Welcome to our Educational Page:

For some people, the thought of exams have them in a panic. The anxiety created by this stress can often cause you to produce a poor performance. It would be a real shame to under achieve in an exam just because of stress or poor preparation for something that is really important to you.

Study skills techniques, revision advice and exam advice in preparing for examinations are valuable examination help which enable easier exam revision and enhance exam performance... but professional coaching and tutoring can make a big difference, not just between passing or failing but also between grades.

Putting together an effective revision plan is a great start, but putting together a first class plan with the help of someone who not only understands the educational marking system but a person who can help you to focus through professional relaxation techniques, which in their own right can also help with memory retention, is a more positive way to set yourself up for a pass.

There are many schools of thought in the area of "Study Skills Counselling", where we differ is that we not only offer you all the basic revision skills; like mind mapping and organisational flow charts etc, but we offer them to you by someone who is a Learning Support Tutor, Counsellor, Mentor and Hypnotherapist. Put all of this together in one package and you are presented with a person who is already on your side and ready to listen to you and then help you move forward in the comfort of your own environment.

As an example, imagine going into an important lecture; how you prepare yourself will make a big difference to what you can and will get out of it.

Before:

• What do I want to get out of this lecture?
• How does it fit into the course?
• What do I know already about this topic?

During:

• What are the main points?
• What clues is the lecturer giving about what is to follow?
• What is informative?
• What is analytical?
• Is there anything practical for you to do within these applications?

After:

• Quickly draw a 'mind map' or spider diagram summarizing what you remember.
• Write a list of further questions.
• Write a list of which bits you did not understand.

Now you may not have a lecture to go to but even from a simplistic state, the above allows you to see how a lack of preparation can leave you at a disadvantage. Now add to that disadvantaged state, some stress, and failure seems to be just around the corner but remember, that we believe that failure is not about falling down but about not having the correct skills to get back up.

Sometimes your problem is one of understanding language at a slightly different level. Academic reading often requires you to go over the text a few times - so if you read a piece more than once, this is not necessarily a sign of having problems. There are particular challenges associated with academic texts:

• SPECIALIST VOCABULARY
• LONG, COMPLEX SENTENCES
• DIFFICULT DATA
• SOPHISTICATED LINE OF ARGUMENT
• REFERENCES TO OTHER AUTHORS/ ARGUMENTS
• LENGTH OF TEXT

However, if you find that the more often you go over a text, the less you understand - then this can be problematic. If you suffer from the 'stuck record' style of re-reading - where every time you lose track, you go back to the beginning again - then it is likely that your reading style is not as efficient as it might be or that you are a slow reader in need of some new techniques to help you speed read. To speed read, people must read selectively, which means they should select out relevant parts of a text and the key concepts, arguments and data that they need. This is not the same as 'skim' reading. Rather, it is a change of mindset - from 'coverage' of material to evaluating and making judgements about what you are reading.

If you would like help with any of the above and fell that having a personal educational coach would enhance your long term exam opportunities then please contact us and have a look at what we can professionally offer both individuals and small groups.