20 tips for effective revision
Effective revision is not rocket science, it’s just a matter of adopting a healthy lifestyle, planning in advance, and doing active, exam focused revision in each revision session.
General health and well-being advice
- Eat properly
- Get a decent night’s sleep
- Get out for some exercise and fresh air
- Figure out when you work best (morning, afternoon, evening)
- Figure out where you work best
- Set yourself realistic revision goals and treat yourself
Preparing for revision
- Download the specification
- Grade each subtopic into ‘easy’ ‘moderate’ and ‘difficult’
- Do a monthly ‘overview’ revision timetable
- Read the examiners reports and any marked exemplars you can find
- Download all of the past papers
- Organise your revision notes
- Tidy your study space
- Cut out all distraction – phone and ‘bad friends’
- Do a daily revision plan – 2 to 3 session with goals for each session
Specific revision techniques
General advice: Revision should be active and exam focussed, not passive (i.e not just re-reading)
- Test yourself
- Make brief, active revision notes with a clear structure – do more ‘reading’ and thinking and less ‘writing’
- When reviewing revision notes, do so actively – THINK about how you would use the material to answer exam questions
- Read past papers and exemplars
- Practice exam papers
– Padma Prabhu
