The Student Room Group

Revision tips and techniques

Some of us must be highly skilled in the art of revision by now, I know I've had rather a lot of practice! So I thought we could all share our favourite brain-goggling techniques, for the good of studentkind everywhere!

My best advice is to make a plan for every week, so you maximise your time and can decide exactly how much you do and on what you want to focus on. It feels all good inside when you complete a 5 hour stint! :eek: Also take regular breaks. It's no good sitting at a desk for ages getting stressier and stressier and not taking anything in.

Hope this thread is helpful :smile: Please contribute!

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Reply 1
bit late for me, finished exams today! woo.
Reply 2
Revision timetables never work for me for some reason.

I think the way you revise depends on what subjects you're doing. If you're doing something like Maths then you just need to keep doing as many questions as you can (simple yes, but its hard sometimes trying to get motivated). On the other hand if you're doing an essay-writing subject its probably good to do exam practice too but I think it also helps to make notes on the topics you've studied and make these as short as possible.

If there's one thing that helps most its making sure that you have access to as many resources as possible so that you can make sure you've covered everything.
I do half an hour then take a little break.I also keep some water nearby so if I get thirsty I don't have to get up and faff around,interrupting my revision.

Oh and I do my revision in between my TV programmes so I don't get resentful and also,watching the TV is a treat for doing work.

Do loads of practise questions and make notes on a4 paper and keep it in a ringbinder,organised according to subject and module so you can read it on the bus/train on the way to the exam.
Reply 4
I tend to work in fairly long bursts, like I'll do 2 hours of one subject, have a half hour break and then go onto something else.

Another tip: Find out what kind of learner you are. i.e Visual, auditory, or emotional. If you learn best by remembering things you see, make your notes look all pretty and bright so they'll stick in your mind. Or, if you learn best by hearing stuff, record yourself talking about a subject. :smile:
Reply 5
Im better of doing a whole mornings work, taking a long break and then doing a whole afternoons work. If i take little breaks i get distracted by other stuff (especially TV!)

A good tip for languages discursive essays is to write pros and cons charts for issues like university funding, gap years, recycling, divorce, etc etc and any other topics you have studied. If you then get an essay on this in the exam you've already done the plan!!

For studying eng lit texts I always make a main points sheet/booklet where i write down everything i can on each charater and theme (including quotes) this way you can just rewrite the para in ure exam if something relevant comes up.

Hope it helps! x
Reply 6
I'm sometimes find it really hard to concentrate, so I usually listen to music (any kind although classical gets me relaxed enough to work. Other people might find classical tranquilising though). I like studying with a friend because you can test each other, but sometimes, just before an exam, doing this can make you even more nervous.

I think the best advice I can give here is to take care of your health and try to get enough sleep. Sometimes, revision and studying can turn into a competition: who works the longest, who stays up the latest, who worries the most, who turns into a pile of poopie first. Seriously. People who study this way and take part in these "competitions" might make you feel like a slacker, but in the end, you'll be the one alert on exam day.

Hope this helps (=

xxx
~#OrangeJuice#~
I find the best thing to do is to make notes on all you need to know and for each section make a spider diagram fitting everything on a page in the briefest form. By doing so i rememeber everything, Also to make massive posters to stick around your house!
Reply 8
This is something I personally have had great difficulty with throughout my school career and tend to forget when I walk into the exam, so it is well worth bearing in mind. Before you go in, ensure you know how long your paper will last and which questions you have to answer - this might be more straighttforward in subjects such as Maths where usually all questions are compulsary, but more difficult in subjects like History where there are different ''options'' within the same paper. Check with your teacher if you're unsure which to answer before the exams. Also, know how long the paper lasts and allocate your time according to the questions worth the most marks - you may want to start with these. If you know how many sections there are and how many questions you've got to answer, then divide your time according to the number of questions. GCSE works roguhly on the principle of a mark per minute. Idf you're running out of time, put bullet points and move on to the next questions (he says, but rarely manages to do it)
Reply 9
I don't find writing anything down is of use to me. I sit on a comfortable sofa, where it's pefectly quiet, with a glass of water, and the relevant books for the subject I'm studying. I just read it with all my concentration; reading out loud parts I'm not confident of remembering. Whilst everyone tells me that's a rubbish way to revise, it works perfectly well for me, and I scarcely forget anything I read.
Reply 10
Good notes are the key to effective revision. Everytime you cover something new, write it down clearly and legibly, make sure you understand it - and then file it. When it comes to revising it's as simple as going over all of your concise, well-written notes, for let's say - 1 hour. Do this again for 15 minutes before bed, followed by at least 8 hours sleep.
If you've worked hard up to test day, the night-before revision should be a breeze - as should the test.
Reply 11
Ive found for the first time ever that I have actually stuck to a revision timetable for me working on a sub for 45 mins with a 15 min break works great.

I post up things all over my walls with pics and loads of colours. I also use stupid rhymes to remember things.
Print off the subject specification and make notes from the textbook/resources for what you need to know, and you can avoid writing down and remembering useless information. In this way, I condensed each Chemistry module into just 8-or-so A4 sides of notes.

(However, my biology notes for one module is a whopping 22 pages!!)

But using a specification is a big help. You can use it as a tick list to see what you are and aren't comfortable with, and to split the module into well-defined chunks.
Reply 13
I'm so rocking the mindmaps-on-colourful-paper at the moment. Pencil crayons are also currently prettying up my revision, as are memorable little cartoons. :cool:
Reply 14
I'm also finding that telling people stuff I've recently revised is helpful, if rather annoying.
Reply 15
I found a really good way to do my history AS revision. I had broken down the course as i went along with dividers. Then during revision for each topic I got some bright yellow paper which I then rewrote the notes from that section onto, consising it down as I went. It meant that I could visually see how far I gone as the yellow pages stood out in my big beasty file.
Though one thing I wish I had the time to do is to do more practice questions....something that is always helpful especially in essay subjects...It didnt work this year because I didnt plan far ahead enough (another tip) and the half term fell in the wrong week.
Does anyone have some good tips for English Lit revision....or notetaking? peacenik x :tsr:
Make mnemonics! As in Hitler creating jobs with CARD POWER (Conscription Autobahns Rearmarment etc.........)

Just take the first letters of each fact you want to remember for example spectrum colours (RBGIOYV).. put them into the anagram wizard http://www.wordsmith.org/anagram/

and get an easy to remmeber word back whose first letters trigger your memory: BY VIGOR
Reply 17
Develop a photographic memory :bandit:
Reply 18
My best advice is to read the content yourself first (e.g. logarithms) and understand it a bit. Then, listen to your teacher in class. This way you will absorb the material extra quick. :smile: So, that's the way I do it, and it always works.
Reply 19
Vijay1
Develop a photographic memory :bandit:


It works for some people. But for me, just "know" the material and don't rely on mnemonics etc.