Help - it's the night before my exam!

It's the night before your CIMA exam and you're nervous and unsure how to proceed. Should you stay up and try and cram in as much extra revision as possible? Should you get an early night? Should you go for a run to try and clear your mind?

We've all been there - it can be a tricky decision. Many of us end up buckling under the pressure and trying to revise as much as possible until the early hours - but time and time again studies have shown this is not the best approach. Read on to find out how you can make the most of your pre-exam evening and set yourself up for CIMA success the next day!

I've said it once and I'll say it again - cramming should be avoided at all costs before your CIMA exam. It's not good to overload your brain with information in a short amount of time before your exam because you won't remember the majority of it.

However, you should still be looking to use this time to revise - especially if you don't feel like your knowledge is strong enough to pass your CIMA exam.

With that sentiment in mind, here are my top tips for last-minute revision:

1) Keep your computer time to a minimum
If you can, try and revise from paper-based study material, such as our printable study text. If you are revising the night before your exam you are going to need to give yourself the opportunity for a good nights sleep and it's been proven that the LED light can disrupt sleep, and when combined with stress, even lead to insomnia.

2) Focus on specific areas
I would suggest you choose a few of your weakest areas and focus on them. Don't attempt to cover the whole syllabus in one night because it just won't sink in. By now there should be things you understand well - try to avoid recapping them and have a go at the harder stuff. If you check out the CIMA syllabus you can find out which areas will carry the most weight in your exam. It might be a good idea to focus your last minute revision on these topics.

3)Get enough sleep!
It may sound cliche, but it really is important to have enough sleep before an exam. A lot of our learning happens while we are asleep, so if you don't have enough sleep between your last period of revision and your exam, anything you learned will not be retained well if you don't rest!

I hope these tips have been helpful! Good luck with any upcoming exams you have scheduled!

Remember, if you have any last-minute technical questions you can always head over to our Operational Disqus Page and ask our operational tutors. They're always glad to help! Until next time, happy studying!

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