How to Plan Practice for Online Tests
Millions of people take online reasoning tests each year making it the most popular method of evaluating individual’s skills, knowledge and abilities. To maximise your chances of success and pass this assessment with flying colours it is important to practice and prepare thoroughly. Although there is no exact way in which you have to conduct your practice there are some tips that work.
Give yourself enough time for study
You may give yourself at least four to five months to study for standardised numerical reasoning tests. Depending on type, difficulty and your current level of reasoning abilities you may need more or less time studying for these tests. It is important that you divide your course of preparation and set up a weekly study schedule with clear aims and objectives for sessions in each week.
Study in short but frequent periods
In the first few weeks of your preparation you may want to study for short periods of time. Practicing in short but frequent sessions can be a very effective routine to get you focused and concentrated on task. You can use your short breaks for relaxation or for reflecting on what you have learned. A break every 25 – 30 minutes refreshes your mind without losing your engagement in the activity.
Revise and practice at strategic times
When you practice for online reasoning test revise what you have learned at strategic times. The most effective time to revise what you learned is the day after you learned it. Anything you cover today you will remember and understand better tomorrow as long as you’ve had a good night’s sleep. Sleep helps you to learn and assimilate new things into your mind. When you sleep two of your memory centres (hippocampus and cortex) exchange information which enables the information that you have acquired throughout the day to be integrated in a meaningful way. Thus, when you revise something the day after you learned it, you will have very little re-learning to do because your recall is at its highest. However, after the first revision session you still need to repeat this several times or else your recall may start to deteriorate. To get further ideas to improve at numeracy tests our reasoning test practice section review tips on enhancing your revision tactics.
Pick up quite place
To undertake effective preparation make sure that you practice in an environment where you feel comfortable. Try to minimise and totally eliminate distractors that surround you. For example, set your phone to silent mode or switch it off completely and let your family and friends know your schedule so that they can understand as when you need the time off from study. Minimising number of distractions will enable you to improve your level of your concentration and thus you will be more likely to maintain a sharp focus throughout the session. However, it is advisable to work for some time, particularly closer to the taking your real assessment, at the place where you will take your actual tests, in order to become comfortable with your surroundings.
Don’t stop practicing
Persist with your new learnt methods. To make good progress you need to persist with new learnt techniques until they become your second nature. For example, in online reasoning tests you may be surprised at how much attention to detail one need to pay in order to get the right answer. Developing good exam tactics and strategy takes time, patience and practice. Do not stop practicing when you hit some kind of difficulty. Be resilient and determined to overcome any weaknesses you may have or challenges you may encounter. Remember, success depends on you.