How To Get Good Grades In School

Written by Nurul-Haq Shuaibu Kabiru, Year 9 (2018)

A grade is a particular level of rank, quality, proficiency, intensity, or value of something. In this case, it is a mark indicating the quality of a student’s work at school. For students who don’t do really well at school, the following tips are bound to help him/her because they worked for my younger brother who moved from a B+ to an A.

1. Always pay close attention in class.
2. Avoid distraction: Distraction makes you not listen attentively in class and makes you miss important keywords the teacher says.
3. Use your free time wisely (if you have): A lot of students think that free time is meant for them to rest. In fact some people even sleep, eat or go to play a game of chess. Free time is to be spent reading a storybook, novel, textbook (e.g biology) or meeting a teacher to explain a particular topic or formula you do not understand.
4. Note down key words the teacher says in your own words: Sometimes, what the teacher says might be too long or difficult to understand. In the Cambridge IGCSE exam, students are not usually given a lot of space to write or draw a diagram of their answers. The best thing to do is to note keywords the teacher says in such a way that when you are studying or revising for an exam, you will be able to understand what it means. No matter how long or short an answer is, try to include keywords, as keywords will fetch you marks in an exam.
5. Have a study timetable: Having a study timetable helps you to be organized.
6. Do not over-study: Over-studying might stress you out or make reading/studying boring. Instead, have a break of 5-10 minutes; if you have time you could extend your break to 30 minutes or an hour.
7. Do not start to study a day before exams: Studying a day before an exam makes a student jumble answers, keywords, or formulas to a question. You should study every day.

I hope with these few tips of mine, I’m able to help improve a student’s grade or even put a smile on his/her face. Do not forget to read a book during the long holiday of about two months.