Top 13 Strategies for Excelling in Geography in the National High School Exam

The official Geography exam structure comprises 60% of questions at the recognition + understanding level and 40% at the application + high application level.

The Geography exam will consist of 40 multiple-choice questions ranging from easy to difficult, with a 50-minute time limit. It includes 21 questions related to Geography knowledge from grades 11 and 12 and 19 questions related to practical Geography skills on the Alat, charts, and tables.

• Physical Geography: 4 questions
• Population Geography: 2 questions
• Economic Sector Geography: 7 questions
• Regional Economic Geography: 7 questions
• Seas, Islands: 1 question
• Atlas: 15 questions
• Charts, Graphs: 4 questions

Understanding the exam structure will boost your confidence and prevent confusion during the test. It will also help you focus on the essential knowledge areas for effective exam preparation.

As per the structure of the 2023 National High School Exam, the Geography paper will consist of 14 Atlas questions. Therefore, to achieve high scores, you should practice viewing the Atlas proficiently and accurately. Develop quick reflexes to determine the locations of regions, provinces, etc. Additionally, it's crucial to understand map symbols.

Clearly, having proficiency in using the Geography Atlas enables candidates to perform well and score higher in this subject. The integrated book not only enriches the content of various charts but also includes images, symbols, and icons. Many questions can be explored with applied knowledge.

However, students should not focus solely on studying the Atlas and neglect the fundamental knowledge from textbooks, especially the 12th-grade curriculum. Only a solid understanding of basic knowledge allows effective application of this tool.

One important note: Your Atlas must be genuinely clean (without notes or documents) to be brought into the exam room; otherwise, you may be reported for violating the exam regulations.

To achieve high scores in the Geography exam, students need to follow some crucial steps. First, master the basic knowledge mentioned in textbooks and deeply understand key concepts, rules, and important formulas. Organize knowledge using mind maps to connect elements and create a comprehensive overview of a topic.

Practice analyzing exam questions, carefully read requirements, and analyze thoroughly to ensure correct and complete answers. Finally, students should develop the skill of reading the Geography Atlas to understand the geographical distribution of elements in the curriculum. By adhering to these steps and reviewing by topic, candidates will have the opportunity to score high in Geography.

Practicing mock exams is a crucial method to prepare for the National High School Geography exam. Participating in mock exams helps students familiarize themselves with the exam structure, hone their test-taking skills, and assess their capabilities.

Before starting mock exams, students need to find reliable Geography mock exams from sources such as textbooks, exam preparation websites, or high-quality exam review materials. Choosing recent and equivalent mock exams to real exams helps students become familiar with the question format and requirements of the actual exam.

During mock exams, students need to adhere to the specified time to get used to the time constraints in the actual exam. Additionally, reviewing the results of mock exams helps track progress and identify common mistakes. This helps you understand more about your strengths and weaknesses, allowing you to focus on improving your scores and addressing any shortcomings.

Charts are a familiar exercise in geography. So, in addition to studying theoretical knowledge, allocate time to enhance your chart drawing and analysis skills. Start with simple charts and then move on to more complex ones. To draw charts, carefully observe charts in textbooks to understand how they are divided, annotated, and how they represent different aspects...

Practice drawing and analyzing charts multiple times to become proficient and handle them quickly.

Typically, each type of chart will have keywords for you to recognize and follow the requirements of the question. Therefore, when encountering a question in the National High School Exam that requires selecting a chart type, you just need to base it on that phrase to choose the answer. To hone this skill, every student needs to do many exams to quickly recognize it when reading the questions.

Summarizing lessons with mind maps brings many significant benefits. By using mind maps, you can organize information logically and systematically. Arranging concepts, ideas, and important information into different branches creates a clear and understandable structure.

Furthermore, you can gain a deeper understanding of the relationships, correlations, and concepts in the subject. Mind maps help to understand the interactions between geographical factors and their influences on each other. In addition, creating mind maps also helps you remember information effectively. The process of creating a mind map involves reproducing concepts and ideas, thereby reinforcing knowledge in memory. Mind maps are a powerful tool for memorizing and recalling information when needed.

Refer to and regularly practice exam papers for good reflexes during exams. This helps you identify knowledge gaps to nurture and enhance further. Additionally, exposure to various question patterns may help you memorize certain questions, which could unexpectedly become part of the official exam.

A clear exam practice plan will motivate you to study diligently. However, consider the following points:

• Do not practice too many papers in one day; a maximum of 2 papers/subject/day is recommended. During practice, time yourself and answer seriously to assess your knowledge and get accustomed to the exam atmosphere.
• Avoid studying off-topic; practice focused on relevant exam formats. Plan when to dedicate time for online practice and allocate specific durations for each subject. Have a backup plan for incomplete daily study schedules.
• After a week or a month, create a concise summary of your achievements to adjust plans and goals for the next period.

Exploring additional resources for Geography provides tremendous benefits for the upcoming national high school exam. Beyond expanding knowledge, it deepens your understanding of concepts, principles, and specialized knowledge.

You will have the opportunity to access new information, discover more about geographical locations, natural phenomena, and global culture and society. Additionally, grasping practical significance helps you apply geographical knowledge to real-life situations, recognizing the correlation between geographical factors and daily life.

Just like anything else, you will truly strive to excel when you have passion and enthusiasm for it. Learning geography is no exception; you need to have an interest for genuine exploration and learning.

However, it's not merely about claiming interest; you need to actively explore the phenomena around us, asking explanatory questions to stimulate curiosity and fascination for the subject.

Topic-based revision is an effective and systematic study method. This approach helps you grasp knowledge more easily and avoids confusion during learning. Given the nature of social sciences, Geography encompasses a substantial amount of information. Therefore, breaking down the content into specific topics is the most efficient study method.

According to the illustrative test by the Ministry of Education and Training, Geography has 4 levels of requirements for students: recognition, comprehension, and application at low and high levels. The knowledge content is all within the textbook curriculum. The test clearly differentiates with 7 questions about nature, 3 questions about population, society; 10 questions about sectors; 10 questions about economic regions; and the remaining 10 questions focus on data analysis skills with Alat data.

In addition to the knowledge provided by teachers at school and exam preparation centers, you should choose group study methods to continue your review. Group study will help you absorb and learn more from your friends, and may reduce laziness and pressure. You will help each other review well through discussion and debate.

If you want to achieve high results in this subject, it is not advisable to study alone. Find a friend or a group of friends who share an interest in geography to regularly exchange assignments. Valuable information found by each person related to the lesson, inferred questions, and frequently reviewed knowledge will make learning interesting and more effective.

In the final phase before the exam, reducing study intensity is a wise decision to optimize the review process. This brings many important benefits. The last days before the exam are the time to recharge energy and reduce pressure. If the study intensity is too high, you may feel tired and the pressure increases. Instead, take a break and relax to keep your mood stable and your mind alert.

Additionally, reducing study intensity helps optimize the learning process. At this point, you have accumulated enough knowledge. Focus on important concepts and issues, weaknesses, and necessary skills. Using the remaining time effectively helps keep a relaxed mood, avoiding tension and stress.

Some of you may have the habit of circling answers directly on the test paper, but remember, your score is only based on the answers on the answer sheet. So, remember to shade the answers on the answer sheet, at least 15 minutes before submitting the test. This is a very basic principle, but there are still cases of forgetting to shade the answers, or realizing it at the last minute.

You won't be allowed to hold a pen when the time is up, and if you find yourself confused when shading the answers at the last minute, you might shade the wrong answers. Don't lose points unfairly just because of such a basic thing.