How Do I Help My Child to Stop Making Careless Mistakes in Exams?

Asked by Anonymous on our Parent Webinar Series.

High-achieving students often struggle with careless mistakes in exams despite their potential. This can be incredibly frustrating when they've put in hours of work to prepare. As a parent, you can help them overcome this challenge with these practical strategies:

Encourage Teacher Consultation

Our research showed that top students have a distinct attitude toward their teachers compared to others. While most students view teachers as authority figures, successful students in Years 11-12 see them as valuable allies, providing essential feedback for improvement. By treating teachers as collaborators, these students build a supportive relationship that helps them achieve higher marks. As a parent, you can encourage your child to regularly consult their teacher for feedback, identify areas for improvement, and get guidance on how to avoid mistakes. This creates a partnership that helps your child succeed academically.

Identify Mistakes and Root Causes of Careless Mistakes

To help students reduce careless mistakes, working closely with their teacher is key. Identifying common mistake areas, like multiple-choice or short-answer questions, allows them to develop tailored strategies. For example, for multiple-choice questions, students can:

• Carefully re-read the question and underline key terms for clarity;

• Ensure all answer choices are reviewed before committing to an answer;

• Use the exclusion method to rule out clearly incorrect options.

These strategies ensure students understand why the mistakes are happening and mean they can develop a systematic approach to addressing them.

Practise the System

Practice, Practice, Practice. Encourage your child to regularly practise exams using the systems they've developed. This repetition builds muscle memory and boosts their confidence, ensuring they implement the system automatically during real exams.

If you'd like to share some tips with your child on staying calm in the exam room, check out our Exam Stress Management Crash Course.