Use a Variety of Revision Techniques

One of the biggest mistakes students make when revising is only using one approach. ure, you may enjoy reading through textbooks and highlighting notes, but ometimes a more pro-active approach is equired to ensure you actually retain the information you’re revising. Here are some evision techniques you should use to mix up our approach: udent as Teacher – Again, using your exam notes, have a friend or family member hoose a topic from your folder. Your role is to act as the teacher, teaching the other person about the subject as if they were the tudent. This is a good revision technique to improve your confidence as you realise how uch you know. ind Mapping – Creating mind maps can be a good way of organising key themes or important equations into a visual reminder. tart by writing the subject in the centre of the page and creating stems that connect to each theme or formula. You can then add other relevant information around each theme. This technique works particularly well for visual learners or for creative students that are studying a more logical subject. udy Groups – Your fellow classmates can be a great source of information, inspiration and support. Joining or organising a study group can provide you with the motivation to revise even when you don’t feel like it. In a study group, students can help you with any areas of a subject that you feel stuck with. It also makes revising more fun and you can organise quizzes or competitions to keep things interesting.

Keyword Recall – Using your exam notes, write out individual keywords and phrases that relate to each topic. You can write them out all on the one page, on flashcards or, better still, on post-it notes. Stick the eywords around the house and every time ou see one, try to recall as much information about the topic as you can. It’s best to verbalise your thoughts out loud to trengthen your memory.

For some more good quality revision techniques, check out these YouTube videos from Shiggs and Emma Louise.

If you’ve exhausted all the past papers in your subject, you can also try practising with specimen papers that are created by education companies and designed in the same style as those from the exam boards. Doddle has its own set of practice exam papers for each examination board.

Don’t Overdo it - Schedule Regular Breaks

Analyse and Practice with

Past

Papers One of the best ways to revise is to analyse past papers. Practising exam questions is great, but if you don’t know where you have gained or lost marks, then you’ll likely make the same mistakes in the next test too.

Take the time to read the mark scheme. Find out which words and phrases the exam board give marks for and which ones lose you marks. Okay, so this can be a bit time consuming, but it’s definitely a much more efficient use of your time than just reading through notes, and hoping for the best.

Once you know how points are awarded, it’s time to get down to business. Gather all the past exam papers that you can from your exam board’s website (useful links at the end of this section) and work your way through them one-by-one.

As your exam approaches, start to tackle full papers in one go, under exam conditions and within the allowed time frame. This will improve your exam technique, get you used to answering questions under pressure and improve your time management skills.

Here are some useful links to past papers from each of the major exam boards:

OCR: https://www.aqa.org.uk

CAMBRIDGE: www.cambridgeinternational.org

CCEA: https://ccea.org.uk

EDEXCEL: https://qualifications.pearson.com

OCR: https://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications

SQA: https://www.sqa.org.uk/pastpapers/

WJEC: https://www.wjec.co.uk/home

As the saying goes, ‘all work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy’. It’s important to take regular breaks when you’re revising for exams. It can be tempting to continue revising for long hours when you feel in the mood, but it’s actually best to stop at the point that you feel you’re ‘in the flow’. If you take a break when you’re feeling engaged, you’ll find it much easier to get back into the swing of things when you go back to it.

One way to make sure you don’t overdo it with long periods of study is to use the Pomodoro technique. Essentially, this involves setting a timer for half-hour periods and working without distraction until the buzzer sounds. You can then take a 10 or 15-minute break until you set the timer again.

We recommend these 2 YouTube videos from Gohar Khan and Smile With Sola.