When to start preparing for OC exam and why is it important to prep early

The process of preparing for the OC test that occurs in July of Year 4, can be thought of as more of a marathon than a sprint, requiring consistent practice rather than last minute cramming to attain the best possible marks. And so, I recommend that your preparation begins during term 1 of Year 3.

The OC placement test has a unique format, with three sections including thinking skills, mathematics and finally the reading section, which we will be focusing on. It also has unique time constraints and the reading section in itself covers a distinctive variety of questions that test a range of skills. When doing this test, you are also required to use a multiple-choice answer sheet. Spending more time to practise will increase your familiarity with these features and confidence.

Without sufficient familiarity with the format and practice over a period of time, you may experience test anxiety that leaves you flustered and your mind blank on the test day. Starting early will help you develop confidence in your abilities and help calm your nerves on the important day. An early start also means more time to complete trial exams under strict test conditions such as those done in the JP English’s OC Test. These will create more confidence when you have to perform under those exact conditions on your text day.

Like a marathon, where each runner has weaknesses they need to overcome and strategies they implement, you as a student completing the OC exam will need to identify your weak points and develop useful test strategies. By practising reading questions over a longer period of time and dedicating concentrated time on each text type as we do here at JP English (each week’s content explores one specific type of text), you will be able to pinpoint weaknesses, and dedicate more time and effort towards these. To excel in the OC reading test, you also need to apply different techniques that increase your accuracy and maximise your use of time. However, what techniques work for others may not work for you, and so you must allow yourself as much time as possible to experiment with techniques and find out what works best for you during the reading exam. To see a list of test strategies and tips you can use, head to our blog post titled ‘How to approach the English section in the OC exam’.

Reading comprehension and speed, and having an extensive vocabulary cannot simply be built overnight, instead, these skills require consistent nurturing. By starting preparation early, you can improve the length and difficulty of texts you can understand within the tight time constraints. An early start can also mean that you are more frequently exposed to unfamiliar and new words which will allow you to develop a bank of words, and thus help build your vocabulary before the exam day.

Finally, some parents may be concerned that early OC preparation may interfere with preparation for the Year 3 NAPLAN, but I would argue OC preparation and NAPLAN preparation go hand in hand. Early OC preparation means you will be more comfortable with test conditions and reading comprehension, and so early OC preparation will not harm or distract from NAPLAN at all!

Interested in learning more? Enrol in our Year 3-4 OC English Program where you can learn the exact methodology of excelling in reading comprehension.