Maybe you have done a good preparation for examination covering all the syllabus and remembering key points but lack of confidence can become a hindrance. Also you may not know the answer of a question or you know just one part of a given question. Situations like this can decrease your confidence level. The wise thing in such cases is to never lose confidence in your hold over the subject of your test. Confidence is the ultimate key in making you perform better in the exam even if you have not fully prepared and have not got a chance to revise the syllabus. You need to have a confident approach while being in such situations.
Be calm: Tell yourself whatever be the case you are going to take the test and attempt all the questions in the allotted time. It doesn’t matter you are half prepared or full prepared. Your presence of mind matters the most in the examination hall. Before the start of the exam; sit quietly and stop thinking and worrying much, and focus on just one thing that this is your day and you are going to give your best. Stay calm!
Keep a structure in place: Before you start answering the questions, spare a little time in framing the structure of your answers. It requires a little time and would be more fruitful in preventing you from deviating from the topic. Use extra space at the back of the answer sheet to make some pictorial representation of how you are going answer a question so that if you think you are moving somewhere else you can refer the layout of your answer. While doing this, also keep in mind the time factor. You just quickly need to sketch the particular way of answering the question.
According to the question: Stick to the question. Don’t present what you know. You have to keep this in mind. The examiner is not going to test all that you know. The examiner is more interested in knowing how you attempt a question. What is the structure you follow to answer the given question. Filling pages with no information related to what has been asked would show your lack of confidence and unpreparedness in answering what has been asked.
Start with the question you are in a better position to answer: Start writing the question for which you think you are more comfortable with and have good hold over. This will improve your confidence with each stroke of your writing. This will enhance your confidence in attempting other questions.
All said and done, the key is the confidence and it will set the tone for your career ahead. Be it exam of any sorts, the most important point to keep in mind is that you will sail through with confident stroke in an approach towards managing the time and framing answer to the question.