Just thinking about revision probably makes you want to crawl into a dark hole and stay there. Hold off on that for just a moment. Take a look at these tried and tested practical (if a little geeky) revision tips to help you make the most of your time during the exam season.
1) Make a timetable. Probably one of the most over-used pieces of revision advice out there, but possibly a game-changer. And no, ‘a timetable’ doesn't mean scribbling out which subjects you’re going to do each day; I promise you that you’ll feel better if you allocate topics too. This will leave you with a clear goal for each day and gives every revision slot an obvious end-point, meaning you don’t have to feel guilty about stopping and relaxing. Better still, you’ll be confident that you’re going to cover everything in time. Be flexible though; one topic might take longer than you thought, or you might need to spend longer getting to grips with something. Don’t worry about this; just do a bit of rearranging.
2) Make flashcards. These are useful for those annoying 45 minute slots between lessons or before dinner. When you have such little time, you really don’t want to be making notes, or doing some random highlighting, because chances are, nothing will go in. Instead, have some pre-prepared cards ready to pick up as and when. If you study Geography, for example, you may have key terms on one side and the definitions on the other. Or for Psychology, you could do the same with case studies. Then, just settle down with a cup of tea and test yourself!
3) Keep your notes organised. The thought of revision is much worse when you've got twenty things to learn, all on different pieces of paper, all in different folders. Having one piece of paper entitled ‘Quotes to learn to show the supernatural in Macbeth’, for example, will make your life a lot easier. At first, all this labelling and listing may seem like a waste of time; but I guarantee that this keen organisation will be worth it in the long run.
4) Plan revision breaks. Not even the geekiest geek can study continuously from the moment they wake to the moment they flop back into bed. Sadly, there will always be those who love to brag about the endless number of hours they spent at their desk last night, revising solidly. I can tell you now, it’s pretty much certain that their stint of ‘solid’ slogging went something like this: open a textbook, check Facebook, make some notes, send a text, highlight a couple of pages, make a coffee, flick through a past paper, and so on. In other words, an hour or two of concentrated, uninterrupted revision will be more productive.
5) Put your phone/ Ipod/ Ipad in another room. As tempting as it is to ‘just quickly check Twitter’, it will be far more enjoyable in a planned revision break, as you won’t need to feel guilty for procrastinating.
6) Use past papers wisely. For essay-based exams, don’t try and write full answers for every single past paper you can find: there just isn't time. Instead, plan your answers to the longer essay questions, trying to include only very key points. It is unlikely that the same question will come up again, so there isn't much point spending hours writing endless essays on topics that might not even be in your paper. Of course, essay practice is crucial, but just do a select few and make sure you've planned a wide range of answers so you've got every base covered in the exam.
And now that's all sorted, let this owl lighten the mood:
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