A lot of people find taking an examination to be stressful. Stress though can be prevented by following these simple tips.

*Study Well. As tedious as it sounds, it doesn't help to take exams unprepared – which a lot of people habitually do. If you have studied well, then you will have less worry on the coming exam.

*Get enough rest before the exam. Researches show that generally, people who study late before the exam perform poorly than those people with enough rest. People who are well rested can focus well on their exam.

*Be prepared. Prepare all the necessary items that you will need during an exam like pens, pencils, erasers and the like. It is very stressful if you find out that you forgot to bring these things when the examination is about to start. You can prepare all these the night before the examination.

*Be on time. If you arrive late on an examination, you will be stressed out or simply panic. This is not a good way to start an examination because you will surely blank out. Even if you do not get blanked out, it will take you a lot of time to settle down and focus your attention to the examination. You could have used the lost time instead to review your work later on. There might be also some verbal instructions that you will likely miss when you come in late.

*Read or listen to the instructions closely. A lot of students fail their exams because of not reading or listening to instructions thoroughly. When you receive the exam, be sure to read first the instructions.

*Scan through the test first. It is important that you scan through the exam so you can estimate how long it will take you to take it. You will have to budget your time for each part to ensure that you complete the exam on time. This is also the time to check for items or instructions that you do not understand and ask your instructor for clarification.

*Don't take too much time on an item. If you do not know the answer to a certain question, move to the next item and get back to it after answering all the others, which mostly are the easier ones. Staying on a difficult question causes a lot of lost time and you will probably not have the time to answer the easier questions later on. Just make sure that you do not forget to go back to the skipped questions.

*Try to be relaxed. Panic is your number one enemy in taking an exam as this can possibly blank you out and forget all that you have studied days before. You can relax by getting up and walking around. You can also take deep breaths and picture yourself in a beach or place with a good view to help you feel relaxed. Students usually panic when they come to an exam unprepared, which normally happens when they find out that the exam coverage was not part of the lessons they have studied. That is why it is important to study days before so you will be familiar with the lesson and to ensure that you have studied all the lessons that might come out during the exam.

*Check your work. If there is ample time left, it is important to check before submitting your papers. It is possible that there might be some items that you might have missed out or skipped over. There might be also some additional ideas that you may be able to add which you did not think of before. Your teachers do not grade you on how fast you answer the exam but how well you answer them.