Making Your Revision More Effective

Going back over your notes to check your recall and understanding of them can be daunting, but it doesn`t have to be. There are several things you can do to try and make your revision sessions more productive. Here are some tips to get you thinking. The important thing is to try out different ideas and find what works best for you!

. Using coloured paper to write your revision summaries or notes can make them more memorable, especially if you are a visual learner. This simple strategy has made a significant difference to my own revision.

. Try out different formats for your notes - for example, if you usually write in paragraphs on lined paper, spider diagrams or mind maps could provide a welcome change.

. It is vital to make your notes your own; as you read over them, annotate them with any fresh ideas or connections to other learning that occur to you. This can involve using post-it notes, coloured pens, drawing arrows to make links between different concepts, etc. Simply highlighting your notes can become somewhat mechanical, so work out what keeps you engaged in your learning.

. I have found it really helpful to condense ideas as much as possible. If you start out with several pages of notes on a topic, can you summarise them into one or two A4 sheets? Next, can you work out what the most vital concepts are and display them on smaller sheets or pieces of card? Finally, identify the five or six most important key words.

. Writing constantly can get tiring and monotonous. Try talking through the concepts that you have to learn - check whether you are able to explain them to a friend or to someone in your family (or, to make it easier, just talk to yourself!)