physical as well as mental health during exam preparation is very important.
Try implementing some effective techniques
With preboards on the horizon, tension has started to creep in as students get all jittery about how to prepare for them. Keeping in mind the neck to neck competition, it is vital that you equip yourself with effective study techniques such as Method of Loci, Diffused and Focussed thinking, memory naps, Pomodoro technique, and study with peers if possible.
Context-dependent memory is a tool that can help you enrich and polish your learning abilities to boost your percentage in the pre-boards as well as board exams. These techniques also help in developing interest and retain the concepts more efficiently. You can do a quick research about them to see which one suits you the best.
Read: Why should you regularly assess your exam preparation?
Ensure proper time management while writing the paper
You have to learn time management while preparing for your board exams. Most of the students start attempting the paper without taking proper care of time and then are unable to finish their paper on time. As a result, they lose marks despite knowing all the answers and this is really heartbreaking!
You are, therefore, advised to solve papers in a time-bound manner. Solving the past year papers gives you ample idea about how to manage your time and divide the sections as per the actual board exams. Keep the marking scheme in mind and write stepwise answers so that you don’t lose marks in the boards & pre-boards. Remember no one is born perfect, they become one through more and more practice.
Do not neglect your weaker areas!
While preparing for preboards, do not avoid your weak areas and think “I will study it during boards”. Rather you should try to gain a grasp over them during the preboards itself. Also, you should try to solve papers of all difficulty levels and not stick to just easy or tough ones.
Try writing down the summary points for future reference while preparing for the exams. Try to make sagacious use of time and stay in touch with your teachers to discuss your doubts and problems.
Read: How Daily Practice Tests Help You in Preparing for Exams?
What to avoid during the pre-boards (and boards) preparations
Now that you know what has to be done while studying for preboards, let us jump to a list of things that you should avoid during sincere preps:
- Your friends (may prove to be very distracting)
- Social media such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram. I am not saying to completely disappear from social media but try to avoid it as much as possible.
- Watching movies, TV series or Web Series no matter how tempting their trailer looks!
- Attending too many social events such as parties and weddings.
- Playing games (especially PUBG) could be very distracting
The board exams are not a piece of cake and you have to decide what things in life demand your attention and prioritize accordingly. You should treat the pre-boards as a part of your CBSE boards journey. These are conducted to help you become better, rather than to stress you out. You should try and grab the full advantage of this opportunity to come out with flying colours.
