The August exams are approaching and you should now be wrapping up learning the NCA materials. This is the time to start putting your knowledge down on paper and testing yourself. There are three things you want to achieve by writing practice exams:

1) You want to make sure that you are used to staying within the time constraints. Taking mock exams under timed conditions will help you pace yourself on the exam. Make sure you are in a quiet place with no disruptions or distraction for three hours. That means you'll have to turn your phone off!

2) Make sure you know where the information is in your notes. This gives you a chance to test out the notes you created for the exam to see how useful they really are. Be sure to cross-reference page numbers so that you can look up references fairly quicking during the exam.

3) Finally, you want to practice structuring your exam answers in a simple and concise order. Spend 10-15 minutes reading the questions and devising an answer plan before you begin writing your exam. Be thoughtful, organized and neat.