Three exams, not one
Polish, maths and the foreign language test three different skills — which is why one plan for all three does not work.
- Polish tests writing — Not knowledge of the set texts but the ability to write an answer with an argument and a quotation. That is why reading summaries does not prepare you for this part.
- Maths tests solving — A formula derived in class is not enough: what counts is the number of questions of the same type you have worked through. Of the three, this is the one subject where studying is mostly doing.
- The foreign language tests use — The words you need are the ones that turn up in the papers, not the ones on the topic lists in the coursebook.
Three assumptions that spoil the preparation
All three sound sensible, and all three cost months of work.
The exam can be caught up in the last month
What is tested is material from several years. The last month is enough to review and to get used to the format, not to learn topics from nothing.
Three subjects, one way of studying
Polish asks for writing, maths for solving, the foreign language for using words. Reading a textbook is none of those three.
Papers just need solving
A paper with no checking and no list of mistakes is two hours gone. All of the value is in what happens afterwards.
The six steps of the plan
The first two are done once, the rest repeat every week.
- Do a diagnostic paper
One in each subject, to time, in one sitting, without looking anything up. Unpleasant and necessary: without it the plan is built on a hunch.
- Break the result into topics
Not “bad at maths” but: percentages, geometry, equations. The list of topics is the work plan for the coming weeks.
- Two topics a week, with questions at the end
Only as much theory as it takes to get going on the questions. A topic ends with a run of questions from papers, not with a chapter read.
- Polish: your own summaries and a skeleton
Half a page on each set text written in your own words, with three quotations. Plus a fixed shape for the written answer and the linking phrases — the rest depends on the topic.
- Maths: typical questions, not theory
The same kind of question solved five times in a row stays. A formula derived once is safer than a formula read ten times.
- The foreign language: vocabulary from the papers
Words written out from questions that actually appeared, not from topic lists. Seven per sitting, checked both ways.
If a diagnostic paper comes out very weak across a whole subject, that is a sign of missing foundations from earlier years. Then it is worth asking the teacher which topic to start from — working through year-eight material on empty ground will not hold.
One mock paper, two ways of using it
A hundred and twenty-five minutes of work. What happens after them decides whether they were worth the time.
A paper with no debrief
- The student does a maths paper, checks the answers against the key, counts the marks.
- Result: 21 out of 30. The paper goes on the pile, the next one comes out in a week.
- After ten papers the score has not moved, because the same mistakes are made every time in the same three topics.
- What is left is the belief that “papers do not help”.
The same paper with a list of mistakes
- The same paper, the same 21 out of 30.
- Every wrong question goes on a list with one note beside it: percentages, geometry, equations.
- It turns out that seven of the nine mistakes are one topic — percentages.
- Next week: two hours on percentages and five questions of the same type in a row, not one from each topic.
- The next paper comes only after that, not before — and it is there to check whether that one topic has stopped eating marks.
Three papers done and debriefed give more than ten done and put away. A paper is a diagnostic tool, not endurance training.
Break the last result into topics — fifteen minutes
If there is any marked paper or mock exam in the house, do this today.
- Write out the numbers of the questions that went wrong
The numbers alone, in a column. No marks and no comments.
- Beside each one add the topic in one word
Percentages, geometry, equations, reading comprehension, vocabulary. One word, not a sentence.
- Count how often each topic repeats
Usually two or three topics account for most of the marks lost.
- Pick one and plan a week around it
One, not all of them. With a run of questions of the same type at the end.
The result is a list of two or three topics instead of the verdict “bad at maths”. That is the difference between a plan and unease: a topic can be worked through in a week, “maths” cannot be worked through at all. If the mistakes spread evenly across all the topics, that usually means running out of time on the paper rather than missing knowledge — and then you work on pace, not on material.
Do not do this straight after the paper, while the feelings are fresh. The next day, calmly, at the table.
What the research says
Two papers behind two decisions: six months rather than one, and the paper as a tool.
Cepeda et al., 2006 — a review of 184 papers on spacing
The same number of hours spread over time gives clearly better recall than the same hours massed. On material from several years that is the difference between a six-month plan and a month of panic.
Roediger and Karpicke, 2006 — retrieval from memory
Testing yourself improves later recall more than another reading does. A paper is exactly that kind of test — provided the work on the mistakes follows it.
The research looked at general principles of learning, not at this exam and not at our course. Splitting the work across three subjects and the preparation calendar are practice, not a conclusion from the studies. The full list of papers our programme rests on: the Space Memory methodology
What not to do in the last month
Four things that take more than they give in April.
Opening new topics
A topic touched for the first time a month before rarely has time to settle. That time works better on reviewing what almost holds already.
Papers without a debrief
Ten papers done with no list of mistakes give less than three done and worked through.
Studying through the night
Shortened sleep before the exam takes away exactly the sharpness the room asks for. Extra study hours do not make up for the rest you lost.
Comparing yourself with the class
Other people's mock results say nothing about your plan. The measure is the difference between your first paper and your last.
The preparation calendar
A reference point for a student starting in year eight.
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Six months before | A diagnostic paper and two topics a week |
| A month before | Reviews and papers only, no new topics |
| A week before | The list of mistakes, the format, sleep at a fixed hour |
Check how they work against the clock
The free test is three short game-like tasks: memory, attention and reasoning. For a student before an exam it is the shortest trial of how they cope with a ticking clock.
Open the free testshort test, about 7 minutes · no sign-up · instant result
Take the plan as a PDF
One page to print and pin above the desk — everything in this text in a form you take in at a glance. You download and print it, nothing to leave behind. The sheet itself is in Polish, the language of the exam.
- A countdown from three months to the morning of the exam
- Three subjects and three different ways of studying, each in two sentences
- Three reasons behind mistakes and what to do about each
No sign-up and no e-mail address — the file downloads straight away. Print it and pass it on as much as you like.
What we help with here, and what we do not
Space Memory is not a tutoring school and does not teach the material of Polish or maths. We teach how to study: the shape of the week, reviews spread over time, memorising techniques and working against the clock. Around an exam that is the part nobody usually shows the student.
Questions from students and parents
When is the best time to start?
A sensible moment is the beginning of year eight, or the end of year seven if the foundations are weaker. Starting later still makes sense, only then the plan narrows to the topics that carry the most marks.
How many papers are worth doing?
More important than the number is whether each one was debriefed. One paper a month done to time and worked through on the mistakes gives more than a run of them solved without checking.
Is tutoring necessary?
With a clear gap in one subject, usually yes. With a problem in how studying is organised, tutoring adds hours but does not change the way of working.
How do you study the set texts?
Your own half-page summary plus three quotations and one sentence on what the work is about. Ready-made study notes read quickly and are forgotten just as quickly.
What about the foreign language if the level is low?
Start from the vocabulary in the papers and from listening, because those parts give marks the fastest. Grammar is caught up in questions, not in tables.
How do you deal with exam stress?
Knowing the format helps most: a paper done to time a few times stops being a surprise. If the anxiety is strong and does not pass, it is worth talking to the school counsellor.
Pages that take the separate parts of the plan further.
Effective study course for kids
Learning as a skill: planning, review and self-testing in class.
How to prepare for a test
The same logic on a smaller body of material
Study techniques for teenagers
Choosing what to work through and what to skim
How to study effectively
The order in which studying gets sorted out
Would you like the student to have a plan and someone keeping them to it?
In online classes we work on the way of studying and on memory: 90 minutes once a week, in a group of 5–10, plus short sessions in between. Leave a request and we will tell you about the next group.
Request a callThe guide is free. Our classes are about the way of studying and about memory, not tutoring in one subject.