If you left school, college or university several years ago, the chances are you won\u2019t have sat an exam for a very long time. However, exams are a necessary evil if you want to gain qualifications for career progression; or improve your skills in your current role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s natural to feel a little anxious before your exam or test, so here are some top tips to help out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This might seem really obvious, but before you put pen to paper, make sure you read the question. Not just once, but 3 times. This should ensure that you have understood it correctly. When you\u2019re nervous and up against the clock, it\u2019s easy to misread something. For example, if the question says \u2018Which of the following are not food safety prerequisites?\u2019, you don\u2019t want to read it as \u2018Which of the following are food safety prerequisites?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of the questions in HACCP<\/a> and Food Safety<\/a> examinations can seem ambiguous and there can seem to be more than one relevant answer. Reading through carefully often helps to clarify this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a good idea to search Google for \u2018exam questions glossary\u2019 before the big day. This will tell you what is meant by particular words and phrases and what the examiner will expect to see in your answers. E.g. \u201cList the 7 principles of HACCP\u201d is a very different question from \u201cDescribe the 7 principles of HACCP.\u201d The first will have fewer marks and you will just be able to provide a simple list. The second will carry more marks and requires a more detailed answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Level 4 Food Safety<\/a>, Level 4 HACCP<\/a> and Lead Auditor<\/a> exams are written papers rather than multiple choice. Each question shows the maximum amount of marks awarded. It\u2019s common sense that you should spend more time on the questions for which you can get more marks. Don\u2019t waste time writing hundreds of words on a question worth a few marks, even if you could wax lyrical about pests for hours. Spend more time on a question worth 10 or 20 marks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you know that the exam is 2 hours duration, allow 5 to 10 minutes reading time and the same again at the end to go over your answers. Then split the remaining time according to the marks structure. Don\u2019t feel you have to answer the questions in the order they appear. It might be sensible to answer the high-ranking questions first, then tackle the rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exams such as Level 3 HACCP<\/a>, Level 3 Food Safety<\/a> and Auditing Skills<\/a> are in multiple choice format. You have a separate answer sheet which is marked electronically. A good tip is to go through the question paper and mark all your answers on there first. You can tick the answers to the ones you know and for ones you\u2019re not sure about you can eliminate the answers you know are correct. Then, once you\u2019ve made your choices, carefully transfer the answers to the answer sheet. You can use a sheet of paper or ruler under the corresponding questions and answers to make sure they\u2019re entered correctly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The answer to this one is that we would always recommend that you use black ink. Exam papers are scanned for marking, so black is much clearer and easier to read. When you sit an examination at Verner Wheelock we provide black pens as standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the subject of writing, try to make your handwriting as clear as possible. If your handwriting is difficult to decipher, you could print instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the best ways to prepare for an exam is to try to replicate examination conditions. Make sure you are somewhere quiet with no distractions, then attempt a mock paper within the given time. Study in short bursts of 20 -30 minutes at a time and memorise facts using mnemonics wherever possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You need to let the examination centre know well in advance if English is not your first language. In some cases the examination paper might be available in different languages. Remember that this will need to be ordered in specially, so give them plenty of notice. If the examination paper is only available in English you will be allowed to take a dictionary and thesaurus in with you (paper version only) and you will probably be allowed extra time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t overanalyse the questions and your answers with your colleagues. What happens in the exam stays in the exam. Just take a deep breath and enjoy the rest of the day. The chances are you\u2019re worrying about nothing. As long as you\u2019ve listened to the tutor during your training you should do fine. For example, the pass rate for Verner Wheelock delegates is 98% for Level 3 Food Safety and 97% for Level 3 HACCP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Good luck!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you left school, college or university several years ago, the chances are you won\u2019t have sat an exam for a very long time. However, exams are a necessary evil if you want to gain qualifications for career progression; or improve your skills in your current role. It\u2019s natural to feel a little anxious before […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,7,6],"tags":[1361,1370,1360,1363,1369,1362,1371,30],"class_list":["post-6071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food-safety-hygiene-news","category-food-safety-training","category-haccp-training","tag-auditing-exam","tag-exam-technique-tips","tag-exam-techniques","tag-food-safety-exam","tag-food-safety-exam-technique","tag-haccp-exam","tag-tips-for-exams","tag-verner-wheelock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6071\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}2) Understand what is required<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3) Allocate your time efficiently<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4) Tips for a multiple choice exam<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5)Blue or black ink?<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
6) Make sure you\u2019re prepared<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What if English is not your mother tongue?<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
After the exam<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n