Your first test week in the Brugklas: how to tackle it

Sometime in November, at most schools, it happens: your first proper test week in the Brugklas (the first year of Dutch secondary school). A whole week with an adjusted timetable, several tests a day, and material that goes back weeks. That sounds scarier than it is, as long as you start in good time. This is the complete plan for your first test week, from three weeks ahead to the week itself.

What actually is a test week?

In a test week the normal lessons (partly) fall away and you sit one or more bigger tests a day, which often count for more than individual SOs (short written quizzes). The material usually covers several chapters per subject. The big difference from an ordinary test: you can't do everything the evening before, simply because there's another test waiting every evening. A test week is really one big lesson in planning ahead, and you can simply prepare for that lesson.

Three weeks ahead: collect the material

As soon as the test timetable is known, make an overview of the material for each subject: which chapters, which notes, which concepts. Teachers usually hand this out or it's in the study guide (the studiewijzer, the course outline for each subject); if not, ask for it. Check straight away that you actually have everything: there's no worse discovery than a missing chapter the evening before the test. This takes an afternoon and is the foundation for everything that follows.

Two weeks ahead: plan backwards

Take your planner and work back from the test dates. Divide the material for each subject over the days available, and follow two rules. Rule one: the hardest subject gets the most days, not the one you enjoy most. Rule two: plan two or three subjects a day in short blocks, rather than one subject all afternoon. That variety makes it sustainable and helps your memory. Also build in revision on purpose: material you learned last week needs a refresher round just before the test.

The week before: from learning to self-testing

If the planning works, you'll have been through all the material once by the last week before test week. The week before then revolves around active practice: testing yourself with cards, retelling summaries with the book closed, doing practice questions for the subjects that involve calculation. Whatever goes wrong goes onto your personal list of mistakes for each subject, and that list is your best friend in test week itself.

In test week itself

• The evening is for revising, not for anything new. If all has gone well, you know the material; the evening before, you go through your list of mistakes and key concepts once more.
• After each test, look ahead, not back. Talking about question 7 afterwards changes nothing and costs energy that the next test needs.
• Sleep, eat and move normally. An extra hour of sleep earns more marks than an extra hour of cramming after ten o'clock. Really.
• Plan something enjoyable every day. A bike ride, an episode of something, a bit of sport. A test week is a sprint, not an ordeal.

For parents: guard the calm, not the material

The temptation is strong to hover over the revising this week, but the biggest contribution from home is the conditions: calm in the house, healthy food, normal bedtimes and the occasional question about whether you can do anything. Testing them is fine if your child asks for it. And afterwards there's one golden question that achieves more than any conversation about marks: what would you do differently next test week? That way every test week becomes practice for the next.

Read also: Test weeks: how good planning prevents stress and Test tomorrow? How to get the most out of tonight