Once the exams are over the most important thing to do is to chill and reward yourself for all the sacrifices and hard work which you have made over the past few months, writes Sean Purcell.
Imagine you are an international athlete having just completed a big race in early December with your next big race not until next March. After all that training and preparation, you’ve done it would be important to relax those muscles and have a bit of chill time. In much the same way, your brain is a muscle which will need a bit of relaxation after all the exertions of study. The question is – how long do I need to relax for? – Your results will be released 17/1/22 – should you wait until then? Remember you also have Christmas, New Years Eve and Chinese New Year to celebrate before the March exam so you are maybe not sure how you are going to fit everything in.
If we look at things in a practical way, there are 12 weeks after exam week until the next set of exams take place in March 2022. If you wait until the December 2021 results come out in January 2022 there will be less than 7 weeks left until the March exam week and I think if you plan to do an exam in March this creates a pressure that you do not need to put on yourself if you plan your approach better. Remember that many of us might also be burdened and tied up in year-end accounts work.
So my advice would be to take a week (or two) to enjoy yourself and let your hair down but after 2 weeks think about getting back into the discipline of study whilst you still remember what that is like. That way you massively increase your chances of passing whatever exam plan you intend to do in March. I’m such a supporter of this approach that any student who signs up in December for a course of mine who unfortunately does not get the result they want in January can flip the course for free until June.
Enjoy your time off and have plan you approach for 2022 carefully so you qualify as quickly and as easily as possible.
