FlashLearners

Education And Career Blog

  • HOME
  • APPS
  • VIDEOS

Home / Study / 10 Reasons You Perform Poorly In External Exams

10 Reasons You Perform Poorly In External Exams

Syllabus and topics

Modified On Oct 1, 2022 By Isaac

It is not easy to prepare for an External Examination. But avoiding poor performance? That one is more difficult.

A few years ago, you were in primary school, and avoiding poor performance wasn’t an issue for you.

Now that you have started writing competitive examinations, avoiding poor performance is a must for you.

Recommended: Reasons you score low even after studying

For the past few years, the rate at which students perform poorly in external exams has grown exponentially. This trend can be seen in results released by:

  1. Various departments in Universities.
  2. The West African Examination Council (WAEC).
  3. Joint Admission And Matriculation Board (JAMB).
  4. National Examination Council (NECO) and
  5. Various entrance examination bodies, etc.

To scale through in all these exams, you will agree that avoiding poor performance is the key. Let’s take a look at the 10 Reasons You Perform Poorly In External Exams and What To Do…

PAGE CONTENTS

  • 1. Your Writing Is Too Poor
  • 2. You Writes Out of Point (OP)
  • 3. You are too Slow
  • 4. You Never Cross Check
  • 5. You Never Prepared Well
  • 6. You did not Understand the Questions
  • 7. You never used the Recommended Texts
  • 8. Your CTRL+C and CTRL+V attitude
  • 9.  You forgot 90% of what you Read
  • 10. You don’t have a Strategy

1. Your Writing Is Too Poor

Writing is the most important element. It is the first thing people see. You need to give examiner the impression that you understand what you are doing or risk losing his attention. Your writing sets an expectation for the reader.

A great writing can be a positive or negative sentiment, but above all is that it is not very easy to ignore.

Make your writing more readable. Let there be little spaces between words. Make the sentences short and simple as well. This tip will help you overcome poor performance in school.

Note: This point applies only to those who sit for paper and pen examinations.

2. You Writes Out of Point (OP)

Yes, you want to impress the examiner-but there’s no excuse for writing off the point.

“You were asked to list 10 parts of the body, but you drew and labeled. I really commend your effort, but it was not necessary”.

That was not what you were asked to do. You may be telling people that you “killed” the exam. In reality, the exam “killed you”.

Go straight to the point. Write something that separates you from competitors and helps you stand out. I think this is a good way to avoid poor performance.

Read Also: How to study for long hours

3. You are too Slow

One of the major factor that sponsors poor performance in examinations is the time factor.

I have been in a situation where I had to attempt 100 “mighty” questions in about forty minutes. Before I knew what was going on, they had already started collecting scripts. That was when I realized that it is not just about being a “FlashLearner”, but attempting questions in “FlashStyle”.

Learn through practice. Time yourself while practicing likely examination questions.

You may want to start with at most 5 minutes per question. As time goes on, reduce it to about 40 or 20 seconds as the case may be. It is time to start solving in seconds so as to overcome poor performance.

Recommended: How to answer questions at the speed of light

4. You Never Cross Check

Don’t submit your answers immediately. Cross-check it multiple times for all possible sources of error.

For example, you may have forgotten to include S.I Units. And for those writing exams with multiple choice questions, check if the answer you picked has the correct unit. You will be amazed at the mistakes you corrected while cross-checking.

5. You Never Prepared Well

The old idea that reading only begins a night to the exam has been thoroughly debunked.

You won’t become a magician overnight. The exam you didn’t prepare well for will gladly present you with poor performance.

No matter the nature of the exam, never overlook or under-rate it. The course may carry only one unit but, it is capable of making you “carry-over”.

I have written many articles that will help you prepare better for exams. Check some of them out here

  • How to prepare for important exam
  • Tips to last longer in night class
  • Remember 90% of what you have read
  • 10 secrets of successful students
  • The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Student.txt

6. You did not Understand the Questions

The key to answering questions correctly is the ability to understand the questions. Before you attempt the question, do a thorough analysis. Know:

  • What you are asked to do.
  • The method you are required to adopt
  • What you are not asked to do.
  • Why you arrived at your answer.
  • Why you think other answers are wrong.
  • The focus keyword in the question.

Just understand the questions and as well use the right approach.

7. You never used the Recommended Texts

Until you begin to use the recommended texts, your performance will not be recommended.

Questions always come out from recommended texts. You were using textbooks that never represented your scheme of work. This resulted in your poor performance.

Advice: Always use the right and recommended materials to prepare for exams. You can as well have other good ones. If you find the recommended text difficult to understand, then you may want to read the ultimate guide to understanding student.txt.

If you are sitting for waec, Jamb or post utme, the Flashlearners applications are very important for you. Get them at Google playstore or click here for more information.

prepared for exam

8. Your CTRL+C and CTRL+V attitude

You always copy and paste people’s work. How are you sure that they are correct? Who told you that the answer they will text expo to you in the next Jamb is correct?.

One important way to avoid poor performance is to study very hard for the exam. Avoid relying on others for answers. Work hard and say no to examination malpractice.

9.  You forgot 90% of what you Read

This is a very important factor responsible for poor academic performance. If this is the case, then you don’t have to worry.

I have solved the problem in my previous article. You may want to read how to remember 90% of what you read by clicking here.

10. You don’t have a Strategy

You should be able to develop personal exam answering strategies (PEAS). This will help cover up for your weakness. Checkout cheats to answer questions here

Remember, You do not have anyone to blame for your poor performance in school.

Related

Gain Admission Without Jamb Through IJMB
oxford university uk
How to Apply For a PhD Degree in Canada 2021
creative students
8 Steps To Become Creative Student In 2023
Avatar

About FlashIsaac

FlashLearners CEO, Students Advocate, SEO Expert And YouTuber

28 Comments

  1. modupe says

    Thanks sir i realy appreciate ur effort on us during dis upcoming exam tank u sir may God bless u

    Reply
  2. Julius oluwaseyi mercy says

    brilliant work sir

    Reply
    • Isaac Inegbenehi says

      I am happy that you found it helpful

      Reply
  3. Linus Charity Agbo says

    This is tremendous Isaac thank you for your help.You are God sent

    Reply
  4. Gloria says

    nice one

    Reply
  5. Tobi Christopher says

    That’s very nice. I was a victim of number 4. Thanks boss

    Reply
  6. Alimat says

    Wow!!!
    Dis is a great 1
    Now i know where am larking behind
    Thanks so much Sir
    May Allah be with u

    Reply
    • Isaac Inegbenehi says

      You are welcome Alimat

      Reply
  7. paul says

    Awesome piece

    Reply
  8. EnesGodmanson says

    hello sir. I must say that you are born on a very good day, thanks for impacting and improving students reading or studying systems. IAM healed of those symptoms you listed above that causes students failures. God bless you richly Sir

    Reply
  9. Tosin says

    Wow!!! God will definetly help you too, infact i really enjoy this tips!!!! Thanks

    Reply
    • Isaac Inegbenehi says

      am glad you enjoyed the article Tosin

      Reply
  10. vynce says

    cool tho

    Reply
  11. Olayinka damilola says

    Sir i’m a jambite and after reading your post i discovered that i’m not fully prepared at all and i’m poor in maths and account and jamb is not up to a month now and i don’t want to resit next year pls what should i do?

    Reply
    • Isaac Inegbenehi says

      Follow my series at flashlearners.com

      Reply
  12. patrick says

    wow! what a wonderful and educating keypoint you have up have put here am really grateful for this article, with it i will improve in my academics pusuit, during my national diploma (ND) i don’t use to complete each question ask in a course(subject) for e.g if the question is 5 or 7 i will only end up answering 4 which am not even sure of, as a result of this my performance was really poor but with this am now ready to improve for my Higher national diploma (HND). Thanks a lot for this and may God bless you real good boss.

    Reply
    • Isaac Inegbenehi says

      You welcome Patrick

      Reply
  13. Peace says

    please,how can I improve my spoken English. As for now, I can’t speak fluently and this is affecting me.

    Reply
    • Isaac Inegbenehi says

      Read more books, always check up the meaning of any new word you come across. Be more conscious of your spoken english and communicate more in simple and correct English.

      Reply
  14. Matilda says

    Ok but what if you don’t know how to answer questions like physics that have different complicated questions?

    Reply
  15. doubara says

    your content is really helpful

    Reply
    • Isaac Inegbenehi says

      Thanks dear

      Reply
  16. Promise chukwu says

    I really admire ur article. It will go a long way in developing student. Gratitude!

    Reply
    • Isaac Inegbenehi says

      Thanks dear

      Reply
  17. KerryYArcher says

    Hi! I really could have sworn I’ve been to this website before but after reading through a number of the post I realized it’s a novice to me.
    Nonetheless, I’m definitely glad I discovered it and I’ll be book-marking and
    checking back often!

    Reply
  18. Noah91 says

    I see your site is similar to my page. Do you allow guest posting?
    I can write interesting & unique posts for you. Let me know if you are interested.

    Reply
    • Isaac Inegbenehi says

      Yes… After registration, you will see +new menu.

      Reply
  19. Nolan89 says

    Reading your content is pure pleasure for me,
    it deserves to go viral, you need some initial traffic only.
    If you want to know how to get it search for: blackhatworren’s strategies

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CHOOSE TOPIC

  • FlashLearners Videos
  • Special Study Guide
  • FlashLearners Tech
  • Ongoing Scholarships
  • Flash Learners Quiz
  • Jamb And Direct Entry
  • National Youth Service
  • Blogging & SEO Guide
  • Complete O'Level Guide
  • Helpful Special Topics

© 2016 - 2023 FlashLearners

Home · About · Contact · Privacy · Disclaimer