Member Advice on Revision for Exams

...not, try asking a family member or friend for help. Searching on the Internet is another possibility. Some revision websites have FAQ’s or a chance to contact a teacher, where you can email a teacher and ask them for help. However I don’t know how quick this is. My teachers are really good- if I ask nicely, they will give me an email address (not a private one) to which I can send work to be marked. This means if I get stuck then I could ...
...do list before you go on study leave (or if you don’t have study leave, before the weekend!)
 Make sure you don’t leave any books or notes with your teacher or in your locker that you might need. Get any notes that you might have leant to friends back.
 Ask your teacher for a copy of the syllabus or a list of topics to revise
 Get some past papers to take home if you can
 If ... more

Well, first off revision can be a scary thing especially when you have exams looming, which are even scarier! You know that they are really important, which is why you need to know what you’re doing when it comes to revising. Flitting from one subject to another, working solidly for ten hours and staying up all night before your exam is not going to help! Believe it or not revision needs to be mixed with fun stuff, and before you start to revise the first thing you need is a timetable.

Your timetable should go from when you start your revision (could be the day you plan it out, or you might plan it out a week in advance) and take it up to the end of your exams. Have the day and date down the left-hand side, and along the top have columns with morning, afternoon and evening. These times of day could be a set time, for example for morning you might choose 9am-11am. Or you could just leave it as morning. An advantage for a set time is that it is strict, so you think, “right, this is revision time now.” Of course a disadvantage is that if you are busy doing something that needs to be done and it runs into set revision time, maybe walking the dog, then you end up feeling guilty. So anyway that choice is up to you.

Down the left-hand side you need every day of the week and the dates so you don’t get confused. The next task is to fill in the spaces when you’re already busy, for example I go swimming on Thursday nights and Sunday nights, so on my timetable I would find every Thursday and Sunday night and either shade them in or write “swimming.” Do this for your regular activities plus anything you have planned, such as going shopping, going to the cinema and of course if you’re a ciao addict you need to allow time for that too! Obviously if you don’t have study leave for whatever exams you are revising for, e.g. SATs then you need to block in mornings and afternoons during the week as you’ll be at school. You also need to write in when your exams are.

So now you’re thinking, “But I don’t know what all my plans are for the next few weeks are!” That’s fine, just leave spaces where you know you will have free time even if you don’t know what. The important thing is to get a balance between free time and revision- if you cut out too much free time you’ll get bored and ignore your timetable. Equally if you neglect revision you won’t get anywhere. Plan as much as you know you can do- there is no point planning hours and hours every day if you know you won’t be able to cope. Know your limits! A little every day is good, although you do need days off to relax and have fun, especially the day before an exam. Another good thing to know is when you study best. I work fairly well between about 2pm and 4pm, but best after 7pm. I don’t work well at all in the morning. If you plan to revise in the morning, get a good night’s sleep and have breakfast- it’s brain food.

Once you know when your revision spaces are, you need to write in what you’re going to revise. You need to know how much work you need to do on each subject. If you’re struggling with a subject, don’t ignore it because you find it tough. Revise it, learn it and understand it then you will feel a whole lot better about the exam coming up. Also there’s not much point spending hours on French revision at the beginning of your timetable if it’s your last exam! Plan your revision taking into account the order of your exams. I’m lucky, my exams are fairly well spread out and I have a week free of exams before History, then another week free before Maths!

How long should you revise for?
This depends on what you’re like. Some people can work for two hours and remember everything whilst others have to work for half an hour, then take a break, then go back over it. Know yourself- there is no point in making notes for two hours if you don’t take in anything after the first hour. Schedule breaks; you cannot work non-stop.

What should you be doing during a break and how long should it be?
How long your break is depends on how long you’ve been working for. I prefer to work for a longer amount of time, say about two hours, then take a half-hour or 45 minute break. Other people prefer to work for shorter periods of time then take short breaks in between. If your revision is clearly set out in subtopics then a break in-between each one is a good idea.
During a break, don’t do anything that’s straining your eyes for example using the computer, watching television or reading a book. Revision is going to tire your eyes so when you take a break, let your eyes rest. Have a drink or snack.

Where should you revise?
Somewhere well lit to help your eyes. Choose somewhere quiet so that you can concentrate; if you share a room with a pesky little sibling revising in your room is not a good idea! Also don’t revise in front of the television, this will only distract you. Sometimes music helps, but don’t have it too loud and make sure you’re not stopping revising to play air guitar or sing along! Choose somewhere tidy and uncluttered so you have space to work, a comfy chair and table or surface at a good height.
If your parents are anything like mine and are prone to yelling at you to go do the washing up, do this, do that, then it is a good idea to let them know when you’re about to revise as maybe this will ensure a little more peace and quiet.

What should you use to revise?
Before you start to revise, sort out all of your books, textbooks and notes. Put to one side anything you think you probably won’t need to revise with. Select textbooks that you find easy to understand. If you have loose sheets of paper with notes on keep them tidy and all together- files or folders can help with this.
Good textbooks to revise from, I find, are the ones that I have learnt the material from because then I have already been through it all and know the layout of the book well. Textbooks with questions at the end of each topic/chapter are very helpful as you can test yourself.
Revision guides can be purchased from places such as WHSmith’s or other bookstores although if your school has purchased them in bulk and is selling them to students they are considerably cheaper. They can help you revise as they have notes rather than blathering on and on. They also often have questions so that you can test yourself.
The Internet can be good for revision, there are a lot of revision websites, and BBC has bitesize revision with tests. If you are unsure what to use on the Internet (it’s a vast place with much information) use a search engine to find suitable websites for the subject you are revising at your level, for example whether it’s SATs, G.C.S.Es and foundation or higher.

How should you revise?
Ah. The tricky question. Well, it depends what kind of learner you are…yup, apparently there are three kinds of learners: visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic. If you are a visual learner then you remember how things look etc and good ways of revising are:
Making notes, using different colours, reading over notes, making mind maps, underline things, highlight, draw pictures, diagrams and flow charts.
If you are an auditory learner you learn well from listening to things. Good ways of revising are:
Reading notes out loud, revise with a friend and ask each other questions.
If you are kinaesthetic then you learn by getting involved, “hands on.” Good ways of revising are:
Use your body and be very physical about it.

Apologies that I don’t know much about auditory or kinaesthetic, as you may have guessed I’m visual.
http://www.mindtools.com/mnemlsty.html has much more information about each learning style and even a test so you can find out which learning style you are. This can be very helpful, so check it out!

Reading is not enough! Take action:
 Make notes. Write down the main headings for the topic and list key points below. Use different colours for headings and highlight important points.
 Make mind maps.
 Test yourself- cover up what you have written and see if you can remember it. Or do self-test exercises from revision guides.
 Repeat- go over your notes again at the end of the revision session, the next day and a week later. This means you will remember it all much better.
 If you don’t understand, don’t waste too much time. Get help.

Incase you don’t know, here are some tips on making a mind map, or spider diagram.

 Grab a clean sheet of paper
 Write the name of the topic in the middle in a circle/bubble
 Write the main headings with links to the circle
 If you don’t know what to use as headings, try what, why, where, how, when. They will get you started
 Make links from these headings and write key points
 Even more links can be made from these to explain things
 Different colours can be used for different parts of the map
 The end result? A summary of the topic.

If you can get them off your teachers, past papers are a very good way to revise. They test what you know and you will feel more confident about what kind of things will come up in the exam.

When you sit down to revise, make sure you have everything you need before you start. If really breaks your concentration if you have to keep getting up to fetch a calculator or a pen or folder of notes.

If you get stuck, try not to get frustrated. If it is a question you are trying to answer, look at it in a different way. If you feel yourself starting to get frustrated then stop revising and take a break. When you go back it may be easier. If it’s not, try asking a family member or friend for help. Searching on the Internet is another possibility. Some revision websites have FAQ’s or a chance to contact a teacher, where you can email a teacher and ask them for help. However I don’t know how quick this is. My teachers are really good- if I ask nicely, they will give me an email address (not a private one) to which I can send work to be marked. This means if I get stuck then I could also email for help.

To do list before you go on study leave (or if you don’t have study leave, before the weekend!)
 Make sure you don’t leave any books or notes with your teacher or in your locker that you might need. Get any notes that you might have leant to friends back.
 Ask your teacher for a copy of the syllabus or a list of topics to revise
 Get some past papers to take home if you can
 If there is anything you don’t understand, ask your teacher to explain it to you
 Ask your teacher nicely if they have an email address that they don’t mind you using so that if you need help you can contact them.

Revision do’s and don’ts:

 Do have a positive approach. If you start thinking that you will fail the exam so it doesn’t matter what you do, then you probably will fail the exam!
 Be organised
 Have regular breaks
 Have a balance between free time and revision
 Try different methods of revising to see what works well for you
 If you find something hard, don’t ignore it and hope it won’t come up in the exam. It might, so learn it!
 Don’t revise if you’re really tired or in an extreme can’t-be-bothered mood. You won’t learn anything.
 Keep yourself well fed and hydrated. You can’t revise on an empty stomach.
 Don’t write out notes once and then forget them. Go over them again and again.
 Know what is in each paper if you have a paper 1 and paper 2.
 Don’t put revision off! You will end up feeling guilty when you are out meant to be enjoying yourself. When you are out you should forget your revision, in the knowledge that it is all under control and you’re doing enough.
 Stay in control- don’t panic and keep everything organised.
 Don’t let yourself be distracted whilst you’re revising
 Don’t flit from one subject to another trying to get a bit of everything done
 Don’t try to cram.
 If you have made a timetable, stick to it as much as you can. If you plan to go out and then realise it's during a revision slot, then the revision can easily be moved to a slot where you were planning on having free time. It can be swapped about.

Before an exam:

 Much as you might be panicking, don’t try to do a huge pile of revision the day before! Relax and do something fun. Take your mind off it!
 Get a good night’s sleep
 Eat breakfast and have a drink
 Make sure you know when and where your exam is
 Make sure you have all the equipment needed- other than pen/pencil, if it is Maths do you need a calculator? If it is English, do you need your anthology? Double check.
 Get there in plenty of time. It isn’t a lesson- it’s an exam. It is no good telling the invigilator the traffic was bad, you won’t get extra time! If you think the traffic might be bad, leave earlier.
 Try to stay calm!

After an exam:

 Some people like to talk about the exam afterwards with friends. If you discover that you might have answered something wrong, don’t torture yourself!
 Relax. Have a snack and a drink. Taking part in sport is a good way to relieve some tension.
 Take a break before starting revision for your next exam.
 If you have another exam that day, relax and have something to eat in-between.

Remember that everyone is different and what I have mentioned here might not help you to revise. Personally I don't like using the internet, I haven't found any decent websites that actually help me. Some people do use the internet though. I prefer to make notes with bullet points and headings etc. Find out what suits you.

I hope this has helped, if you have exams coming up good luck with both your revision and your exams. Revision is important so make sure you’re doing something worthwhile.

Debz xx

I have recommended it as it is something you need to do to get good grades! I have given it four stars because when done properly can be really beneficial...the one star taken off because I'm sure you'd rather be doing other things with your time!

 

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