Top 10 Study Tips for First-Class Students

Talk to enough first-class graduates from Nigerian universities and a pattern emerges. They are rarely the students who studied the longest hours or never went out. What they share is a set of deliberate habits, systems they built early and maintained consistently throughout their degree. Here are ten of the most common ones.

1. They Start Studying on Day One

First-class students treat the first week of semester as study time, not orientation time. They get their course outlines, identify the heaviest-weighted assessments, and begin reading before many of their peers have bought their textbooks. The compounding advantage of starting early is enormous by the time exam season arrives.

2. They Test Themselves Constantly

Rather than re-reading notes, they quiz themselves. After covering a new topic, they close their notes and try to write out everything they can recall. They do practice questions before they feel ready. This active retrieval process strengthens memory far more effectively than passive review. Start practicing with myBenkio to build this habit with structured quizzes and past questions.

3. They Attend Every Lecture and Engage

Lecture attendance may seem obvious, but first-class students don't just attend; they sit close to the front, take their own notes rather than copying a friend's, and ask questions. Lecturers notice engaged students, and engagement in class makes reviewing notes later dramatically easier because you actually remember the context.

4. They Know the Marking Scheme

Before sitting any exam, they find out exactly how marks are distributed. How many questions? Are some compulsory? How many marks per question? What does a model answer look like? Understanding the marking scheme allows them to allocate their exam time correctly and calibrate how much detail to include in each answer.

5. They Review Material the Same Day

Memory research shows that reviewing new information within 24 hours dramatically reduces the rate of forgetting. First-class students make it a non-negotiable habit to read through their lecture notes on the evening of the day they took them, even if only for 15 minutes. This brief review anchors the information before it fades.

6. They Use Office Hours

Most students never visit their lecturers during office hours. First-class students do. Not just to ask for favours, but to clarify confusing concepts, discuss assignment feedback, and understand what the lecturer values in exam answers. This direct access to the marker is an underused advantage.

7. They Read Beyond the Handout

While most students study only what the lecturer provided, first-class students consult the recommended textbooks and sometimes additional sources. This broader reading gives them a deeper understanding that shows in their ability to answer unfamiliar questions and construct nuanced arguments in essays. Access a broader range of study materials on myBenkio to supplement your lecture notes.

8. They Protect Their Sleep

Chronic sleep deprivation impairs memory consolidation, reasoning, and mood. First-class students are rarely the ones pulling all-nighters every week. They study hard during waking hours and protect enough sleep to let their brains process and store what they've learned. It's a neurologically sound strategy, and it pays off.

9. They Write Out Answers Under Exam Conditions

Knowing material is not the same as being able to produce it under timed, high-pressure conditions. First-class students regularly practice writing full exam answers against the clock, without looking at notes. This trains both recall and the ability to structure responses quickly and clearly.

10. They Reflect After Every Assessment

After each test, assignment, or exam, they review what went wrong and why. The goal isn't to dwell on mistakes. It's to extract lessons for the next one. A student who understands why they lost marks in a test is better prepared for the final exam than one who simply moves on. This reflective habit compounds over a four or five-year degree into a significant performance advantage.