The Final 48 Hours — Last-Minute Preparation That Helps

The last 48 hours before an exam are not the time for heroics. You are not going to learn an entire topic from scratch, and trying to do so will leave you exhausted and anxious. But there are genuine, evidence-backed things you can do in this window that will meaningfully improve your performance.

This lesson separates what actually helps from what feels productive but wastes your remaining time.

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What Actually Helps in the Last 48 Hours

1. Review Mark Schemes

This is the single highest-value activity you can do in the final days. Reading mark schemes for your subject:

• Reminds you what examiners actually reward
• Shows you the structure of successful answers
• Highlights common patterns (e.g., in science, the same types of 6-mark answers appear year after year)
• Reduces surprise — you will recognise question types when you see them

How to do it: Take 2–3 past paper mark schemes and read through them, focusing on the 6+ mark questions. Note the language used in Level 4 descriptors. Pay attention to the indicative content — these are the points the examiner expects to see.

2. Do One Timed Past Paper