Can your students identify reasons they underperformed in exams? Maybe their target is to “revise more” for the next test. There are different types of mistakes that can cause students to drop marks in an exam: Not reading the questions Incorrect wording or not topic specific Understanding the main ideas of this topic but not knowing they had to apply the knowledge to this question. Timing These are just a few types of mistakes. The printable worksheet allows students time to really reflect on their overall exam performance. Analysis of each question marked incorrectly can lead to a pattern in the type of mistake being made again and again. Once the types of mistakes being made are acknowledged, students can use the smart targets to focus on avoiding this type of mistake. We have been using this technique for 4 years and have seen a marked improvement in our external exam results.

We have started using this technique in our science department to allow students to highlight areas where they make mistakes. This could be due to misreading questions; not understanding the material; not understanding the questions; calculation questions or not using correct terminology. Once our students were aware of where the mistakes were being made, we gave them focused targets and it has helped improve their performance.