How to Use Past Questions to Smash JAMB this Year
Let’s Start
As you prepare for JAMB this year, my prayer is that you excel this time and study your dream course.
However, that prayer is not enough. Nearly everyone that is writing JAMB get such prayers from their family, friends and pastor.
There is work to do if you really want to score high marks that will ensure you gain admission to study your dream course.
My focus on this post is to share with you one of the work you need to do—how to use past questions to smash JAMB this year.
To ensure you understand my point clearly, let me help you…
Understand Exam Success
To succeed in your exam is not just about getting any grade you can; but getting the one that is enough to help you move to the next level.
Success in JAMB is not about crossing 200 or even 280. It’s getting enough marks to enable you get your dream course. So, as you prepare, take your mind off getting 200 or 250. Keep it at getting all the questions correct.
When you keep your eyes on getting all the answers correct, your manner of preparation changes automatically. You start learning to know everything, not just some. The result is that you stretch yourself to your fullest capacity which eventually makes it easy for you to score very high.
If you want to study a competitive course and your friend wants a less competitive one, getting 232 may be all he needs but for you that wants a competitive course, 250 may even be failure for you unless you score very high in your Post UME.
Having made that point, the next thing I want you to understand is the…
System of Exam Success
Succeeding in your exams is not magical; it follows a system. Exam Success results when a group of related activities lead you to adequate preparation for your exam; thus enabling you to answer your exam questions correctly.
Discussing this system in detail will require writing a book. But for the purpose of this post, it will suffice to describe it for you this way:
Exam is not necessary a hurdle designed to keep you from getting admission into school to study your dream course. It’s a test designed to determine your ability to answer questions based on what you should have learnt within a specified time frame.
To succeed in your exam requires that you must have LEARNT what you will be tested for in your exam, developed the capacity to come up with your ANSWER within your exam duration without violating any exam RULES.
Learning involves personal study, attending extra mural classes and engaging in group discussions. By all means, explore these techniques to ensure you cover your course outline thoroughly. Use personal study to learn on your own and for in-depth study and clarification on difficult topics, attend extra mural or private classes and join a serious study group.
By the way, for a lesson centre designed to give you proper teaching on the four subjects you need to write in JAMB, I strongly recommend Potters House Academy, Nsukka, Enugu State, because they don’t just teach you to know your subjects, they equally groom you with tips and tricks to master to enable you answer JAMB questions with ease.
Then, training yourself to answer your exam questions correctly is another part of the exam success system you have to stick to.
Many people perform poorly in JAMB exam, not because they don’t have the capacity to learn; but because they don’t know how to come up with their answers fast.
Two ways to train yourself to answer your JAMB questions correctly is by getting familiar with the kind of questions you will be asked and perfecting your use of computer for your exams.
It is past question papers that will help you get familiar with the kind of questions you will be asked and CBT practice will help you gain mastery of how to use computer to answer your JAMB questions fast.
All the things I have said up till now is to get me to make this important point…
How to Use Past Questions to Smash Your JAMB This Year
First, understand that your past question is not a substitute for your textbooks. It’s at best complimentary. So, don’t get into the error that many people commit in reading their past question paper as though it’s a text book.
The essence of your past question paper is that it shows you the kind of questions you will be asked in your exams so that you can get ready for answering them.
As an example, if you are writing biology in your exam and take a look at the past question, you will notice that one of the formats of the questions they ask you is giving you a diagram and asking you to identify the parts labelled or their functions.
That will help you know the kind of question to expect in your exams. When you see that in the year 2010, the diagram they gave is that of ears, you can study other organs knowing that they can just pick any diagram and ask question on it.
Also, when you study your past questions, you will notice trends that will help you get better prepared for your exams.
As an example, when you study Physics past question, you will notice that most of the questions are calculation based and very few of it is theory. This will help you give more attention to mastering your calculation. The opposite is the case with chemistry.
Those are just examples; you can take a look at the subjects you are writing on and know the kind of question you will be asked so as to get well prepared for it.
Moreover, your past question paper is one of the best means of testing your understanding of your subject. It’s not enough to read, you need to be sure that you truly understand your subjects and can answer real exam questions.
JAMB Past questions are the standard of question you will be asked in your exam. It’s not likely to be off the curriculum you are using in school. So, using it to measure your degree of understanding your subject and ability to answer question is a smart move.
When you use your past questions paper to test your ability, you will see areas you haven’t fully grasped so you can give it attention. You will notice the topics that you find most difficult so you can know the areas to focus on.
In fact, it’s better to test yourself based on each topic you read instead of just answering questions for a whole year.
When you try to answer JAMB question year by year, you encounter some questions that look too tough that you start thinking JAMB is too hard for you.
However, when you attempt JAMB questions based on topics you have read, it helps you measure your degree of comprehension of each topic before moving to another one. It will also help you observe fine details you may have overlooked in the course of your study that they also set questions from.
Each time you finish a topic and attempt JAMB questions on the topic, you are likely to get a number of answers correct. The advantage is that you will realize that JAMB is not as difficult as many who failed may have told you. Equally important is the fact that it will boost your confidence in your capacity to score high in your exam. You need that confidence!
I would prescribe that you isolate questions based on each topic; but that can be a lot of work which you may not be able to do effectively.
In fact, I used to do that for my siblings when I was doing private lessons for them, to ensure that they develop the capacity to answer their exam questions well.
But I wouldn’t do that today because it’s no longer necessary. I came to know about a JAMB past question, Success Edge 4-in1 JAMB Past Questions and Answers which solves the problem for you.
Unlike other past question papers in which questions are arranged year by year, this one is arranged subject by subject with the year the question was set written close to it for reference.
When you get a copy of Success Edge 4-in1 JAMB Past Questions and Answers, you will see JAMB questions from the first JAMB exam till date arranged based on the topics so you can easily test your understanding of each subject.
It’s not just past question arranged based on subjects, the answers are equally provided with notes.
Success Edge 4-in1 JAMB Past Questions and Answers is available for Art & Law, Medical & Pharmaceutical and Engineering with their different subject combinations.
To get a copy of 4-in1 JAMB Past Questions and Answers, call or send a WhatsApp message to +234 703 818 5705
You can download this post as an ebook HERE.
PS: For more insight I share with students, follow @StudentGroove on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. You can read my past and future blog posts on Wednesday on brojid.com or Join my WhatsApp broadcast through 08105504664.
