What's the Best Way to Revise?

Claire Senior, who has over 20 years experience as tutor, teacher and examiner, shares her insights into the best way to revise for GCSE and A Level exams, covering everything from past papers to effective revision techniques.

If you’ve ever Googled ‘best way to revise’, then chances are, you’re in need of some study motivation and a few pointers to help you prepare for your upcoming exams. As aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart said, “The most effective way to do it, is to do it.” Having said that...some methods of revision have a much greater impact than others. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you’re doing lots of revision because you’re spending an hour starting at a book. Fifteen minutes of adopting another method can often be a much more efficient use of time.

So, why do students still fall into the “sitting in the library” thinking trap? Well, because it’s easier than the methods that require brain power and analysis. Yet, it’s much less effective.

Here are my top tips on the best way to revise, so you’ll pass exams with flying colours.

Find Out What You’ll be Tested On

While it might be interesting to read around the subject (and helpful in many cases), exams are based on a specific set of topics and skills. Firstly, find out which exam board will be setting your exam.

They provide specifications for each of the exams they set. These are easily accessible from a quick internet search if you haven’t been given one by your teacher.

Organise Your Coursework

When it comes to revising for exams, preparation is key. One of the best ways to get organised is to go through all your coursework notes and pull out those that are relevant to your exam. Not everything that you’ve studied throughout the year will be directly relevant to your tests, so only select the topics are.

You can then arrange your ‘exam’ notes in a new folder, so that they’re easily accessible should you need to check anything. This condensed version of your coursework can also be useful reading material in the hours leading up to your exam, to familiarise yourself with the content and get you in the right mindset for the test.

For more advice on how to organise your course notes, take a look at this video from student Olivia Greenhalgh.

Create a Revision Timetable

Once you know what you’ll be tested on, how can you guarantee that you’ll actually put the time and effort in? One of the best ways to revise is to use a revision timetable. Not only do they hold you accountable for studying when you’re supposed to, but they can be a great motivator as you mark off each day that you complete.

A revision timetable doesn’t need to be elaborate.

It can be as simple as a spreadsheet or a written schedule. If you prefer a more technological approach however, why not try a free revision timetable app like Adapt, which calculates the perfect amount of revision for each day.

For those of you who prefer visual learning techniques, using a wall planner as a revision timetable is a great way to see your entire plan in the one place. You can get a great revision wall planner in bookshops, online or on Amazon / eBay or similar sites. If you choose this DIY approach to creating a timetable, then you’ll want to:

• Work out how many weeks you have left until each exam.

• Decide how many hours per week you need to study each subject.

• Choose one subject, break up the hours throughout the week and mark on your calendar when you’ll study it.

• Try to be as specific as possible with what you’ll study. Don’t just write the subject name, specify what topics you’ll cover and remember to schedule time at the end of each week for practicing with specimen papers.

• Do this for each subject and before you know it, you’ll have created a personal revision plan to help guide your studying.

We recommend these 2 YouTube videos by Ali Abdaal and Nouman Sami for all your revision planning.

Can You Explain the Content to an 8-Year-Old?

Make sure you understand all the content. Memorising facts without knowing the context will only get you so far. For application-based questions, you’ll need to thoroughly understand the information as well as how it all links together.

If you’re not sure whether or not you understand something, try explaining it to an eight-year old (seriously). This might feel like an odd thing to do for GCSE or A Level subjects, but the more you understand something, the simpler you can make it sound when writing in the exam.