Revision Tips For Students

It`s that time of year again, the Easter holidays are in full swing and it will soon be exam season. This year GCSE and AS Level science exams begin on 12th May and A2 Level science exams begin on 8th June. Ideally your revision should be well underway by now and you should be aiming to do 4- 6 hours of revision per day.

If you have not started then do not worry now is the time to do so. In order to help you, whatever stage of your revision you may be at here are some handy tips.

1. Understand Before you Revise Make sure you understand something before you start revising it, otherwise you risk learning something that's not correct. The best way to do this is to understand new information as you go along. You'll know from your homework whether you have got to grips with a subject. If you haven't, then ask the teacher, your tutor or a friend who does understand the subject, and get clear in your mind what you haven't been able to understand.

2. Draw up a Revision Timetable A revision timetable can be a very useful tool in your revison, it can show you the topics which you need to revise, help keep you on track and motivated and also show you how much revision you have already done for a confidence boost when it all seems too much.

A few things to remember when you are writing your timetable:

a.Mix up subjects: This will alleviate boredom and confusion. Don`t spend a whole day on science or languages, this can lead to tedium and you may confuse facts across topics and subjects. Instead, break it up do an hour of maths followed by an hour of French, this will keep things fresh and interesting as you work through the day.

b.Keep it realistic: Think about other commitments you have throughout the days and weeks in addition to revision, such as social commitments, family events, going to school/college etc. Put these into your timetable first so that you can work around them, you should not have to compromise your day to day life for revision. Once you have done this think about how much revision you can fit into each day, do not be too demanding or too lenient. Many schools now say you should aim to be doing 8-9 hours of revision a day, which I feel s is too much, yet 1-2 hours a day and you won`t cover everything. I recommend around 5 hours per day of good revison, this should give you ample time to cover everything you need.

c.Maintain a routine: Set yourself a good routine, you may stick to revising during normal school hours when you`re on holiday for example, and you may use the time which you would normally spend doing homework for revision while still at school/college. Do not get up too early or stay up late just to complete revision. This will make you tired, add extra stress and ultimately reduce you exam performance.

d.Take Breaks: Do NOT revise endlessly, the human brain can only concentrate for so long before it goes off task. Aim to limit your revision sessions to 45mins to 1 hour and take a 10-15 minute break between sessions to refocus your brain`s energy.

3. Syllabus Get a copy of the syllabus for each subject/topic you are studying, this will show you exactly what you are expected to know and what is likely to come up on your exams. You can get a copy of the syllabus from your teacher/tutor or from the exam board website

4.Make Notes - But Not Too Many Some people can't see the point of making notes. They've written everything down in their exercise books in the first place - why write it out again? One reason is to get something into your head: the very act of writing something down helps hammer it into your brain. Another good reason for making notes is that, if you are making CONCISE notes, you have to understand what you are taking notes on. Again, this is worth doing. The more concise your notes are, the less you have to read when you go through them again.

5.Decorate Your Walls Flashcards can come in handy for revision as well. Cut up a piece of stiff paper or thin card into bite-size chunks. Now you can write down anything you need to remember particularly: this might be equations, or short sentences, or graphs, or diagrams. Read through them and test yourself. Stick the most important ones on your walls, so you see them every time you are in your room.

6.Regular Testing If there is someone around whom you can call on to test you, that's great. It doesn't mean they have to concentrate on you entirely If there's no such person available, then test yourself, by saying things over to yourself. Talking to yourself isn't always a sign of madness: it can be the sign of a good reviser too.

7. Past Papers and Mark Schemes The mark scheme is an annoying aspect of how exams are marked - you have to be aware of the exact wording that the examiners are looking for. Don't just think it's all right to give an approximate wording, because in certain cases you have to give the EXACT wording. There's no other way round this but to play ball and learn the wording off by heart. Attempt some past papers or look at them alongside the relevant mark scheme (these are available from exam board websites, ask your teacher/tutor if you are unsure). This will help familiarise you with the layout of the exam paper, what it is that the examiner is looking for and where marks can be lost or gained.

8. All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy Revising for your exams is not a prison sentence. Ensure that you give yourself adequate breaks and take time to engage with friends and family, this will give you some much needed relaxation time and also help to eliminate some of the stress you will encounter during exam periods. Don`t cancel social events in order to revise, but dont over do the fun either, remember...