Many Masters programmes still use written examinations to assess all or part of the course, although in recent years other types of assessment have begun to be used. It is quite rare now for the whole assessment of a Masters programme to be through written examinations, and in many cases there are no written exams at all. Some people like exams, some people hate them, so an important factor in your choice of course might be whether there are examinations or not in a particular programme.
If there are written examinations, of course, you will need to prepare thoroughly for them, and by now you will know the way of preparing that suits you best individually. Whether you revise best over long periods or all at the last minute, whether you simply read your notes or re-write them in briefer form, whether you practise exam questions or not, whether you revise best at night or in the daytime, are all things you will already know. The list below, therefore, is simply to remind you of a few important issues about preparing for written examinations at Masters or Doctoral level.
• Remember that the exam will be testing your thinking, analytical skills and understanding and not just your knowledge – so simply filling your answers with learned facts will not be enough at Masters level.
• Revise and learn ideas, with examples to illustrate them, and with evidence for and against the idea (or model or theory).
• Make sure you know the main sources on each topic so you can indicate where the ideas have come from and who the main thinkers and researchers are in the field.
• Plan your revision to give yourself plenty of time to revise before the exams.
• Do not rely only on lecture/seminar notes on each topic. Make sure you have read more widely and have included ideas from this wider reading.
• Make sure you know exactly what each examination will (and will not) cover. This should be clear in the course or unit handbook, but tutors should be able to tell you if you are not sure.
• Read the instructions on the examination paper very carefully so that you answer the right number of questions.
• Read each question several times to be sure you know exactly what it is asking you to do.
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