The Last 24 Hours Before an Exam
By the final day, your score is largely decided. The remaining variable is how much of what you know you can access — and that is what a badly spent last 24 hours before an exam damages. Whether tomorrow is JAMB, a WAEC paper or your Post-UTME, the goal today is not to add knowledge. It is to arrive rested, organised and calm enough to use what you already have.
No new material
Nothing learned today will be reliably available tomorrow, and attempting it costs both the time and the calm. If you find a gap now, note it and let it go. One unknown topic is survivable; arriving exhausted is not.
This is the hardest rule to keep, because a gap discovered on the last day feels urgent. Remember that a single topic is usually worth a handful of questions at most, while a foggy head costs you marks on every page.
Skim your own summaries only
Your error log, your own condensed notes, the formulas you keep losing. Material you wrote yourself is fast to read because you already have the context.
Opening a textbook today will show you a hundred things you have not memorised and give you no time to fix any of them.
If you have not made summaries, do not start writing them now. Use the list of mistakes from your recent past-question practice instead — it is already a summary of exactly what you need.
One light timed set, early
A short set of questions in the morning or early afternoon is useful for staying warm. A full paper at nine in the evening is not — a poor score at that point damages confidence with no time to act on it.
Choose questions you expect to mostly get right. The purpose is to keep the machinery moving, not to test yourself. For JAMB candidates, doing this set on a screen is a helpful rehearsal of the CBT rhythm; our JAMB CBT tips cover what to practise.
Do the logistics and then stop thinking about them
Documents, identification, route, departure time, what you are allowed to carry. Lay it out physically. A checked, packed bag is one fewer thing occupying your mind at midnight.
A simple checklist for the evening:
- Exam slip or registration details, printed and in the bag.
- Any identification you are required to bring.
- Pens, pencils, eraser and ruler, if permitted — with a spare of each.
- Transport arranged and a departure time that allows for traffic.
- Water and a small snack for before you go in, if allowed.
Always check the exam body's current instructions for what you may and may not bring. Rules change, and the official guidance is the only safe source.
What should you do the night before an exam?
Here is a calm evening routine that works for most students:
- Early evening: twenty or thirty minutes with your own summary notes, then close them.
- Dinner: a normal meal, at a normal time.
- After dinner: pack your bag and check the list above.
- An hour before bed: no studying, no group chats about the exam. Something quiet instead.
- Bedtime: your usual time, with the alarm already set.
If there is no light tonight, do not strain your eyes over a torch — you should be resting anyway. Our guide on studying without light explains how to move your review into daylight hours.
Eat and sleep normally
Not a heavier meal than usual, not an unfamiliar one, and not a much earlier bedtime than your body is used to — lying awake for two hours is worse than a normal night.
If you cannot sleep, resting quietly still helps. Getting up to study does not.
In boarding school or a noisy house, you may not control the environment. Focus on what you can: stay off your phone, avoid late-night revision huddles, and lie down at your usual time.
Stop earlier than you want to
Set a finishing time in the evening and hold it. The strongest instinct on the final night is to keep going, and it is almost always the wrong one — you are trading tomorrow's clarity for tonight's feeling of having done something.
In the morning
Get up with enough margin that nothing is rushed, eat something, and do not open a book. Reading in the final hour tends to surface a thing you cannot remember and shake confidence at exactly the wrong moment.
If nerves hit, slow your breathing and remind yourself that the preparation is done. How to beat exam anxiety has a few techniques worth rehearsing before today.
Frequently asked questions
Should I study the day before an exam?
Lightly. Review your own summaries and do one short set of questions early in the day, but learn nothing new and stop by the evening.
Is it okay to stay up late before JAMB?
No. Losing sleep hurts your recall and concentration across the whole paper, which costs far more than a late night can gain.
What should I eat before an exam?
Something familiar and not too heavy, at your usual time. The morning of an exam is not the moment to try new food.
What if I cannot sleep the night before?
Rest quietly with the lights off. Resting still helps, and one restless night rarely matters as much as it feels like it will.
Spend the last 24 hours before an exam protecting what you know, and it will be there when you need it. Build that knowledge beforehand with timed JAMB, WAEC and NECO past questions, marked instantly with the working shown — start practising on EasyPoint.
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