Studying 101
A lot of students fall into the trap of studying everything. Everything ever mentioned in class, and every topic they come across in a textbook. This is not a sustainable or effective way to study. You’ll spend too much time studying irrelevant topics and burn out before you’ve covered the important stuff.
The solution: Make subject maps
A subject map is a list of all the important topics within a subject. Having a subject map will help you remember all the things you need to study and stop you from getting off track.
Follow these steps to make a subject map for every subject you have an exam in. It will only take you a few minutes!
1) Take a blank piece of paper and title it with the name of the subject.
2) Write down the name of the first achievement standard in that subject you’re going to study for.
3) Under this, list as bullet points all of the important topics you need to know for this achievement standard.
4) Below each topic jot down a couple of main points or important key words.
5) After you’ve written down all of the topics for the first achievement standard, move on to the next one.
Each subject map might take up 2-3 pieces of paper. As you study you can tick the topics that you’ve covered to keep tabs on what you’ve got left to study. You wouldn’t go on a road trip without a road map, and studying is no different.

Studying 101
Some students aren’t quite sure what studying is all about. I don’t blame you if you don’t - studying is a complex business. There’s no perfect way to do it and we all learn differently, so no wonder a lot of students find studying difficult. However, there is one extremely important aspect of studying that
all students should be doing during their study break. It doesn’t matter what their skill level is or how they learn. This is making study notes.
You spend the majority of your study time making study notes. Study notes should be written in
your own words and should explain all of the topics you need to understand for your exams. Your study notes can be made up of a mixture of things – full sentences, bullet points, diagrams, whatever. The point is – do whatever makes you remember the best. You’ll probably have to practice writing study notes for a little while to see what you like doing best.
There’s something that all great studiers do to make sure they remember what’s in their study notes. They re-write all of the important bits again in shorter form. This means you write out the really important topics – the ones you know you’re going to be examined on – again. Re-write your study notes in a much shorter form – use shorter sentences or even just keywords.
The act of re-writing study notes firmly imprints the content of your study notes onto your memory.
The more you think about what you’re studying, the more you will understand it, and the greater chance you will have of remembering it in your exam.

Studying 101
Chances are you’ll have to write essays for at least one subject at the end of the year, so there’s no hiding from the fact that essay writing is really important. To write a good essay you need to know what you’re going to write about before you start. This is why it is crucial that you make an essay plan before every essay you write – whether you’re going for achieved or excellence.
How to make an essay plan
Your essays will probably consist of 5-6 paragraphs: 1 introduction, 3-4 body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
1) Write down what each of your body paragraphs are going to be about.
2) Under each body paragraph jot down:
- The topic sentence: what this paragraph will say to the reader
- An explanation: the bulk of the paragraph explains the topic sentence in full
- An example: an example that proves your point
3) Your intro should sum up what you’re about to say, and your conclusion should sum up what you have said – it’s that simple.
Making an essay plan should only take you 5 minutes. Before you write a single word in your exam booklet, make sure that you write a quick essay plan in the front, unmarked page.
Making essay plans will save you tonnes of time in your exams. They instantly give your essay a full structure, which will make sure that your essay is logical, that it flows well, and that you cover all of your points. Also, make sure you refer to your essay plan as you’re writing your essay to make sure you’re on the right track.
Not writing an essay plan would be like not making blue prints before building a house – it would not go well. So have a go at writing essay plans for essays that you write in class first so you’re an expert by the end of the year.

Studying 101
We understand that some people are better at subjects that involve numbers, such as maths, accounting, physics, etc, than others. It’s just a fact of life. However, maths is something that we all need to pass in Year 11, if not after. Do you feel like you’re no good at maths? That you just don’t get it? That it really sux? Well we want to let you in on a couple of things that will help you get to the level you deserve.
Passing maths and other number subjects comes down to one thing and one thing only. Practice and
repetition. People who are good at maths do practice problems, finish their homework, and do more practice problems to study for exams. Students who don’t do well in number subjects, don’t.
We understand that these subjects might not come easily to you, but we don’t believe for a second that you couldn’t get at least Achieved or Merit with some solid effort doing practice questions, and maybe a bit of tutoring to get you up to speed.
Maths starts with your times-tables right? You learnt them by going over them again and again and again until you were 100% confident that you knew the right answer. Maths gets harder sure, but the way that you learn it stays the same. Do practice equations. And when you’ve done them all – repeat them! Drill them into your head. By the time your exams come, you should recognise what you need to do to solve an equation almost immediately (perhaps not with Excellence questions).
Just like if I ask you what 4 x 6 is, the answer should come to you without really having to think about it.
Your exams will only be about stuff you’ve done in class – they won’t try to trick you. So all you need to do is as many practice questions as you can, and you’ll do better in your number subjects than you ever thought possible.