Want to pass an exam? Try TV

By REBECCA WALSH education reporter

Forget last-minute swot - turn on the television and relax. Chances are you will do a lot better.

That is the advice of an English university study which has found that watching television half an hour before an exam is more beneficial than last-minute cramming.

Chilling out and tuning into a half-hour chat show raised IQ levels by up to six points, while a BBC documentary resulted in a four-point rise. An episode of Friends nudged the count up one point.

Last-minute swotting, however, caused a drop of six points.

The results have been greeted with glee by students in New Zealand, but others are a little more reserved, mentioning words such as "preparation" and "hard work."

The survey, by Professor Kevin Warwick of Reading University's cybernetics department, studied 100 male and 100 female students aged 18 and 19.

The students, from a range of backgrounds, took IQ tests before and after a half-hour period where they took part in one of 10 activities and ate or drank five different foods or drinks.

"We are absolutely astounded by the results," Professor Warwick said. "It appears that watching a chat show on television just before taking an examination has quite an amazing positive effect, particularly for females."

Female IQ levels went up on average eight points after the chat show, while male IQ levels went up a mere three points.

Professor Warwick likened the idea to athletes preparing for a big race.

"You don't go running around like mad. You have a bit of a warmup to get you ready. I think the chat show is the same. It just gets you warmed up.

"What it means is if you have half an hour to go, really exercising your brain isn't a good thing. You get into the exam and you are mentally exhausted."

The study found that building with construction toys, chatting to friends and listening to classical music all had negative effects.

Drinking coffee produced better results than orange juice, while the effect of beer depended on the individual.

Full results of the study will appear in a book, QI: The Quest for Intelligence.

Kane Stanford, the president of the Auckland University Students Association, said the survey was fantastic news for students.

"It's good news for the slacker students out there that they can use with their parents - 'Well, statistics prove it's better to watch TV'."

Students were superstitious about exams, he said. Most had their own ideas and Mr Stanford was happy to divulge his.

"I've always watched TV for the weeks preceding exams, then done some last-minute hard-core cramming. It has managed to work reasonably successfully for me."

But he admitted students needed some level of base knowledge.

"On the day of the exam I never study. The night before, yes, but on the day it's just better to relax. If you know it you know it, if you don't, you don't by that stage."

Slightly more cautious was the headmaster of Auckland Grammar School, John Morris, who said watching TV prior to an exam was "all very well" provided a student had done the background work and study.

"Obviously if you have done that then you should sit down and relax and enjoy it. Then you go into the exam feeling pretty good about yourself. I could see how that could work if you have done the background work first."

Mr Morris was a firm advocate of a balanced life and keeping fit "to clear the mind to take in what you have to take in."

And a final word of wisdom from Professor Warwick:

"Students need to put in the time and effort beforehand. But to do it half an hour before, they would be crazy ... Don't swot at the last minute."