Last Minute Study Tips for Exams That Actually Works (A Survival Guide)

Last Minute Study Tips for Exams That Actually Works

It’s 10:00 PM. The exam is tomorrow morning. Your palms are sweating, and you’re staring at a textbook that looks like it’s written in Greek.

We’ve all been there.

Maybe NEPA took the light when you planned to study, or maybe you just procrastinated until the pressure became too much to ignore. It happens. But panic won’t help you now. What you need is a strategy. You need Last Minute Study Tips for Exams That Actually Works.

Let’s be honest with ourselves. This isn’t the time to try and be the “best student in the school.” This is survival mode. The goal right now isn’t to learn everything; it’s to learn enough to pass and score high.

Here is how you can save your grades in the final hours.

1. The “Triage” Method: Stop Reading Everything

You might feel the urge to start from Chapter 1 and read till the end.

Please, don’t do that.

You do not have the time. If you try to read the whole textbook now, you will burnout before you even reach the important parts. Instead, you need to use the Triage Method. This means focusing only on the topics that carry the most marks.

How do you know which topics those are?

Look at the syllabus. For exams like JAMB and WAEC, the exam bodies actually tell you what they will ask. For example, if you are preparing for science subjects, checking specific guides like the JAMB syllabus 2026 for Biology can save you hours of wasted time.

Pick the 3-5 broad topics that always appear in the exam. Master those. Ignore the obscure topics that only appear once every ten years.

2. Don’t Just Read; “Blurt” It Out

Here is a mistake almost every Nigerian student makes.

You sit down, open your note, and read the page over and over again. You feel like the information is entering your head. But the moment you close the book? Gone.

Passive reading is a waste of your precious last minutes.

Instead, try the “Blurting” method. Read a section for 10 minutes. Then, close the book. Grab a piece of paper and write down everything you can remember without looking.

It’s hard. It’s annoying. But it forces your brain to actually work.

This is exactly why some people argue that hard work is more important than talent; because the talent to “just read and know” fails under pressure, but the hard work of active recall sticks.

3. The Past Question Hack

If you have only 4 hours left to study, spend 2 of them on past questions.

This is the holy grail of Nigerian exams. Whether it’s Post-UTME, NECO, or a university semester exam, examiners are lazy. They recycle questions.

But don’t just memorize the answers (A, B, C, D). That’s dangerous because they might tweak the question slightly. Instead, use the past questions to understand the pattern.

• Step 1: Pick a year (e.g., 2023).

• Step 2: Attempt the questions without looking at the answer key.

• Step 3: Mark yourself.

If you fail a particular topic repeatedly in the past questions, that is a sign from God to go and read that specific topic immediately. You can find authentic past questions on the official JAMB portal or other reputable educational apps.

4. Fix Your Environment (Avoid the Hostel Drama)

You cannot study if your roommates are arguing about football or playing loud music.

I know, sometimes the distraction isn’t even your fault. Maybe you have registration issues stressing you out, like trying to fix profile code and NIN errors.

But for tonight? Put the administrative issues aside. Leave the noisy room. Find a classroom, a quiet corner in the library, or use earplugs. You need total focus.

5. The “Zombie” Warning: Get Some Sleep

This is controversial, I know.

You probably think, “I have to read till dawn.” But let me tell you from experience: The brain needs sleep to “save” the file.

If you study for 10 hours straight and don’t sleep, your brain won’t consolidate that memory. You will get to the exam hall, see the question, know that you read it, but you won’t be able to recall the answer.

It is better to study intensely for 4 hours and sleep for 3 hours, than to study for 7 hours with zero sleep. According to health experts at The Sleep Foundation, sleep deprivation severely impacts cognitive function and memory recall—exactly what you need for an exam.

6. Use the Feynman Technique (Simplified)

If a concept is refusing to stick, pretend you are teaching it to a Primary 6 pupil.

Stand up (yes, pace around the room) and explain the concept out loud in simple English. If you can explain it simply, you understand it. If you stumble and start speaking “big grammar” to cover up gaps, you don’t know it yet. Go back to the text.

This method works wonders for theory-heavy subjects like Government or CRK.

Conclusion

Ideally, we wouldn’t be doing last-minute cramming. But we are here now.

Take a deep breath. Drink water. Put your phone on “Do Not Disturb.” You have covered more ground in a short time before, and you can do it again.

Good luck! You’ve got this.