Exam technique for NEBOSH exams

Make sure that you study the past exam questions and suggested answers that are in your RMS study book (if purchased) available from http://www.rmspublishing.co.uk/publications/nebosh.aspx.  You can get access to examiner’s reports from the NEBOSH website (www.nebosh.org.uk).  These are produced to help students and tutors in future exams.  They are intended to be constructive and warn of the common mistakes made by people sitting these exams.  A common fault is that candidates fail to pay attention to the command word in each question. 

Understanding the command words

The phrase ‘command word’ is used to refer to the words specifically associated with the learning outcomes and assessment objectives of the NEBOSH Certificate qualifications.  The syllabus learning outcomes are concerned with what students can do at the end of a learning activity, to assess this command words used are action (active) verbs.

Revision tips for NEBOSH exams - Mnemonics

The use of mnemonics is another brain association technique to aid revision and memory recall. The techniques relies on the use of key words to trigger memory recall, often when there are several key headings which require recall to fully answer a question; common ones used in health and safety include, for example, the definition of a safe system of work, PEME.  The mnemonic PEME is sufficient to trigger the answer, thus:

A safe system of work involves the combination of People, Equipment, Materials and Environment in the correct way to ensure a safe outcome.

There are many other such mnemonics which you may find useful, for example, reminders for the assessment of risk from Manual Handling operations; LITE or FIAT for the hierarchy of measures

Revision tips for NEBOSH exams – mind maps/key words

Mind maps (often referred to as a spider gram) is a powerful graphic technique which provides a universal key to unlock the potential of the brain. It uses the visualisation part of the brain to retain information in such away that it can be quickly recovered when required. Tony Buzan, is recognised as the inventor of mind maps in the 1960’s.

Mind maps are best used for a single topic, such as learning a language, the technique is used to identify all the components necessary to achieve this and possibly the order in which they should be carried out. This part is an essential aspect of revision; the fact that you have abstracted that which is required will imbed the information into the brain and enable threads of connectivity to be established simplifying recall in the future.

Revision tips for NEBOSH exams

You should recognise the knowledge that you already possess that is relevant to the NEBOSH syllabus. Don't underestimate the importance of this.

But, it is never too early to start revising!

Throughout your course you should have been thinking about this and noting the topics that you are finding it difficult to deal with.

·         Simply reading the publication or course notes repeatedly will not normally help you to remember the information, from the start of your study revisit each days study and abstract (handwritten preferred) the essence of the subject.