No one likes exams or tests. It doesn’t matter if it’s an aptitude test, a math test, a bar exam, or some other kind of standardized test. Studying doesn’t always help you make feel better about the test.

It used to surprise me that some people at school actually liked examinations! I could never figure out why until I actually began marking test papers myself - it was because they had a technique for effectively answering test questions. In my job at a big university, I mark about a thousand test papers a year. Here are my tips for instantly improving your examination grades, in the test room itself, without really trying.

1. Underline key words

Or, better yet, use a highlighter to make it clear that you know what you are writing about and that you understand the question. If you don’t have a highlighter with you, use a pen to underline the key words.

2. Don’t use white-out

White out takes time to dry - time you could be spending on writing your answer! Everyone knows that exams are stressful and everyone makes mistakes. But if you white out your mistake, your reader can’t tell what you’ve written - this is a problem if your original answer was actually correct! I have seen this many times, especially in more technical subjects (such as those involving computer programming and algorithms). And then, sometimes the person taking the test can’t wait long enough for the white-out to dry, So, don’t use white-out.

3. Made a mistake? Just put a line through it.

Don’t bother scribbling out the answer. Don’t bother trying to annihilate what you’ve written. Hint: the examiner can still read what you wrote anyway by looking at the back of the page. Instead, just put a single line through what you’ve written. One single line is neat, and still lets the examiner see what you’ve written.

4. Always write in pen

Some people say you should write in pencil in case you want to erase what you’ve written: using an eraser is meant to make your answer neater, and you can’t erase pen. True, a neater answer is easier to read, but pen is easier to read than pencil. After several hundred test scripts, your marker’s attention starts to fall and they begin to become more picky about what they give points or marks to: so make your answer clear and bold. At that, use blue pen, not black: it will look neater on the page. Never use red pen - the examiner won’t be expecting this color and it will look like you didn’t prepare for the test.

5. Write an answer for every question

This is a simple fact: if you don’t write anything down, the marker can’t give you any points on your test. It really is that simple. The message is, write at least something for each answer. Even if you can’t write the best answer, or if you know the answer isn’t completely correct, at least put something down on the booklet. Even if you know that you haven’t studied, or haven’t studied the right things, at least write down as much as you can on the topic.

These are five simple ways to improve your test answers, without doing anything major. These simple ways of improving your examination answers apply whether you’re at university, college or even high school. Good luck, and please send me any feedback you might have.