How I Prepared for My Board Examinations: What Worked for Me
08/2026/JivishaVentures/Articles/Students
Vivan Khan Bhaduri, Class 11 Student, Singapore/Dubai
Vivan, a Class X student of CBSE Board, writes about his preparation strategy , strengths, weaknesses and how he aced his CBSE Class X Board examinations with a 96.4% overall and 100% in Mathematics!
1. Understanding My Weaknesses
My preparation for the board examinations was largely centred around understanding my weaknesses and addressing them strategically, rather than simply studying everything equally. Having already identified my shortcomings through pre-board and school examinations, I knew exactly where I needed to focus my efforts.
I spent a significant amount of time working through past papers and NCERT question banks, particularly for the subjects I found more demanding.
2. Focusing on the Subjects That Needed More Attention
Interestingly, Mathematics was not one of the subjects that required most of my attention; instead, I devoted considerably more time to subjects such as Hindi and Social Science, where I knew I had more room for improvement.
3. Understanding Rather Than Memorising
One of the most important parts of my preparation was creating my notes for almost every subject, with the exception of languages.
I have never been particularly fond of simply reading a textbook and considering the chapter finished. More importantly, I strongly dislike rote learning. Instead, whenever I encountered a topic, I would research it further, explore the concepts in greater depth, and try to genuinely understand why things worked the way they did. This approach made it much easier for me to remember information and apply it rather than merely reproduce something I had memorised.
4. Making Studying Sustainable
I also tried to make studying sustainable. Whenever I became tired or bored of one subject, I would switch to literature from either language in the course. In a way, this became my “break” from the more demanding subjects, while still allowing me to remain productive.
5. My Approach to Exam Stress
Another factor that helped me considerably was my approach to exam stress. I tried to not let it affect me at all. I believe stress can become counterproductive if you allow it to take control of your preparation.
My philosophy was fairly simple: if an examination went badly, there was little point obsessing over marks that could no longer be changed. I would simply have to compensate through greater effort in the remaining examinations. If it went well, then it was a job well done, and I could move on. This mindset helped me stay focused on what I could actually control.
6. Sleep, Routine and Retaining What I Studied
My lifestyle and food habits remained largely unchanged during the examination period. However, I did make a conscious effort to sleep earlier and get sufficient rest. Sleep plays an important role in memory consolidation, and I found that studying immediately before going to bed worked particularly well for me. As a simple habit, I would often watch a video explaining the chapter I was studying or quickly reread my notes before going to sleep. It gave me one final exposure to the material before the night, and I found that this helped me retain what I had learned.
7. What Ultimately Worked for Me
Ultimately, I think my results were less about following an extraordinary study schedule and more about studying intelligently, understanding my weaknesses, and remaining consistent. I focused my time where it was actually needed, prioritised understanding over memorisation, and tried to keep stress from interfering with the process. For me, effective preparation was not about studying more simply for the sake of it—it was about making the time I spent studying genuinely count.
Vivan is currently in the 11th Standard.
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