In order to successfully pass an exam, students should resort to all their effective study methods. Studying the subject with enough time, summaries, worksheets, group study, and self-evaluation are some of the most popular study methods. Reviewing the previous year's exam is another mechanism used by students. The content of the NCEA chemistry level 2 exam is usually the same from year to year. That is why some students turn to the previous NCEA test, to check the questions that were part of the exam. When young people analyze the past paper they are able to project what the new test might be like.
Students can easily obtain a past paper of the NCEA chemistry level 2 exam by visiting the official website of The New Zealand Qualifications Authority. In this website students will be able to find past papers from previous years. In particular, past papers from 2012 to 2021 are available. These texts can be freely downloaded. There is no need to pay or complete any other procedure. In addition to the past papers, students will be able to have access to the exam results as well as to support material so that they can complete their study of chemistry.
Take time to read the questions. Analyze the content. Try to understand the logic of each question. Some of them will be more complex. Others will be quicker to solve. The study of a past paper helps you to understand the actual exam. If you wish you can do the past paper: before you start, try to estimate the time you can spend on each of the questions. You can set a strict time limit for the whole exam. You can also take the exam and take the time of how long it took you to complete it. No breaks to stretch your legs, eat something or use your cell phone. When you take your final exam you will not be able to stop for any of these activities.
Don't fool yourself
Choose a past paper and answer it as if it were the official exam. Do not cheat. It is very tempting to fall back on those results. When you can't answer a question, don't look at the answers. Don't fool yourself that you would have solved it anyway. You wouldn't. Ideally, students should simulate taking their NCEA Chemistry Level 2 exam under similar conditions to the real exam. Take it seriously. As mentioned, it's about replicating the conditions of the real exam: it is better to go ahead and not answer the question. You can save the questions you can't answer for the end of the exam, once you have completed the entire exam. Perhaps as the minutes pass you will feel calmer and more confident and later discover that the question was not as difficult as it seemed. Make sure you understand the syllabus and everything that encompasses.
Comparing exams over the years can be very helpful to realize which topics will be repeated in the exam. In general, there will always be essay questions. Other questions will require you to base your answer on a picture or a graphic. The topics are also repeated: Bonding, Structure and Energy, Oxidation-reduction, Chemical reactivity. The important thing is that students apply all their skills and knowledge to answer the different types of questions
There is no reason not to repeat past papers: you can learn a lot by doing it this way. Once you have completed the past paper you need to calculate your score. Then check the questions you couldn't answer - were they that complicated? If you have doubts about some chemistry topic, check your study books and find out what was your fault. You can retake another past paper after your study and see if you can get a better score on this new attempt. Doing several different past papers is good training. Your brain will be better prepared to take the real exam and you will feel more confident to face this great academic challenge.
How useful a past paper can be.
If students did not have access to past papers, they would be unable to identify the questions on the NCEA chemistry level 2 exam. Understanding how the exam questions work allows students to save time and be able to answer the entire test. That is why taking a past paper is also a training exercise. Let's review this question that appeared on the 2020 exam:
Solid potassium chloride, KCl(s), is soluble in water. Gaseous chlorine, Cl2(g), is not readily soluble in water. Use your knowledge of structure and bonding to explain the difference in solubility of these two substances in water. Students should include a diagram in their answer to illustrate the solubility of each component.
This question has two parts to answer. The first part is a space for students to draw the diagram that represents the solubility of both components. The second part includes a separate space in lines where students will have to write their arguments that support their answer. Without the analysis of the past papers, students would not have a better understanding of the test itself.
Review the evaluators' reports
Another benefit of studying the past paper is that this test has already been analyzed by experts. Since the past paper results already exist, the examiners can generate a report with the final statistics. By reviewing these reports, students are able to realize where previous students went wrong. The statistics allow students to know what they need to reinforce. Following the analysis of the previous test, students should do a reinforcement. Re-studying could be useful to further clarify doubts. And for sure, after reviewing the previous exam, new doubts and new questions will arise.
If you already know the kind of questions that appeared in the previous exam, you have the possibility to look for similar exercises in different study texts. Always give a lot of importance to your chemistry lessons. The chemistry lessons you received at school are essential to understand those topics that are more difficult for you to learn. Remember how the teacher developed the exercises. Every good chemistry lesson allows students to understand the theoretical and practical aspects of each topic. The NCEA chemistry level 2 exam will have both theoretical and practical questions. Students should use all of their math skills.
Remember to compare all previous exams. When students compare previous exams from past years, they may realize how different each of them could have been. Maybe they were not so different and some questions do not differ much from one year to another. Maybe over the years the exam had very little variation and repeated its structure. Now, there is also the possibility that each of the exams was radically different. As each exam is very different from the other, it is possible to deduce that the new exam will be more difficult. You might need extra training. All of these insights can be deduced from the analysis that you can do of a past paper.
Identifying the topics in the past paper
One of the biggest benefits of practicing with past papers is that they help students understand the probable topics that will be included on the exam. Since most courses have a wide range of topics associated with them, reviewing past papers will help save a lot of potentially wasted time on topics that are not likely to appear on the exam. This makes studying much more efficient and productive. In any case, students should never assume that the topics that appear on the past papers will be the only topics that will be included on the actual exam. Past papers are an example. Past papers are a guide. The study of chemistry requires commitment. All of its topics are important. However, by reviewing the past papers we will be able to notice trends. For instance: which topics are repeated the most?, which topics never appeared in the past papers?, what is the most important topic in the past papers?
Another important benefit related to the use of past papers is that it helps to develop practical management skills. You don't have to spend too much time on short answer questions. This could result in you having less time to answer more complex questions. Practicing makes you use your time more effectively and more efficiently. Therefore, if students use past papers to train themselves to stick to the time allotted for each question, they are more likely to be able to solve the actual exam quickly. Much of the success on exams is due to technique. Anyone can memorize data. but it is how we use that data on the exam that can help students get a good score.
Practicing short answer questions will speed up the time needed to complete the exam. More time should be given to the developmental questions and those that pose greater mathematical and chemical challenges. If you have not used the past exams, I hope you realize the benefit of using them during your review and exam preparation. Practicing with the past exams helps students hone their study techniques and refresh their understanding of key phrases and terminology. It also helps with time management so students don't waste vital time on short answer questions that only assign a few points. If you already feel prepared enough to take your NCEA chemistry level 2 exam, try taking a final past paper. When you finish it, review your score and make your final conclusions.
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