How to Best Prepare for Your University Exams

A lesson I learned the hard way about university exams

During my MSc at the London School of Economics (2009–2010), Microeconomics was the subject I felt most confident in. I approached it by trying to cover everything and focused heavily on content and less on past exam papers. I did not have a clear exam strategy. I assumed that effort alone would be enough.

At the same time, Macroeconomics was my weakest subject. Feeling less prepared, I took a different approach. I focused on key, unavoidable topics and worked extensively through past papers, building a structured plan for how I would approach the exam.

The outcome was unexpected. I scored lowest in Microeconomics, while Macroeconomics resulted in my strongest performance.

That contrast stayed with me.

In later years, including during my time at Oxford, I applied a clear strategy to all exams. The result was not only improved performance, but a more efficient and less stressful revision process.

The key lesson is simple: Exam strategy can make a substantial difference in your performance. And I hope this article helps you understand what will make your studying journey more fun and less taxing.

Drawing on my own experience of over 15 years as a teacher at leading institutions, as well as over 40 years of combined teaching experience across my team at Axiom Tutoring, this guide outlines a practical and structured approach to exam preparation, one that I have seen work consistently for students across a range of universities including those I have taught in such as LSE, Oxford, and Sciences Po.

1.     Start by correcting one common misconception (for first year students)

As exam season approaches (typically in the middle of March), many students begin to think seriously about revision.

The earlier you start structuring your revision, the more effective your preparation will be. In practice, this planning depends on two key factors that are frequently misunderstood:(i) first-year exams (ii) module differences

Misconception 1: First-year exams are not very important

For many students, first-year exams are perceived as less important because they often carry less weight in the final degree classification. As a result, they are frequently underestimated.

This is a mistake.

First-year courses form the foundation for everything that follows. Weak fundamentals at this stage make second- and third-year material significantly harder to master. Moreover, the first year of university is precisely when students can begin to develop an effective study strategy that works for them. There is no single approach that suits everyone; rather, each student must identify and refine their own method, building on simple, common principles and adapting them to their individual strengths and weaknesses. This process should not be left to chance. A deliberate and well-structured approach developed early on makes subsequent years more manageable and significantly improves long-term academic performance.

In other words, a more effective approach is to treat first-year exams with the same level of discipline as you would treat them if they had an equal weighing to later years. Strong foundations reduce the effort required in subsequent years and improve long-term performance.

Misconception 2: All modules can be revised using the same strategy

Not all modules are equal in scope or in the way that they are examined. Hence, you must adjust your strategy based on the size (half vs full unit) and structure of the module and crucially the structure of the exam.  

2.     Start with the right material

The first thing I advise students to do is to make a list of all relevant exams. Relevant exams include exams that are:

• Set by the current lecturer(s)

• Based on the current (or similar) syllabus

  
  

For some modules, this is straightforward. Take for example, EC2B3 (Macroeconomics II) at the LSE, a module which Prof. Kevin Sheedy has taught for at least 15 years. In that case, past papers are likely to be highly representative of what you will face. But even for this course the structure has changed as the module was formerly known as EC210 and it was a full-unit module.

In other modules, it is not so obvious. Lecturers change, and even when the syllabus remains similar, exam style can differ significantly. Back in 2015, I lectured MG205: Econometrics Theory and Application while the main lecturer was on sabbatical. Although I kept the syllabus largely the same and much of the content unchanged, I wrote my own exam questions. Naturally, my style differed from previous years. Students sitting MG205 that year would have been better off placing more emphasis on that year’s problem sets rather than relying too heavily on older past papers. In fact, for students currently taking MG205, that year probably remains one of the few where the usual lecturer did not teach the course, making that exam less representative than usual.

The most common example of exams that are not representative are the ones of year 2021 and 2022. Yes, these are the COVID years when exams’ structures (no matter which university) were created to account for the “online” component of the exam taking.

So how do you identify what is relevant?

• Ask your current lecturer(s) directly for how long they have been teaching the module and if the syllabus has changed at all. Sometimes, class teachers that have taught the module for a few years might also have an answer to this question. If you have a definite answer from your current lecturer(s) that is all you need. Failing that, the following two approaches can also help:

• Speak to upper-year students

• Use a website like the Wayback Machine (http://web.archive.org) to check historical module pages that give information about past lecturers. Simply copy paste a current link to the course description and you will be able to see earlier year snapshots of the same URL allowing you to check if the current lecturers and content have changed over the years.

  
  

Getting this right at the beginning can be crucial so that you can focus your limited time on the papers that matter.

2. Do not wait to start past papers

One of the most common things I hear from students is:

“I want to first review all the content, then I will do past papers at the end.”

While for A-levels this might be sensible, I think this is the wrong approach at university; and I admit this is the approach that I also took as a student as you already know from the lesson I learned the hard way.

While it may sound counterintuitive, I strongly recommend starting your revision by looking at the most recent past papers. You can start with the latest two or three.

This gives you:

• a sense of how topics are examined

• an understanding of the structure of the exam

• early insight into which topics matter most

  
  

In fact, when I meet new tutees, I often spend the first session going through past papers with them to develop a clear strategy. Past papers are not the final step of revision; they are the foundation of it.

This is also a good time to ask upper-year students whether they have access to additional past papers. Many universities now only release a limited number (often the most recent three), meaning older students may have valuable extra material.

3. Build a strategy: this is where performance is determined

Once you have gathered your materials (past papers, problem sets, and lecture notes), you are in a position to do something most students overlook: build a deliberate exam strategy.

By “strategy,” I mean deciding:

• Which topics you will prioritise and in what order?

• How you will allocate your time between topics?

• How you will approach the exam itself?

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Most students rely primarily on effort, in the form of coverage of all lecture notes and problem sets. Strong students combine effort and structure. A detailed and realistic plan, organised around clear weekly targets and allowing for inevitable delays, revision, and final consolidation, makes study time significantly more effective and prevents last-minute inefficiencies.

Why strategy matters

Exam performance is not determined solely by how much you study, but by how efficiently your effort translates into marks.

To illustrate, consider an exam with four questions, each worth 25%.

In many modules, certain topics are:

• highly predictable

• relatively self-contained

• quick to consolidate

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In a microeconomics exam (e.g. EC2A3 Microeconomics II at LSE) there is a high likelihood of a question on uncertainty and insurance. This topic is relatively self-contained. A student could realistically go through the lecture notes and problem sets related to the topic in one day, and by the second day they might be able to handle most past paper questions on it.

Similarly, in macroeconomics (e.g. EC2B3 Macroeconomics II at LSE), a two-period consumption model is almost always examined (and for good reasons!). But that topic is highly self-contained and can be covered in 1-2 days with the right approach and support.

In practical terms, this means that a small number of carefully chosen topics can account for a significant share of the exam. But this does not mean you can prepare for the entire exam in eight days. Some topics are far less self-contained, more complex, and require deeper understanding, or do not always appear on the exam.

I understand that it is very tempting for students to leave things such as planning for the last minute when unfortunately, the material and the different assignments have already become overwhelming. Ariely and Wertenbroch (2002) shows that when individuals lack structure, they tend to delay tasks and perform worse. Introducing constraints such as deadlines or a clear plan improves outcomes. An exam strategy acts as a form of self-imposed structure, helping to reduce procrastination and direct effort more effectively.

Exams should not be viewed as something to fear, but as an integral part of the learning process. In many cases, it is only through attempting exam questions that students fully understand the expectations of a module.

High-return topics vs low-return topics

Not all topics are equally valuable from a revision perspective. Learning typically exhibits diminishing returns: the initial stages of revision, if done right, should generate the largest gains in understanding, while later stages are increasingly focused on refinement and consolidation.

Some topics:

• appear consistently in exams

• are easier to master in isolation

• deliver a high return in terms of marks per unit of time

  
  

Others:

• are less predictable

• require deeper integration with other parts of the course

• may not appear at all

  
  

An effective strategy prioritises high-return topics early, ensuring that a portion of the exam is secured before moving on to more complex or uncertain material.

In FM101 (Finance at LSE), you will almost certainly face a question testing your understanding of Net Present Value (NPV), annuities, and mortgage-type amortisation. These are core concepts, and your revision should start with those.

A lecturer teaching finance will want to ensure you understand them well. Again, this is a topic where a focused two-day effort can translate into a significant portion of the exam.

4. Depth vs broad coverage

A common mistake is to aim for full coverage of the syllabus without considering depth.

In practice, it is often more effective to:

• go deeper into a subset of topics

• achieve strong performance on those

• and accept that not every topic can be mastered equally

  
  

This becomes particularly relevant in modules taught by multiple lecturers. In some cases, careful analysis of past papers and exam structure may reveal that certain sections can be deprioritised with limited risk.

The goal is not to avoid work, but to allocate effort where it has the greatest impact.

During my second year as a graduate student at the University of Oxford, I had a module in Industrial Economics taught by four different lecturers. By analysing the structure of the exam, I realised I could safely ignore one of the four sections. This allowed me to go deeper into the remaining topics and I ended up scoring at the top of my cohort that year.

Over the years, I have seen that students who approach their revision with a clear exam strategy consistently outperform those who rely on effort alone. If you are considering the support of a tutor for your exams, we have a team of award-winning teachers who previously taught at leading institutions and have been carefully selected and I would be personally delighted to see how we could best support you on your academic journey.