Studying and preparing well is important to succeed in exams. Students are always on the lookout for tips and tricks to score higher. In today’s competitive era, everyone wants to become a topper. With students scoring 100 out of 100 marks in board exams, one wonders what it takes to be a CBSE topper.
How to start studying for CBSE Class 10th
- You need a study space: Having a study space keeps you motivated. You know when you are sitting there, you are building your future. Even if you don’t have a separate room at home and share it with your siblings, you can still put up a few curtains and mark your study area.
- Organise your school supplies: Keeping your books, pens, writing tools etc., well organised will introduce a calming effect while studying. The calmer you feel, the better you can focus.
- Use your time wisely: The only thing you can’t get back is time. Learn to value it. Before going to bed, ask yourself, “What steps have I taken today towards building my future?”
- Be attentive in the class: Being attentive in the class helps you clear your concepts at a fundamental level. When you sit to self-study later, you will realise how much it has helped you.
- Study a little every day: You don’t necessarily have to study for 10-12 hrs every day to become a topper. Make sure to complete your homework for the day with dedication. Starting ahead, studying a little every day and finishing the syllabus on time will get your dream score.
- Go through the syllabus of all subjects: Getting acquainted with the syllabus will keep you alert. Check NCERT Solution for Class 10 for all the subjects. You will get an idea about how much effort you need to score good marks.
Some helpful tips and tricks for CBSE Class 10 exam
- Trust your resources and stick to them
- Stay away from social media
- Eat and sleep on time
- Have healthy discussions regarding academic topics with your friends
- Stay away from negative people
- Solve previous ten years’ question papers
- Take your NCERT course books seriously
- Don’t compare yourself with others. Focus on your success and journey
- Make a practical timetable and stick to it
- Don’t forget to revise multiple times
- Take regular breaks between studies and take care of your mental health
- Improve your handwriting and practise writing fast for the exam
- Give yourself a treat every time you accomplish academic targets
- Believe in yourself and be confident in your abilities
How many hours should you study subject-wise to become CBSE Class 10 topper
Mathematics:
Mathematics is a subject that requires constant practice and dedication. You can allot two hours of your daily time to practise mathematical questions. Don’t forget to solve the previous years’ question papers. If you practise Mathematics with patience and perseverance, it will help you score full marks in the exam. NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Maths is the best source to study Maths from. You can also study RD Sharma Solutions and RS Aggarwal Solutions if you have time. If you face problems clearing concepts in Maths, check Maths Concepts.
Science:
Like Mathematics, studying Science with dedication can give you a centum percentage and lift your score. Science is subdivided into three subjects- Physics, Chemistry and Biology. You first need to study NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Science line by line for all three subjects . You need to learn all the tables, charts, and diagrams given in the NCERT book, and you need to revise them at least 2-3 times. Apart from this, Lakhmir Singh Solutions is also a helpful book for Science. You should dedicate two hours every day to this subject. In Science, you also have to focus on your answer writing skills. The best way is to write your answer in points and highlight the important keywords in your answers. This helps in securing more marks in the final exams.
English:
English is a subject that most students, especially boys, tend to neglect, but it should be considered equally important. The literature in English is not too difficult, and NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English is enough to cover it. You will need more resources and more practice for the grammar portion. You should practice the previous years’ question papers for the writing part. If you practice a lot and allot one hour of your day to this subject, you can easily secure topping marks in the final exam.
Social studies:
Social study is a subject that most students are afraid of, and they cram it, but the problem is they forget it very easily the next moment. So your strategy for social studies should be to take up a single subject at one time, divide it into parts, and study one part a day. It will take only one hour per day. Whatever you study during the week, revise it on weekends. In social studies, too, you have to focus on answer writing skills. You should write in good handwriting, answer in points and highlight the keywords. Finish your NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Social Science on time.
Optional language subject:
You should not ignore this subject and dedicate one hour of your day to cover its syllabus.
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that if you study for 7 hours every day with patience and dedication from the start of your course, no one and nothing can stop you from becoming CBSE Class 10 topper. However, there are some factors on which the number of hours you should study depends; those are given as follows.
Factors on which how many hours you should study depend on
Suppose there are two friends, Ram and Shyam, who are both studying for the same exam. Ram studies 12 hours a day; he can hardly be seen by anyone during the day as he is always busy with his studies. Shyam is the opposite of Ram. When Ram is studying in his room, Shyam plays and has fun with his friends. He spends most of his time watching TV, playing video games, and studying for only a few hours every day. But when the results come, we find out that Ram has secured 94% marks in the exam, while Shyam has secured 95% marks.
What is the lesson to be taken from this story? The number of hours you study for an exam does not matter. What matters is how well you can grasp the concepts, how much you memorize, and how much of the memorized data you manage to retain in your brain at the time of the exam. Some students read a topic once, and they understand it fully, while some others need several revisions to understand or memorize it fully. So, before you ask how many hours you should study to top an exam, evaluate yourself and decide whether you fit in the category of Ram or Shyam. If you are like Ram, you need to study 8-9 hours a day to become CBSE Class 10 topper, and if you think you are like Shyam and have the ability to grasp the concepts faster, you can top the exam even by studying for 5-6 hours per day.
How many hours you should study per day also depends on how much you have studied up to now and how far the exam is from now. Suppose you have ten days left for the exam, and you still have 20 chapters to study.
That means you have to finish two chapters every day, so you need to study for 7-8 hours, depending on how fast you study. On the other hand, if the exam is scheduled to be after ten days and you have only five chapters left to study, studying for only 1-2 hours per day will get your job done.
The conclusion derived from the above discussion is that you should not think about how many hours you study. Once you get dedicated to your studies and truly understand your course and abilities, this question won’t even pop up in your head. Know your syllabus, know your academic capacities, and analyse both these factors carefully. Then you can logically decide how many hours and efforts you need to put in to finish that syllabus, revise it and become a CBSE Class 10 topper.
FAQs
1. How to stay motivated to study?
Go out for a walk and while you are at it, think about why you need to study. Sort out your thoughts, remember your dreams and realise that those will get fulfilled only if you study. Going out for a walk will also help you focus better and keep your motivation up.
Decide on a single task, and stop trying to convince yourself that you can study with music in the background, or while lying down. Stay committed and concentrate on one thing at a time.
Organise your study space: Keep your study room/table clean and well organised. It should invite you, not repulse you.
Use a “low effort” strategy: When you feel mental resistance to study, it is usually because of how difficult you think it is to study well. To overcome this, even if you think you can’t finish the whole chapter in one go, finish as much as you can. Even if you complete only a part of it, it doesn’t matter. The effort matters!
When you spend time on social media, track how many hours went by. Think about how many topics you could have finished in the time you just wasted doing an unproductive activity.
2. How are toppers different from average students?
The only advantage toppers have over average students is having confidence. A topper knows his abilities and acknowledges the same. Having experienced it before, they harbor an optimistic attitude during the preparation time and in the examination hall as he believes he can succeed with top marks.
3. How can I top CBSE Class 10 exams?
Understand the fundamental concepts of each topic you study. Avoid cramming superficially
Start to study early in the morning. Mornings are the best time to study
Construct a doable timetable and follow it
Start your preparation early so that there is enough time left for revision
Don’t waste your time indulging in unproductive activities like browsing social media apps, watching tv etc
Set a dream score and commit to achieving it
Study previous years’ question papers and attend mock tests
Be attentive in class. If you want to attend high-quality lectures, Find Aakash Coaching Institute Near You
4. What is the best time to study?
Research has found that the best time to study is in the mornings. It is when your brain is the sharpest and your analytic capacities are at their peak. However, when you should study is a subjective matter and depends on your habits and sleep cycle. If you enjoy studying till late at night and not in the mornings, do that. What matters is that you are productive and finish your academic target for the day.
5. Why do I always forget what I read?
Whenever you study, make sure that you are doing so with full concentration and your mind is not wandering here and here. You can also write down the important points in a rough notebook to help you retain what you have studied. Don’t forget to revise. Lack of revisions can make you forget what you have studied. It is human nature to forget what we have learned in a few days if we don't revise it. Another tip for locking what you have studied in your brain is to understand the basic concepts of the topic rather than cramming superficially.
6. How many hours should I study to become a topper?
How many hours you should study depends on your pace and your current progress in the syllabus. If you are a fast learner and have already finished a good chunk of your syllabus, you will need only a few hours of focused study per day to top the exams. If, however, you learn slower and a lot of syllabi are left, you will have to study for 7-8 hours every day to get there. Don’t think about how many hours you study; rather, think about how much you have studied.