5 tips to help you with your multiple choice question exam

You may have noticed that we have implemented multiple choice questions (MCQs) across more of our course levels. While assignments are useful for testing the depth of knowledge in a specific area looked at in the course, combining these with MCQs tests a broader range of topics. This combined approach ensures that our learners are able to demonstrate a broader understanding of their study material, and can feel confident in their learning. 

We’ve compiled some tips to try and make MCQs a little less daunting, especially if you’re new to doing them or just a bit out of practice. 

1. Preparation, preparation, preparation 

While self-led learning has many benefits, it comes with the caveat that you do have to be proactive in ensuring you are giving yourself the best chance of succeeding in your test. Other than the general course deadline, there is none of the structure of the tests you may remember from school or university, where your exam would be held on a set time and date, whether it worked for you or not. You can choose when to start your exam, but make sure you use that freedom well.  

Say for instance, you’ve just finished your course or reading your manual, and you think ‘I’ll do the test now while everything is still fresh in my mind!’, or even ‘I get anxious about tests, let’s get this over with as quickly as possible!’. 

But rushing to the finish line could set you up for failure. Instead, before starting your test, take a moment to consider the following questions.

•    Do I have the time to take this test now, with no other obligations?
•    Is this the time that I normally feel my best? (i.e. am I more of a morning or evening person?)
•    Am I in the right frame of mind for doing a test?
•    Am I well rested?
•    Can I go somewhere to take my test that is quiet, where I won’t be disturbed?
•    Have I eaten something substantial, but not too heavy, recently? 
•    Do I have a drink so I’m not getting thirsty halfway through?
•    Are there any aspects of the course that I feel like I should review before I start?

By considering these questions, creating a quiet environment and ensuring you are physically comfortable, you are setting yourself up with the best time for you personally to complete your test. 

It also helps to mentally prepare by completing the supplied practice test, as this will help you to become familiar with how they will be presented, as well as testing your knowledge and illustrating any weak areas that may need revision before the real thing.

2. Use your time effectively

Check how long you have to take your test, and try to keep this in mind as you go. If you have an hour to complete your test and you’ve blasted through half of the questions in a panicked dash within the first ten minutes, you may not be taking enough time to read them properly and understand what is being asked. Take a breath, keep an eye on the time, and work through the questions calmly and methodically.

On the other side of this, it’s also important that if you get stuck, try not to fixate on the problem question for too long to the detriment of the others that you may have a better chance at getting right.

3. Answer what you know first, then come back to what you don’t 

On that note, if you get stuck, it can be more useful to leave a tricky question blank for now and come back to it later. It’s much more efficient to answer the questions you know the answer to first, especially as it may help to build your confidence rather than letting yourself get bogged down worrying about what you don’t know. Just make sure to keep an eye on the time and allow enough to go back over the questions you’re uncertain on.

It may also be that your brain needs the extra time to think over the answer, or one of the other questions may spark your memory, and when returning to the question you were so uncertain about a few minutes ago, you may find you know the answer after all.

4. Break the question down

If you do get stuck, it can help to mentally take the question apart and make sure you understand what is actually being asked. In the pressure of the moment, it’s all too easy to read a question, think you know what it’s asking, only for none of the supplied options to match, all because of missing or misreading a key word.

5. When in doubt, work out what ISN’T right first

If you’ve come back to a question, broken down the question and know exactly what it’s asking, but you still feel like you’re none the wiser about which one is right, try looking at the options from the other direction: are there any answers that you feel like you can say are definitely NOT right? If you have to resort to a guess, it’s better to reduce the number you’re choosing between to a one in three or even a 50/50 chance of getting it right.

We hope that these tips help, and we wish you the best of luck with completing your MCQ test. 

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