Ah August, that beautiful month where the sun makes a last ditch attempt to give us something that resembles adequate summer weather.

The sun is shining, the smell of nearby barbecues is wafting through the air and a refreshing beer is chilling in the fridge. Yes this most definitely is the life; you haven’t a care in the world, what could possibly disturb this bliss?

Repeats? Oh . . . Stinger.

So you failed an exam or three, nothing too surprising there. All those hours in the library actually spent creeping on Facebook rather than with your nose glued to quantitative economics. Or when you retired to your room to catch an extra hour or two of sociology, you decided your time would be better spent arranging your DVD collection into alphabetical order the night before the big exam.

Maybe the pressure to pass became all too much for your alphabetising-worn shoulders, and sure a good night’s sleep before the big day will work miracles, after you finish catching-up on the latest episode of Jersey Shore, that is.

The morning of, you set your alarm at six am, just to get a few crucial hours of early morning cramming. But of course your alarm didn’t go off. Instead you were reefed from the bed by your mother screaming “it’s half eight and you have an exam!” You missed your bus and arrived to the exam 15 minutes late pen-less, sporting a toothpaste stained t-shirt and with hair so windswept it so windswept it rivalled Russell Brand’s pre-rehab style.

In retrospect, you could’ve done better. You could’ve shut down the laptop, turned off the TV and dug out the books, but you didn’t. In fact, perhaps you had come round to the idea of repeats in August, ‘I’ll study then’, you thought, ‘no need to be stressing just yet’. Not feeling so confident about that idea anymore, eh?

The thing is this is where it actually gets serious. These repeats are your last chance saloon, if you do not obtain a pass grade for the year you will inevitably be KICKED OUT OF COLLEGE, or have to repeat the year. And unfortunately in today’s economic climate a vast knowledge of Facebook and an uncanny skill for alphabetising won’t actually constitute a steady income. Devastating, I know.

Hopefully by now, the fear has set in. Hopefully, you’re emailing your lecturers, as I write, to ask for extra notes and advice on key aspects of the exam. But for those of you who aren’t (not the majority, just a large fraction perhaps), here’s a bit of cop-on-and-knuckle-down advice for those all important end-of-summer exams.

First, let’s be realistic, you’re not the first person to fail, in fact, you’re in the good company of hundreds of other slackers out there who didn’t quite make it first time round. Grab your classmates that did fail and organise a session - a study session, obviously. Those who stick together, pass together. If you can, try get in contact with those swots in your class that did manage to pass and who actually bothered to show up to the lectures; sitting at the back texting doesn’t  count. If they’re the helpful kind, you can get your hands on all the notes for the year and hopefully a few tips on how to get your head round the crucial bits.

Throw your lecturer for the module an e-mail; you never know they may actually have nothing better to do this summer than to give you a few extra notes or a sneaky hint to ensure you don’t fail again. At the very least you’re just looking for your worst areas and the aspects of the module that need most improving; at this point 40 percent is all you need.

Ultimately, distractions from studying are going to be everywhere, especially come the end of summer. It’s unlikely that you’ll start studying until a week before the repeat. Fair enough, but be warned, you need to work harder in that week than you do in the whole year. Deactivate your Facebook account. Shockingly, it won’t kill you, and I think Facebook could probably do with seven days without your constant procrastinating presence. Find a quiet area, whether it’s your bedroom, the library or even the garden shed. The only way this is going to work is if you allow yourself a place to immerse yourself in pure, uninterrupted concentration.

Learn from your mistakes; if you couldn’t waffle you’re way through the real thing then you sure has hell can’t do it in the repeats. Turn down the invitations from your mates to head out every night, and, if you can hack it, turn off your phone completely; that session will be all the more rewarding when you’ve actually done something to deserve it.

Relax, this’ll all be over before you know it. How tough could it actually be? You’ve already done the exam once! Enjoy your summer, but timetable that one week in August before the exam, get your head down and say hello to next semester. 

Also, on one last piece of advice, maybe bookmark this article for when you need this advice again next summer.