The 45-49 Zone

There is a particular type of frustration that comes with an exam result between 45-49%.

There is no doubt that you will experience a range of emotions and feelings when you hear you have failed an exam. You may be shocked, angry, resigned, or sad. An exam result between 45-49% can amplify these emotions even more.

When you fail an exam but were very close to passing, it does not automatically mean you will pass next time without changing your approach.

In this article, I outline ways that will help rebuild your confidence when you are in the 45-49% zone.

Reflect on Your Past Study and Exam Experience

When the time feels right for you, I suggest getting a pen and paper and writing down some thoughts on your past study and exam experience.

Here are some prompt questions that can help you reflect:

• What went well for you as you studied for your last exam?
• What could have gone better?
• What strategies might you use the next time to get better results?
• Which topics or subjects were you least/most confident answering?
• What did you learn from this exam experience?

Be aware of your self-talk

Be aware of how you talk to yourself after exam failure. What is your internal dialogue? What are you telling yourself? This can often be quite negative.

For example, “I am not intelligent enough” or “everyone else is better than me”, “I will never pass these exams”. While our brains are extremely sophisticated organs, if we are telling it something like “I am not intelligent enough”, our brain has no option but to believe that. It is your words that steer your thinking process.

The opposite is also true. When you tell yourself you can do something and you are smart enough, your brain will also start believing this.

You can reframe what this result means to you, for example, “There is a learning in every setback. What is this setback trying to teach me”. “I can pass this exam if I just take it one step at a time”

Be open to changing your approach

Consider changing your approach to study rather than using the same approach again and expecting different results.

When I ask students what the reasons are they think they failed their exams, often they say they did not practice enough exam questions, or they left practicing past exam questions and past papers too late. Some students tell me they did practice past exam questions but not under exam conditions.

Alternatively, students tell me they studied hard but did not necessarily have a deep understanding of the topics they were studying. This is surface learning. Surface learning will not lend itself to professional exam success.

When you’re in the 45–49% range, this might mean

• Practising full papers under strict time pressure.
• Writing more concise, structured answers.
• Focusing only on weak topics rather than re-reading everything.

When you fail your exam by a few marks, the temptation is too often to try studying harder rather than smarter.

When you are this close, the answer is rarely study everything again from scratch. It is about making small intentional changes to help you make progress.

Protect your wellbeing

This is the part many students ignore. Exam success comes from:

• Consistent, focused study blocks.
• Proper rest.
• Exercise and movement.
• Space to switch off.

To summarise, exam failure especially when you are close to the pass rate is difficult, but you lean into ways of bouncing back after failure. Look after your mental health. Be aware of negative self-talk and re-frame this dialogue into positive prompts.