We hope you are all well. We are just in the middle of our exams and know that some of you are too. We thought it would be good to write a blog post about our exam tips, what the BSc Psychology exams are like at King’s and the support available around exam time.
Starting uni is an adventure, full of completely new things, and a whole lot of changes and exam period can be one of the most daunting – not knowing what to expect from the questions, not sure of what markers will expect from your answers. How different will it be to A-levels? It’s completely uncharted territory.
To help make it easier, this is how exams are structured in the first year:
When will they take place? You’ll have two exam periods, one per semester. The first one in January, following the winter break; and the second one in May/June. Before both sessions you’ll have time off for revision, meaning teaching will stop a few weeks in advance. For the first period in January, teaching normally finishes mid-December, giving you 2-3 weeks of revision. For the second period, teaching ends towards the end of March, giving you the whole of April and part of May to prepare.
How many exams will you have? Each semester you’ll take 5 modules, however not all 5 are assessed based on exams. You will have 3 exams in each period, and the remaining 2 modules will be based on coursework.
What to expect from the exam itself? ALL exams in 1st year (excluding research methods from second semester) are MULTIPLE CHOICE. This is a marvellous fact I wasn’t aware of until my first day at uni, but definitely set me at ease. The number of questions will vary depending on the subject but will be around 50, and you will have two hours to complete the paper (which I have found is more than enough time). These questions cover all 10 topics studied in each module and assess both the depth and breadth of your knowledge on the subject. This means that revision is slightly different to that for essay writing, with less weight on memorising detailed facts (such as dates of experiments), and more importance on understanding the whole picture, to make sure you’re ready to confront any question.
A really useful tool provided by the university is Peerwise. This is an online site where both students and teachers can post mock multiple choice questions for each subject. This comes in handy while revising, giving you a chance to practise with this style of questions and testing your knowledge. The best part is, the best questions can be included in the exam, meaning one of the questions you’ve written can end up on the final paper!
What support is available to help make the exam time stress free?
In the lead up to exam season, King’s runs several events to remind you to take a break and take time for yourself. A big initiative is called ‘Take Time Out’ – They set up big marquees and run free activities throughout the month including free yoga, mindfulness activities, giant board games, video games, a table tennis table and film screenings in the afternoon.
Even though these activities encourage mindfulness, and taking time for your wellbeing, King’s also understands that everyone has quite a busy schedule during this time. They have also developed tailored activities to suit this schedule. Check out the Be Well Do Well toolbox for a quick 3 minute seated yoga guide!
King’s Sports also partnered with the wellbeing team in order to provide free activities. BeActive aims to provide you a healthy way to socialise with new people, and enjoy some time away from studying. Free activities ranging from football to netball run during these weeks. Outside of the exam time, you can also join BeActive activities such as boxing and tennis.
Even though King’s provides extra support during exam time, this doesn’t mean you can’t access them throughout the year. King’s Wellbeing runs a range of services from workshops, coaching, to mindfulness.]
Remember you can always ask us any questions you have on the Facebook offer holder group.
Good luck with your exams if you are sitting any!
Val, Liv and Pauline
Leave a Reply