It’s important that all students take online practice tests. Keep reading for practice makes perfect: 7 key benefits of taking online practice tests.
Over 2.1 million students in the class of 2018 took the SAT—an increase of 25% from the previous year. Whether you’re gearing up for the PSAT, SAT, APs, or MAT, practice makes perfect!
By taking online practice tests, you can prepare yourself before the big, bad test day arrives.
Keep reading to discover the top seven benefits of taking online practice tests. Drop the pen and paper, grab your laptop, and get practicing!
- Learn the Test
Every test is a little different. Some require critical thinking while others rely solely on multiple-choice. By recognizing the test’s unique style, you can better prepare to take it.
The more often you take a practice test, the better you can prepare yourself for these distinctions.
As you learn more about the test format, you’ll also become more comfortable with the test itself. Then, you can prepare your own study strategies before the test day rolls around.
- Build Stamina
Standardized tests take a while to complete. Some people lack the ability to sit still that long. Other people prefer to multitask, so sitting around with a test booklet can feel draining.
Taking a practice test will teach you how to develop patience and endurance.
While you might feel drained after the first online practice test, a few more can help boost your stamina. The more you practice, the easier the real test will feel.
For example, you can start building your stamina with these UTME practice tests. In time, you’ll have the endurance you need to survive the big test without letting it drain your energy.
- Know Your Gaps
What if you only want to study the areas you don’t know? Taking an online practice test can help you identify the gaps in your knowledge base.
Most standardized tests cover a number of topics in different formats. For example, you might cover multiple-choice in one portion, but an essay question in another. Where are you weakest?
Taking a practice test can help you define these weaker areas.
Then, you can spend more time filling these gaps. Each time you take an online practice test, you can learn what you don’t know to improve your score.
At the same time, taking practice tests can cement what you already know. Reassuring yourself that you do know your stuff can give you a confidence boost. Instead of stressing out over your knowledge gaps, let what you do know motivate you.
By taking practice tests, you can discover your strengths. Then, you can set those areas aside to focus time on the topics you need more work on.
- Overcome Anxiety
Test anxiety is normal. In fact, it affects everyone from kindergarten to Ph.D. candidates. Test anxiety affects between 10 to 40% of students, which increases with more standardized testing.
Practice makes perfect, but it can also ease your anxiety a little, too.
Taking a practice test over and over again will help you sharpen your test-taking skills. With time, it gets easier and the answers come more naturally. As your scores improve, you’ll also feel more confident about your abilities.
The more you practice, the more natural it will feel when you take the real test.
As a result, you’re preparing yourself, improving your comfort, and overcoming your anxiety.
- Time It Right
It’s easy to lose track of time, especially during a test that requires a lot of critical thinking. Thankfully, practice makes perfect! The more you practice, the more you can improve your time.
Taking a practice test will help you identify which types of questions are slowing you down.
Then, you can focus on improving your timing with these questions.
Getting halfway through the test, only to realize your time is almost up, can cause you to panic. Instead, you need to learn how to pace yourself.
You don’t want to rush through the reading comprehension passage, but you don’t want to waste time, either.
Instead, taking a practice test will show you how to manage your time. You’ll develop a pace, so you never stay too long in one section. Instead, you can take multiple practice tests and devote the right amount of time to each portion.
You can’t control the clock, but you can practice until it no longer controls you.
Remember, practice makes perfect! The more practice tests you take, the better you’ll become at managing your time on test day.
- Retain Info
Our minds are better at retaining information when we study through short, frequent bursts. Instead of pulling an all-nighter right before the exam, use practice tests in the weeks beforehand.
Taking practice tests over and over will help you retain information better than binge studying.
Your brain will also start retaining information as you’re taking a test. Then, a test prep review afterward will help you link questions to the right answers.
While flashcards and taking notes are great, practice makes perfect with online mock exams. You’ll find it’s a lot easier to recall certain pieces of information from a practice test than from your notes.
After all, a practice test forms the information in a question/answer format.
That way, you’re studying in the same format your test will appear in. This makes it easier for your brain to draw connections to answer questions correctly.
- Boost Your Confidence
A little confidence can go a long way on test day.
By taking multiple online practice tests, you’ll have the ability to track your progress over time. Seeing how much you’ve improved with each test can give your confidence a boost.
Practice tests can also show you which study methods are working to help you.
Then, you can prepare yourself for the real test (and any future tests to come).
Practice Makes Perfect: 7 Benefits of Taking Online Practice Tests
Practice makes perfect! With these seven practice test-taking benefits, you can sharpen your skills and ace that next test.
Searching for more ways to improve your education online? Explore the Online Education section of the blog for more smart strategies!
