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THE wait is almost over for Leaving and Junior Certificate candidates who will commence their examinations tomorrow. Below is some advice for candidates and wishing students the very best of luck!

Students should approach the State exams confidently because they are extremely well prepared after two years of consistent study. The national results achieved each year in the state exams are also very impressive. In addition, places in further and higher education courses, apprenticeships and traineeships will be very plentiful this year in a buoyant economy.

Maintenance
The heavy study is done, so the priority is to be mentally and physically alert for the exams. Your best asset going into an exam is a clear and alert mind. Your mental and physical energy needs to be at a high level over the next few weeks. On the evening before each paper, spend an hour or so looking over your notes, so that the important concepts and ideas are fresh in your mind.

Strategy
Give serious thought to your answering strategy and adopt a planned approach to answering the question papers. Write your answers between the margins and work your way down the page in a neat and orderly manner. Write clearly and legibly. Keep your answers well spread out for easy reading.

Enumeration
Number each question and sub-question clearly in the left-hand margin. Don’t split questions by answering a part of a question on one page and then the other part further on. If you are unable to completely answer a question leave a page blank to which you can return later. In fact, it’s a good idea to leave about a half page blank at the end of each question. This will allow you to add more information to a question if you wish to do so later in the exam.

Quality
A well-presented script makes a favourable impression on the corrector but the core of any exam is the quality of your answering. The content of your answer must be relevant to the question asked. Address the topics on the question paper. Be concise, accurate and relevant.

Format
Be familiar in advance with the format of each paper. Know how the paper is presented.

Timing
In order to do well in the exam you must present your answers within the time allowed. Be aware of the marking scheme for each paper and work out in advance the approximate time you can afford to spend on each question

Scan
Spend about five minutes reading the entire exam paper when its handed to you. This preliminary scrutiny of all the questions allows you to settle down and gather your thoughts.

Post-mortem
Once an exam is over, spend as little time as possible on a post-mortem. The matter is now out of your hands. Leaving Certificate Exam results will be issued on Wednesday, August 16, and CAO First Round Offers will be available on Monday, August 21.

• Billy Ryle is a career guidance counsellor and freelance writer