Soothsaying an examination methodology ...

Careful does it. This blog post is about exam papers, but nothing will be discussed regarding any particular paper.

What has amused and maybe concerned me is the significance a group of students are giving the historic trajectory of some of our exam papers. Based (I assume) on the assumption that we have a methodology for designing our exam paper questions. In some soothsaying prediction they are trying to decipher what questions may appear in the examination.

Sorry ... we don't actually have any method. The learning outcomes are clear, thats all we use to guide us. I am aware of some students who have admitted in the past to having tried this method then wonder why they have had to take a resit paper.

The exam papers are designed to draw on your full knowledge of the content of any given module. To focus on historical assessment topics is a misnomer and best avoided as new questions will appear that should (we hope) surprise you if you have fallen for this tactic.

Students who do the best, tend to :

  • Read the question and answer the question that was asked
  • Keep their answers to the point and share knowledge
  • Avoid sharing what they think we want to see, rather what the question asks for



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