Revision Techniques

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Revision Techniques
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S T A R T

• S sort Organise your notes well and purchase
  revision Guides.
• T timetable create a revision timetable and use
  it!
• A analyse Look at your previous results and
  Predicted Grades. Is there a gap to fill? Act
  on comments made in the report and by staff
  generally.
• R revise Begin your revision early and ensure
  that you revise in a way that suits you. Use a
  range of methods but beware of wasting precious
  time by pretending to revise. Get someone to
  test you at regular intervals.
• T target Look at your results and grades.
  Which subjects must you target to raise your
  grades? Target key subjects in which you are on
  a C/D borderline, or in which you can raise your
  mark from one grade to the next. Where do you
  excel? Target an A grade and raise it to an A

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Exams Matter

• Like it or not exams matter, results matter,
  revision matters. You need to do your absolute
  best and that takes full participation and
  maximum motivation. If you fail to prepare then
  prepare to fail. If you dont try to succeed
  then you wont. If you give your best then
  youll know that you did your best, if you dont
  then you may well regret it for life.
• Be Motivated
• Getting started isnt easy. Lay out all your
  exercise books across the living room floor. All
  of that information needs to get from those books
  in to your head. Its no good putting it off.
  Youve got to get down to it. So make a start,
  organise your notes, if you wish to buy some
  revision guides, get any notes from your friends
  of any work you have missed and begin.

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Plan Ahead

• Before you start your revision, make a revision
  planner. You
• will find guidance and a revision study planner
  on the revision
• zone. Print it out and create your own timetable
  of revision. Your time is very precious, you
  need to make it work for you. Start early so
  that you can revise little and often.
• Do
• Make a well constructed revision timetable
• Stick to your timetable but dont be afraid to
  amend it each week to suit your revision needs.
• Make it colourful
• Start planning well before the exams
• Break up revision sessions and give yourself
  treats
• Revise during the weekend in the run up to your
  exams. Your revision schedule should also
  include the Easter Holidays.
• Dont
• Leave it to the last minute
• Cram late at night or the night before an exam.
• Avoid revising subjects that you dont like
• Forget to make a revision timetable
• Forget to take breaks during your revision.
• Revise for more than an hour at a time without a
  break. You may want to swap subjects after half
  an hour or feel that a maximum of 45 minutes at a
  time is your limit. Find out what suits you.
• Forget that there is life beyond revision and
  exams, you need to find a balance

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How To Revise

• REVISION IS AN ACTIVE PROCESS!
• DONT JUST READ
• Make notes by reducing all the material of a
  given topic
• Make summaries by condensing the information down
  further
• Make cards with key points from the condensed
  material
• Make spider diagrams
• Make drawings and label them
• Use colour to underline key words, label
  diagrams, create visual stimulus.
• Answer exam questions and passed papers. Your
  teacher will get these for you or they may be on
  schools shared area for that particular subject
• Get a friend/parent to test you
• Learn the things that you get wrong
• Underline or highlight key points.
• Keep a record of what youve done.
• Use the internet.
• Make a video, podcast or CD

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How to remember

• Some people are better at remembering than
  others. When we first learn something it
  generally goes in to our short term memory and
  starts fading after a few hours. To get it into
  your long term memory you need to revisit it
  several times. After each revisit it lasts in
  the memory longer. Firstly 24 hours, then four
  days, then one and a half weeks, then a month.
  If you build revisits in to your revision study
  timetable you will be taking advantage of how
  your memory works and maximizing your chances.
• Other Techniques
• Image chains
• Location exercise
• Mnemonics
• (Find more detail about these in the section on
  this Revision Zone entitled Making the most of
  your studies)
• Learning Strategies
• There are many ways to maximise your learning.
  The Bits Pieces approach for example. All
  these methods are outlined on the Revision Zone
  section entitled Learning Techniques. Click on
  this section and find out what works for you.

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Making the most of your revision

• Keep Healthy
• Take regular breaks
• Drink lots of water
• Take regular exercise
• Eat properly so that your body and mind are fit
  for exams
• Protein such as fish, milk and eggs is good for
  your brain
• Eat foods which will give you energy such as
  fruit and chocolate!
• Keep Focused
• Dont listen to your friends. Those who say that
  havent yet done any revision are either not
  telling the truth (which is most likely, they are
  probably working hard but dont like to admit it)
  or are stupid and clearly not worth listening to.
  These are the most important exams of your life,
  your gateway to your future, surely you are not
  going to throw it away by listening to a few
  misguided friends.
• Keep On Track
• If you dont understand speak to your teachers
  who will help you. Also ask your Tutor, Head of
  House or mentor. Communicate with your parents
  and agree when you will be revising and when you
  are taking breaks. Display your revision
  timetable somewhere where the family can see it.