Board Exams are a benchmark in every student’s educational route, first in class 10 and then in class 12. While class 12 board exams have great significance after school and before getting into colleges, class 10 boards are important to score well in as their result is the grounds for determining the streams of subjects students get to opt for in class 11.
Ultimately, it is crucial for students to score well in each of their board exams. But this compulsion to achieve a good result in the exams also brings with it a lot of pressure on the students. The preparation itself comes with a lot of stress about various factors that are put under consideration. These factors include setting up an efficient timetable, achieving a thorough understanding of each subject, practicing enough times to not forget any concept or topic until your exams.
However, you can take a breath and calm down because this article is meant to provide you with easy tips about such factors that may help you achieve at least 80% and above in your board exams.
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Check your syllabus
Before you start with your preparation, it is very important to know your syllabus well enough. Often, there are changes made by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in the syllabus, and being unaware of those changes will lead to wastage of time and energy. Knowing your syllabus properly will also help in making the timetable accordingly.
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Check the exam pattern
Exam pattern is as important as the syllabus. Checking it will help you know the marks distribution and the exact weightage of each chapter in the syllabus. This way, you can prioritize the topics that are more important and put in extra time, and focus on those topics. Being aware of the exam pattern will also help you in understanding the types of questions that will be a part of the exam and the marks they hold.
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Make a timetable
All of your preparation is solely dependent upon the time you devote to each subject and the various topics in them. A productive timetable should divide your study hours according to your strengths and weaknesses in various subjects. You may put in 2-3 hours each at max for subjects like Mathematics and Science, and put in 1-2 hours each for all the other subjects. Make sure to include breaks for rest and other physical activities as well.
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Refer to NCERT books
During your preparation for the board exams, make sure you are thorough with the whole syllabus from the NCERT books. You may refer to other resources, however, it is not really necessary if you have a strong grip on all concepts that are a part of the NCERT. These books should be your main study material as they are prescribed by CBSE and the majority of the question papers are designed according to them.
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Make notes
Make it a habit to underline or separately write notes about all the important things you come across while reading the chapters in all subjects that are mostly theoretical like English, Social Sciences, Hindi, etc. Since the theory can be vast and it may be difficult to remember each detail, making notes or underlining the important information can help you revise them quickly later. Re-writing important details can also help in understanding and remembering them better.
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Practice
This is the most important habit you can adopt to be able to score well in any exams you appear for in the future. For your board exams, you can practice through solving NCERT questions, sample papers, and previous years’ question papers. These materials are meant to help you practice, rectify any mistakes, increase understanding, and revise.
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Cover the syllabus
Make sure you do not miss studying any topic before your exams. Ignoring any chapters or topics that have comparatively lower weightage may tamper with your performance in the exams. It is impossible to predict the questions that may be asked in the exams hence, it is crucial to make sure that you are well-prepared for any and every concept that may be questioned.
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Refer to Exemplar
For Mathematics and Science, NCERT provides exemplar problems from classes 9 to 12. These are sets of questions from each chapter that are different from the questions provided in the main textbooks. Questions from exemplar are often given in the exams where students are unable to solve them as they ignore preparing from the exemplar. Make sure you have ample amount of time to practice solving the exemplar problems for both the subjects as this habit can increase your chances of scoring better than other students.
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Important Questions and NCERT Solutions
Referring to important questions and NCERT solutions for the chapters in your syllabus can be very helpful. NCERT Solutions are meant to help students understand the concepts that may seem difficult. Through NCERT Solutions, students can learn the most appropriate way to answer questions with solutions that are accurate, well-explained, and presentable. NCERT important Questions provide students with an upper hand as they can determine the topics that may need extra focus during the preparation.
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Assess yourself
Attempting sample papers and question papers from previous years can help you assess how strong your preparation is. Be honest with yourself while solving them, set the timer according to the duration of the main board exams. This way, you will also be able to understand and fix the time management while completing the exam in time. Solving sample papers will help you know the concepts that may need more practice before the exam. Previous years’ question papers will also be helpful in knowing about the questions that are asked more often than others.
