From time to time, we get emails from worried parents or tutors with questions about how to pass the GED – they need tips for struggling students or even for a student who has failed one of the GED tests.
Here are some of the tips we usually offer to them to pass on to their students.
1. Aim for mastery of each lesson
When studying on the online GED prep course, encourage the student to aim to achieve 80% or higher for each lesson before they move on to the next lesson. If they have always struggled in school, they might be used to settling for say 60% or less, but this means that they haven’t mastered almost half of the lesson! That’s not a good recipe for success on a test that has a high pass mark.
If they struggle with a lesson, they can retake it. They can also contact us and ask us to reassign specific lessons or even reset their course so that they can start a subject from scratch with these new goals in mind. If they master each lesson with a high score, it not only builds a good foundation for subsequent lessons, but it also builds the student’s self-confidence.
2. Ace the argumentative essay on the GED
Before a student is ready to write the Reasoning Through Language Arts (RLA) test on the GED, she must complete all 3 of the RLA courses: Reading, Writing and Language. Even the best students struggle with the format of the argumentative essay on the GED®. It is not easy. We therefore offer an additional short course which our customers say has helped them tremendously with the essay component. Get the extra help of the Acing the Argumentative Essay on the GED course for the ones that struggle the most.
3. Get help from a tutor
While we are confident that the online GED® prep programme is an excellent way to prepare for the tests, some students benefit from being able to ask questions with a real live tutor. You can book a GED tutor for a face-to-face session or you can find a tutor in your local area to give your student some lessons.
4. Take a GED Ready test before the official test
Once a student has completed the online course and scored over 155 (the pass mark is 145, but we want them to aim higher) and it tells them that they are ready to book the test, they should first take a GED READY® test. Steps to take a GED Ready test.
This is a mock exam offered by the GED Testing Service to help students see what the exact format of the test will look like. It costs much less than the official test and if the student scores well, this will boost his/her confidence levels. It will tell you if they are likely to pass (or not). If not, then they should review the lessons that it indicates are not up to standard.
Students with clinically diagnosed learning disabilities are eligible to apply for accommodations on the test.
Quick test-taking tips
- Maths – use the formula sheet and read the questions carefully
- Social Studies and Science – read the questions carefully, trust your first instincts
- English – read carefully, focus on the specific paragraphs indicated in the questions
- Mark questions you aren’t sure about with the review flag. Don’t waste time stewing over questions that you are unsure of. Come back to them at the end if there is time.
5. Don’t view failure as a disaster
Discourage students from going into an exam being fearful about the possibility of failure. While we hope that every student will pass, a few don’t pass the first time. Remind your student that failing is not something they need to dread. It’s not that big a deal. Failing is just a lesson in perseverance.
Learning to handle disappointment and try again might be a more important life lesson than actually passing the test itself. Persevering in the face of failure will develop character in ways that may last a lifetime. A winner never quits and a quitter never wins.
6. Your tests scores are not a measure of your worth
A test only tests what it tests. It’s not the measure of who you are as a person. Help each student to know what their strengths and weaknesses are and to separate their abilities in any particular subject from their sense of self-worth. For example, “Your maths score is not a measure of who you are.”
Remind your student that in 20 years’ time, no one is going to care what they scored on the GED®.
Help each student to find what s/he is GOOD at and just get through the things needed like a GED to get a school exit certificate. Our goal should be to send out confident young people who know where their strengths lie and who believe that they can succeed in the things that they choose to pursue. There is a place in this world for everyone to bloom, we just have to find it.
What’s on the GED Tests?
For more tips on how to pass the GED, use these links to learn more about the content and the structure of the test for each subject.
