In maths and science exams there is often as much as a 70 per cent mark allocation given to the correct working-out, so ensure that your calculations are clear. Be aware of the length of answer required, usually shown by the number of lines, but mark allocation is also indicative. Short-answer questions will be worth only one or two marks, so don’t spend too long on them. If you’re flummoxed on a structured question, where there’s a brief description of a situation and then several questions labelled “a”, “b”, “c”, and so on, read through all the questions, as there’s often a hint within them.I used to ignore my teachers’ advice about planning essay answers, thinking that a plan was a waste of valuable writing time. Then, in my English literature A-level, I was confused by the question and discovered the merit of planning. I used a spider-diagram on my answer sheet, with the central point of the question in the middle, and my main points following from there, helping me towards full marks.

In addition, making a plan means that, even if you run out of time, the examiner can see your main points. You’re also less likely to ramble.Exam questions tend to be worded in specific ways, and that should affect your answer. “Evaluate” or “analyse” questions, for example, should show both sides of the argument, so use words such as “however” to remind yourself of that. If a question asks you to “explain”, a single-sided answer is usually sufficient.

But check this with your teacher or a mark-scheme, because some exam boards take different approaches.Timing is often a make-or-break issue. You’re more likely to do well by finishing all questions in less detail than answering the first few questions so well that you can’t finish The first marks of questions are the easiest to pick up Past papers can help you to see how to pace yourself. Everyone works at their own speed, but it can help to divide the total time allocated for the exam by the number of marks available, to see how long to spend per answer.You’re bound to feel bored and depressed at some point during the exam period: it’s a stressful time for you, your friends and your family. But remembering that there are fun times to come, whether it’s a holiday or starting at university, will help you to get through it. Exams are a means to an end, and the short-term pain will be well worth the long-term gain.Revision and exam tipsStart revision by writing notes, then read around the subject in books and magazines and on the internet to hammer the message home.Test yourself with essays and practice papers. Ask teachers to mark your tests or, even better, give you mark schemes so that you can see what examiners are looking for.Revision websites can be good for alleviating boredom. My favourites include the BBC’s Bitesize for GCSEs; Channel 4’s , to ask teachers questions; and for economics and politics revision.Revision books will often phrase things differently, so can aid understanding.

With the consumer slowdown now firmly entrenched, miracles look thin on the ground. If the Bank of England were to cut interest rates next month, it’s possible that might do the trick, though the Bank’s duty to meet the inflation target would hardly justify such a move. Alternatively, the Treasury could open the flood gates of Government even further. Either way, the Chancellor’s framework of economic management faces its toughest challenge yet.j.warner independent.co.uk. Increasingly his public pronouncements focus on what form of state sponsored earnings related provision might be possible, it being generally accepted that the present earnings related scheme, Serps, is a busted flush.He was at it again last night, at the Investment Management Association annual dinner, extolling some of the other virtues of a Kiwi-type model. One is the much lower administrative and fund management costs the state can achieve buying the services wholesale, equal perhaps to as little as 0.1 per cent of the accrued pension rights. If such tiny costs can be achieved, this transforms the economics of saving, even for the low paid, where the amounts put away tend to be too small as things stand for the savings industry to want to be bothered with.Making a rational proposal, along the lines of the New Zealand model or otherwise, is one thing.

Persuading the politicians to enact it is quite another.Miracle needed to meet growth targetYesterday’s downward revision to the growth figures for the first three months of this year means the Chancellor needs something of a miracle to happen in the economy to meet his growth forecast for this year of 3 per cent to 3.5 per cent. His concerns about a simple flat rate pension system have already been noted. Employees will be required to pay 5 per cent of earnings into a state sponsored, funded scheme, thereby gaining the advantage of very low administrative and fund management costs, but have the ability to opt out if that’s what they want. On the other hand Adair Turner, the chairman of the Pensions Commission, while recognising the attractions of simplicity that any such system would have, has expressed reservations, not least about how you fund a higher, flat rate pension out of general taxation as the demographics of greater longevity begin to kick in.Perhaps surprisingly, the New Zealanders have had second thoughts too. The chief disadvantage of the flat rate system, besides cost, is that however high you set the pension, it won’t satisfy most people’s expectation of sufficient money for a decent old age, yet by providing a safety net against outright poverty, it may discourage extra provision on top.Belatedly, New Zealand has woken up to the fact that not enough is being saved to provide for decent pensions The solutions settled upon is both simple and ingenious.