Scoring 90+ is a dream of every student. Here I am sharing 5 simple steps to score better in board exams. In this article, we will take a look at some tips and strategies which will help you prepare and attempt your Exams in the best possible way.

Step1: Ensure Physical and Mental Fitness

We can achieve physical and mental fitness by following a healthy diet, proper sleep schedule, listening to music for positive energy and a fresh mind, and meditation to reduce stress. Believe it or not, eating dark chocolate which is over 70% cocoa fights the exam stress hormone cortisol and has an overall relaxing effect on the body. Plus chocolate releases endorphins which act as a natural stress fighter.

Step 2: Manage your time smartly

You need to prepare a timetable and follow it as it helps in effective time management. You should have a peaceful environment and avoid distractions. Taking breaks in between, when you feel tired or bored is also necessary. Plan out how much time should be given to a subject, depending upon its syllabus and difficulty.

Step 3: Study textbooks thoroughly

Ensure you are well versed with each concept and topic in your NCERT textbook as the material they contain forms the base for not only board exams but for competitive exams like JEE as well. Always follow mind maps and maintain running notes for quick revision or last-minute overall glancing. Do not ignore diagrams, tables, or graphs as questions can be asked from any section, especially for the TERM-2 paper.

Step 4: Solve more questions through a question bank

 Solving some standard sample papers will boost your confidence in your boards. Which will help to make your speed and accuracy better. You will also be able to understand the time limit, the kind of questions to be expected in the exam and prepare accordingly. Work on your weak areas. With regular practice, their mistakes get less and they solve questions to get the correct answer.

Step 5: Tips while attempting board Exam paper

* Prepare yourself: To score good marks, a board exam paper presentation is very important. A neat, answer sheet with good handwriting, proper margins, and required illustrations or diagrams makes it easy for the examiner to do the corrections. A good presentation actually helps the examiner to read your answers easily. Hence, be presentable in your answer sheet

* Make the right use of additional 15 minutes: The Extra Reading time, in the beginning, plays a very important role in the attempting question paper as in this time you can mark or pin out questions which you know perfectly. so that you can attempt them first. You can set priority in 3 levels high priority, medium priority, and low priority. If you know the answers perfectly solving them in beginning can boost your confidence level.

* Choose questions wisely: Before attempting the question paper, you must carefully read all the questions given and mark the ones which you are more confident to answer. You should start answering the questions to which you know the answers correctly. Otherwise, you might not be able to complete the paper if you spend a lot of time-solving the questions in which you are not too confident.

* Write a brief, to the point answers: You must write precise, relevant, well to-the-point answers as per the word limits described in the instructions. Avoid writing everything that you know. Writing unnecessary long answers just to fill the answer sheet will only result in wastage of your valuable time and you might not be able to complete your paper on time.

* Have self-evaluation of your answer sheet: After you have completed answering your paper, you must always revise your answers before handing over the answer sheet to the examiner. Verify your roll number, cross-check the question numbers in your answer sheet and look for any question that you have left unattempted. Try to solve it if you have time left.

(Author Sheetal Nimbale is Principal, JP Nagar Branch, Orchids – The International School. Views expressed here are personal)