Cramming the night before an exam is a common ritual, but cognitive science proves it is one of the least effective ways to learn. Drawing on the research from Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning, this article explains why cramming only creates a temporary “illusion of mastery.” Discover how the evidence-based technique of “spaced study” builds the durable, long-term knowledge your child needs to succeed in the Selective Test, OC test, and NAPLAN.
For many Australian students facing the pressure of the Selective High School Placement Test, Opportunity Class (OC) test, NAPLAN, or scholarship exams, cramming is a familiar ritual. The night before a major test, textbooks are opened, notes are furiously re-read, and sleep is sacrificed in a desperate attempt to force information into the brain.
While cramming may occasionally yield a passing grade on a short-term quiz, it is a disastrous strategy for long-term learning and high-stakes exams.
In the international bestseller Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning, cognitive scientists Henry L. Roediger III and Mark A. McDaniel, along with writer Peter C. Brown, dismantle the myth that cramming is an effective study method. They present compelling evidence that “massed practice”—the technical term for cramming—produces only the illusion of mastery. The knowledge gained is fragile, shallow, and rapidly forgotten.
When a student crams, they repeatedly expose themselves to the same material in a single, intense session. This repetition creates a strong sense of fluency. The text feels familiar, the formulas seem obvious, and the child genuinely believes they have mastered the topic.
However, this feeling is deceptive. As the authors of Make It Stick explain, “When practice is massed, the rapid repetition of the same material produces a sense of familiarity and fluency that we mistake for mastery.” Because the information is fresh in their short-term working memory, the student assumes it will be available in their long-term memory on exam day.
The reality is that the brain has not had the time or the opportunity to properly encode and consolidate the information. Without this crucial consolidation process, the memory traces remain weak. Within a matter of days—or even hours—the crammed knowledge begins to fade. When the student sits down to take the Selective or OC test weeks later, the familiarity is gone, and the information is irretrievable.
The antidote to cramming is a concept known as spaced practice. Spaced practice involves spreading study sessions out over time, rather than condensing them into a single block.
Instead of studying a topic for three hours on a Sunday night, a student might study it for one hour on Monday, one hour on Thursday, and one hour the following Tuesday.
This approach feels counterintuitive to many students. It feels slower, less efficient, and more difficult. However, cognitive science proves that this difficulty is precisely what makes spaced practice so effective.
When a student spaces their study sessions, a certain amount of forgetting inevitably occurs between sessions. When they return to the material, they must work harder to retrieve it from their memory. This effortful struggle is what the authors of Make It Stick call a “desirable difficulty.”
As the authors note, “When learning is spaced, forgetting is the friend of learning.” The act of retrieving the partially forgotten information forces the brain to strengthen the neural pathways associated with that memory. It also prompts the brain to reconsolidate the information, connecting it more firmly to existing knowledge.
The more effort required to retrieve the information, the stronger the resulting memory trace becomes. “Learning is deeper and more durable when it’s effortful. Learning that’s easy is like writing in sand, here today and gone tomorrow.”
For parents supporting their child through the rigorous preparation required for Australian exams, implementing spaced study is a practical and highly effective strategy:
This approach requires planning and discipline, but the results are undeniable. Spaced practice transforms fragile, short-term familiarity into robust, long-term mastery. It ensures that the knowledge a child gains in February is still readily available when they sit the Selective Test in May.
At TestMagic, our platform is designed to facilitate spaced practice effortlessly. By providing access to a vast library of realistic practice tests for the Selective Test, OC test, and NAPLAN, we enable students to regularly test their knowledge over an extended period.
Rather than cramming practice papers into the final week before an exam, students can use TestMagic to space their retrieval practice throughout the term. This consistent, effortful retrieval is the key to building the durable knowledge required for exam success.
To learn more about how to structure your child’s study sessions for maximum effectiveness, explore our next article: How Mixing Up Study Subjects Helps Your Child Score Higher. For further reading on creating a supportive learning environment, see The Right Study Environment Enhances Academic Results.
