Blog
Effective Revision = Successful Results
With exam season starting in earnest on 16 May, and all manner of preparations currently happening in the build-up, I've been checking-in with what research says is the best way in which to revise.
What I found, interestingly, is that there's a mismatch between what students often dedicate a lot of time to in their revision activities, versus techniques that actually work.
For example:
- Highlighting absolutely everything on a full, busy, page;
- Passively re-reading old exercise books;
- Making revision notes that are a direct and complete copy of historic notes, or of a revision guide;
- Being so busy making notes like the above, that the time left for completing practice questions gets squeezed out.
We've all been there! And it's so easy to fall into the trap of keeping busy (which is relatively easy) rather than tackling the hard stuff that really makes the difference.
I really liked this graphic, which I can't claim any credit for, but which explains how we can end up feeling when there's an aspect of our revision missing. I've included it here in the belief that it might be helpful to you, to work backwards from how you feel at present, to discover where your own deficit lies – or to build your confidence levels if you’ve got all aspects covered.
Returning to my list of earlier, there are some quick re-frames that can be applied without too much effort, to ensure that revision has increased impact:
- Rather than highlighting everything, use colour-coding in order to categorise as you read, and remember that less is definitely more. Don't forget to pick out and define key words and terminology.
- Using past exercise books is great, but not everything! When you re-read, make it an active process by creating (not copying) cue cards of key facts and concepts. Write questions on the front and answers on the back so you can test your memory later. Colour-code, use diagrams and create mind maps that link several topics together - these activities all help to deepen your learning further.
- Copying out old notes (or information from revision guides) endlessly isn't a productive use of your precious time, but the good news is that you can use any of the techniques given in the points above to make your efforts more worthwhile.
- Revision is hard! Done correctly, it makes you face up to all the areas you've found difficult in the past - one after the other - and tackle them head-on. It's not difficult to see why our natural tendency can be to procrastinate and put it off! However, I can assure you that every moment spent tackling past questions that didn't go so well, making your responses genuinely better, is effort well-invested. Every minute dedicated to that topic you find so very challenging - revisiting the facts, deepening your understanding, answering yet another practice question - is guaranteed self-improvement of the best kind, that is so very worthwhile.
Look out, this week, for Year 11 and Year 13 countdown calendars, which will set out all the lessons and exams that are scheduled from 16 May onwards. Think about shuffling round your own personal revision schedule once you've received this, so that you allow yourself to prioritise your earliest exams and your most challenging subjects. Don't forget to plan to have breaks - and some fun! - in between sessions, too.
What you tell yourself is so important, so stay positive, re-frame the "I can'ts" with "I can't yet" and seek the support that you need from home, school, friends...
You've already got an idea of how results day will feel in August, having experienced a mock-version earlier this year, so focus on that celebratory high-point and let's go; the next few weeks are key, but you’ve got this!
