Having gained 13 GCSEs and just about scraping my way through completing 3 A Levels and an Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), I've learnt a fair few things about exam revision over the last couple of years. Here I've compiled a list of some of the methods that I used and found the most useful. Obviously this is just a guide and there's no guarantee these particular tips will work for everyone but hopefully they'll give you some inspiration or the motivation you need to start revising!
Here are my top tips for exam season...
- Make a revision timetable/set yourself weekly goals - this way you can make sure that everything gets done. Make a revision timetable ASAP so you get into the routine of revising regularly. Setting weekly goals such as 'finish unit 1 by Friday' can help you cover content a lot faster so by the exam you should have covered it a few times and know it like the back of your hand. Also this helps you get organised so you have an idea of what you're going to cover within each slot on your timetable that week.
- Print out exam timetable and stick it on your bedroom wall - I found this useful as it helped me organise my revision better and it was easy to check to see when my next exam was. I also kept a copy in my bag.
- Make flashcards - for me this is the most effective way to revise as you are constantly testing yourself and I find that way it sticks in my head a little bit better. Also they're pocket sized so you can read through them while you're on the go (in the car or on the bus, for example)
- Make posters and stick them around your room - this worked for me at first but before long I just used to ignore them. Make sure if you are sticking them up that you read through them, even if it's while you're straightening your hair. I found actually making the posters was beneficial for me as I was condensing the information all onto one page.
- Make a 'content timeline' - this works best for subjects like History. Picture a timeline in your head and run through the events chronologically. I also used this for Biology but instead of chronologically, the content timeline was the order of the topics in the textbook. I found this particularly useful when writing essays because picturing the "timeline" in my head helped me remember certain things that I would have otherwise forgotten, which I then used as points in my essay.
- Practice questions!!!!! I can't stress enough how important this is. You can revise as much as you want but if you haven't done any practise questions then what is the point??? For science subjects especially, mark schemes can be extremely fussy about wording, so you might have the knowledge but still get no marks as you haven't used the correct terminology. Doing practise questions helps you get used to this.
- Timed essay plans - even if you don't end up writing the essay, doing plans within the set time limit that you'll have in the exam (e.g. 5 minutes) helps you get used to it so by the time the exam comes around, it will come easily to you.
- Make your own quizzes - this way you will be testing specific areas of your knowledge that may be lacking. You could swap these with friends and classmates too.
- Mind maps - another of my favourite revision techniques: getting my notes for each topic condensed onto one page made revision seem a lot easier to handle as it was divided into a topic per mindmap rather than just pages and pages of notes.
- Numbers - I suppose it depends on the way your brain works but for me I found this one useful. I could usually remember how many points there were to an answer so when I was testing myself I would simply check them off on my fingers as I recalled one. Don't worry about knowing them all - usually you're good to go if you can remember 3/4 of them. e.g. 5 roles of ATP or 6 reasons for the outbreak of the Crimean War.
- Acronyms - thinking of an acronym makes it much easier to remember key points. For example, now I will always have MASMA engrained on my brain as spelling out the five roles of ATP: Movement, Active Transport, Secretion, Metabolic processes and Activation of molecules.
- Make your own PowerPoints - this is another easy way to condense your notes and make them look nice so you'll want to go back and read them once exams roll around, BUT don't just copy and paste everything because that totally defeats the purpose of doing it!
- YouTube revision videos were always a big help to me, especially "Mr Pollock" who made easy to understand videos for Biology, as well as doing practise questions and explaining how he reached his answers. These can be a godsend if your textbook is too wordy and complicated to understand.
- Self assessment - I used to do a timed essay then leave it for a few days and go back and mark it with a pair of fresh eyes. Marking it yourself helps you to see where you're going wrong and what you need to do to pick up more marks. Although I often found this useful, BE HONEST! Don't award yourself high marks if your answer isn't worthy of it because this won't help you improve. Getting a teacher, peer or even parent to see if they agree with your marks can help you make sure you're doing it accurately.
- Look at exemplar answers - this helps you get your head around what the examiner is looking for. Modelling your practise answers on the examplar ones will help you get into the routine of writing in the style that gains the most marks.
- Revise everywhere - in the bath, on the bus... Revising in usual places makes the content stick in your head more as you will link the location with the topic you studied. For example, I can remember studying the execution of Charles I while on holiday in the Lake District!
- Get organised for your first exam a few days in advance by sorting out what you will need in your pencil case and finding any documents/ID you need to take with you - this will hopefully reduce how stressed you're feeling the night before and on the morning of your exam.
- Don't compare yourself to friends - remember everyone learns differently and just because someone did 5 hours of revision last night, this doesn't mean it was effective revision. You do what's best for you.
- Watch YouTube videos of people opening their results - seeing other people do well will motivate you to want do well. Likewise, seeing people do not so well may also make you work a bit harder.
- DE-STRESS!!! At the end of the day I think it is important to remember that exam results, although they are important, aren't everything. They can open doors for you but if you don't end up doing as well as you'd hoped, you can always resit or find another route into doing what you want to do. I think that your health and wellbeing is a lot more important than a few letters (or in the case of the new GCSEs, numbers) on a page.
So there are my top 20 tips for exam revision. I hope at least some of these will help you in the coming months and as exam season approaches once again (no doubt it will be too quick, as always). I know it's only September but starting the school year armed with this advice will mean you can try a few techniques out during mocks and select your favourites before end of year exams.
Good luck for those of you doing exams this year - may the grade boundaries be ever in your favour!
♡
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