Does cramming for your exams actually work? (2024)

FAQs

Does cramming for your exams actually work? ›

Cramming just before an exam can (in theory) allow you to remember information in the short term and enable you to take in enough information for the exam. However, this may will most likely mean that you'll have no lasting connections to the knowledge, and you won't develop any deep understanding of the information.

Yes, it can work sometimes, but it depends on the content, test format, and how you learn best. If you find yourself cramming for every single test, get yourself a planner and schedule in blocks for studying to spread it out. Don't cram if you want to be able to recall the information later on in life.

Remember that cramming is not an effective way of preparing for exams, but more of an emergency technique. Even though it might help you study when you're pressed for time, it should never be used as a default exam preparation strategy.

Because cramming stores information in short-term memory but doesn't create a long-lasting connection. Short-term memory is where we process everything in our brain and put it into temporary storage. It's where all the non-important stuff goes, like what you ate for breakfast two days ago and what you wore on Monday.

If you study for 6 hours straight, you're more likely to drool on your test than pass it. We recommend a 50/10 split: 50 minutes studying, 10 minutes of anything else. On your break, exercise, or sing, or dance, or sit still, or play soccer with the neighbor's house cat.

To be efficient with your cramming, you need to focus the bulk of your time learning high-yield information and limit the amount of time spent on lower-yield information. If you try to learn everything in a short amount of time, you're only setting yourself up for failure.

"They cram right before an exam, and to be honest that's probably OK for doing fine on your exam," she says. "But the problem is that it's horrible for long-term retention. Students don't realize that they're really undercutting their own learning."

Cramming is generally not the best way to learn, even if you're not pulling all-nighters! You can only focus for so long before cognitive fatigue sets in, after which point your ability to process and retain information starts to rapidly decline.

Research shows that spacing can be up to twice as effective for encoding information into long-term memory than the alternative approach, massed practice. Massed practice is comprised of long, intensive periods of studying and is what is better known as cramming when it's done last minute.

Over time, this bad behavior takes its toll on the body, leading to exhaustion, moodiness and irritability, as well as fat loss (and not the good kind). It is important for college students to understand that it takes proper time management to successfully study-not cram-for a test or exam.

Does cramming all night work? ›

All-nighters usually backfire. You'll be groggy the next day, and you're less likely to retain information when you're sleep deprived. On top of poor academic performance, all-nighters take a toll on your mental and physical health.

Cramming is a widely used study skill performed in preparation for an examination or other performance-based assessment. Most common among high school and college-aged students, cramming is often used as a means of memorizing large amounts of information in a short amount of time.

When it comes to retaining new information, napping has been proven to be even more effective than cramming. There is a delicate balance between napping just enough and napping too much, though. Limit your naps to 20 to 30 minutes, and plan for naps to end by late afternoon.

According to scientists, the brain is most alert and teachable at 10 am–2 pm and 4 pm–10 pm. (Source: Amber Student). If you would like to optimise your attention span and practise deep learning, then science advises you to study between the hours of 4 am and 7 am. This period is best for deep focus.

At least one survey has found that 99% of students admit to cramming. You might think that's down to nothing more than simple disorganisation: I'll admit it is far easier to leave things to the last minute than start preparing for a test weeks or months ahead.

Cramming, from a student's perspective, is often a favored study practice: it seems to be the most efficient use of time by hustling, usually last-minute, to pack as much information as possible into memory. The problem with cramming is that information gets stored into working memory, not long-term memory.

When it comes to retaining new information, napping has been proven to be even more effective than cramming. There is a delicate balance between napping just enough and napping too much, though. Limit your naps to 20 to 30 minutes, and plan for naps to end by late afternoon.