South Africa offers matric another chance to do well in their matric exams. For students who fail or are were not able to obtain the results they needed, there now exists another option to redeem yourself. The supplementary examination in February/March that saw students have a chance to rewrite failed or missed exams has been phased out and is therefore no longer available. A new examination is available during May/June where candidates can improve their results or complete outstanding results.
Learners often find themselves being in a slump when they receive their results and it does not read as positive to them. It is easy for learners coming out of high school to give in to failure biases. This could then lead to the learner feeling inadequate and unmotivated to continue. To those students we say, you are not alone and you can redeem yourself. If students realise that there is another chance for them and see that motivating themselves to study harder enables them to be successful.
Here are some tips to help you excel in your matric rewrite:
Draw up a study plan and stick to it
Doing this allows you to add structure to your preparation. Having a study plan set up and coupling that with discipline, you could be well on your way to attaining exceptional results and completely forgetting any failure biases you once had.
Assess how you prepared for previous exams, how to improve it and take action
Seeing as to how you did not acquire the results you desired in the first final exams, maybe there were problems in your preparation that lead you to not perform as well as you could have. Reassessing what you did right and wrong before could benefit you and aiming to improve and taking action towards it could see you make a complete turnaround in your results. Drawing up studying strategies from this reassessment and putting those strategies to work is a massive step towards success.
Rewrite your notes
Looking at your notes from class, other revising sessions and from your previous exams are essential. Rewriting notes and making them simpler is beneficial to your revision. Some learners find categorising helps them as well as grouping information in terms of colour.
Quiz yourself with flashcards
Flashcards are a great way for you to have information studied be summarised. It also has the use of keywords come in handy which helps learners memorise large quantities of information at a time. Learners also have to remember that studying is not simply memorising work. Rather it's understanding the work and remembering. Through understanding, information recall becomes easier.
Tutoring
Having someone teach you outside of school is always beneficial. Tutors have approaches to have work done in schools be communicated better to students. Tutoring also comes as a form of recall which helps students grasp work better. Study groups are also a good option for studying. However. with it being a rewrite, it might be difficult to find study groups.
Do not panic
As long as one keeps a clear head and takes a pragmatic approach, all is not lost. Strategise your next steps instead of getting stuck in a mindset that only has you back pedaling your progress. Continuously working towards your goals will see success follow. Many learners can get stuck in their anxieties and panic. However, working through those and realising that working hard could ease those anxieties as being prepared is always a good thing.
Use your time wisely
Time management is important in every aspect of life. With studying, it is important to set out sufficient time for studying as well as taking breaks into consideration. To avoid burnout, students need to make time for down time but also not allow this down time to become procrastination where nothing gets done and could leave a learner to stress more than they would have if they just put in the work.
Government has also made some resources available that will greatly contribute towards your preparation and success in your exams
- Matric exemplars provided by department, find them here.
- The Department of Basic Education offers a Second Chance Matric Support Programme. The Programme provides support for NSC Supplementary Exams, NSC Progressed Learners, Amended Senior Certificate and Part-time NSC Candidates. Visit the Department's website here for more information.
Stay healthy
Eating healthily, staying hydrated and sleeping sufficiently are of utmost importance. These all contribute to the quality of your brain functioning as well as your energy levels. If you are healthy, your brain functioning is improved as well as your mental health. Keeping your body in a good state goes hand in hand with motivation and stamina.
To stay focused, learners must not forget the benefits of rewriting and improving their results could bring. Keeping your goals in mind helps with motivating yourself to continue working towards them and actively taking action and seeing results. Wits University's Prof. Ruksana Osman advises that improving matric results is to a pupils benefit, despite what some may feel. She says there is growing evidence that matriculants who elect to improve their results go on to enjoy an enriched qualification thereafter.
Visit The Department of Basic Education's website here for more information
