Are you looking for a practical and realistic solution because you don’t know how to pass an exam without studying? In the following paragraphs, we analyze what real possibilities exist to pass an exam without wasting time and assuring you of a passing grade.

Passing without studying using common sense

How to pass without studying by being creative

What kind of exams can and cannot be passed without studying? 
What if the exam is a multiple-choice test on a topic, I have no idea about? 
A couple of final tips

Passing without studying using common sense

The deduction is one of the best allies for students who need to optimize their study time as much as possible. It involves choosing to think instead of memorizing. If, for example, you learn the features of an artistic movement, you can deduce it in all the works that correspond to it. And you won’t have to know all the results one by one.

How to pass without studying by being creative?

This strategy works mainly in quizzes and exams based on essay questions or text/image comments. Here it is about passing without studying by getting the best out of yourself with confidence and using resources.  

The teacher will appreciate that you have something interesting and coherent to say, even if you can’t include all the information and facts about the topic. Drawing comparisons and connecting will help you create a cohesive and exciting narrative. If you’ve ever used the service of essay writers, you might have noticed that they often use techniques of creativity and non-triviality in their essays. So once again proves how helpful this approach can be.

What kind of exams can and cannot be passed without studying? 

Multiple-choice exams have a great disadvantage: you can’t take a gamble when answering (significantly when incorrect answers subtract).  

If you know the type of exam you will take before you have to face its questions, you first have to calculate how many “good” answers you need to pass it. First, answer only the answers you are 100% sure of at the exam time.

Then count to see if you have answered all the questions you must pass. From there, assess which questions you discard entirely and which ones you can spend a few seconds thinking about. And if you need to give (not score points), don’t complicate yourself and don’t risk subtracting with wrong answers!

What if the exam is a multiple-choice test on a topic, I have no idea about? 

Do the ones you know first. You will progress, gain confidence and maybe even get other answers by discarding them.

Discard the tricky questions or those you don’t understand. You will only waste time with them and not get them right.

Count the questions answered to see if you have the answers you need to pass.

In a second round, spend time on the questions with more possibilities without taking any risk. Better to count nothing than to subtract.

If it is a matter of choosing “correct” and the first two are correct, the third one will probably be false.

Statistically, if there is an option “all are false” or “all are correct”, that is the most likely.

The first thing you need to know with these types of exams is that, as a matter of pure logic, there are always more “true” statements than “false” statements. This is simply because their statements are easier to write. 

A couple of final tips:

We would all like to say that we can pass an exam without knowing absolutely nothing about the subject, but then exams would lose their raison d’être: everyone would pass, and the test would lose its value. Even if you haven’t studied, you have to know. Fortunately, they are two different things. 

Planning: Know what the exam is like.

Knowing what the test will be like, you can devise a strategy to answer more efficiently. This will also determine the way you study, because it is not the same to have to:

• develop a long topic

• check one box of several options

• select all the boxes that contain a correct answer

• The next important point is to know how you will be evaluated:

• what is the passing grade (5/10. 60/100…)

• how much will be deducted for incorrect answers

• whether you simply “pass” the test or you will be graded by the score

Efficiency: Answer to pass

If you have arrived at the exam time without a clue, do not despair. At this point, it’s no longer a question of how to get good grades without studying but rather how to pass. Put into practice the tricks for multiple-choice tests that we have seen above, and if it is an exam to be developed:

• Create a structure, a script from which to “fill in” the exam.

• Make a list with all the relevant data you remember.

• Answer cleanly, neatly, and in well-structured sentences.

• Your exam may not be the best, but at least you will be demonstrating to the professor that you know how to answer a development question. This may not seem like much, but it will give you a good impression and make it clear that you are not trying to “pull a fast one”.

Study Techniques: Optimize your resources and your time. If you are visual, do not hesitate to mark keywords with colors. Others fix the information better by reading it and repeating it out loud. 

The most common options are:

• Summarizing

• Making outlines

• Repeating to yourself what you have learned

• Telling it to someone

• Writing it down

• Underlining

Pay attention to the topics that are given the most prominence.

Point out the important details that can lead to confusion.

Create your own mnemonic resources to retain series or problematic concepts.

Rehearsal is the key to success.

Take tests like the one you are going to take whenever you can. But use them wisely: only after you have read the syllabus. Otherwise, you won’t make sense of it, and the information will parade before your eyes while you waste your time.

Ideally, you should be able to rely on tests from other exams to which you already have the answers. Only then can you see if you have time to answer all the questions, where you fail the most… and most importantly: the kind of questions teachers like.