No idea how you’ll get all your revision done?

What to revise

There’s really no magic formula – just think logically about what you need to do and when you need to do it by. Here’s some tips to help make sure you make your revision as effective as possible.

You’ve blocked out your diary for weeks to come, you know exactly when you’re going to revise.

But what are you going to revise? It can be kind of scary – a whole term, even a whole year’s worth of information – that’s a whole lot of stuff to get into your brain.

What you need to know to pass the exam

Where and when you’re going to do your revision

What you’re going to do to stop yourself from going revision crazy

We’ve all done it – sat down to start revising, then spent hours and hours making a really complicated revision timetable – without actually doing any revision. It’s important not to over-plan your revision, but it is a good idea to figure some things out first:

But it’s not too hard to work out what should go into your revision schedule.

Revisit your course handbook. Whatever you might think, exams aren’t designed to trip you up or trick you – they’re there to test how much you’ve learned. And your course has been designed to make sure you learn as much as possible. Most likely, your lectures and tutorials will correspond to the course objectives. So you could try using the lecture timetable as a rough series of headings for your revision.

Look at past papers. You should find that the same kinds of questions come up again and again. Spend a while trying to group questions together – at the end you should have six or seven broad areas – that’s a good place to start, too.

Talk to your tutor.

If you’re still not sure, or you want to validate the ideas you’ve thought of by looking at the course handbook and past papers, book some discussion time. Talk through the revision areas you’ve identified, and make sure you haven’t left anything out.

How to reviseWhat’s the best way to revise?

Mix it up. Plan to work in short bursts, do something else afterwards, then come back to it.

Recently, educational psychologists have found that primary school children retain information best if they have a short lesson, followed by some physical exercise, followed by a revision session. It’s a simple formula. Learn something, do something else, come back and test yourself. Ideally, the something else should be a walk around the block or a kick about in the park – not a few pints down your local.

If you plan your revision well, you should be able to schedule lots of shorter sessions, broken up by things you enjoy doing.

Get out of the house – maybe plan to revise at home in the morning, then get some fresh air, spend a while in the library, see a film, head to a coffee shop to do a bit more revision later in the day, then catch up with friends in the evening.

That way you won’t put your normal life on hold while you’re revising, and you’ll still get plenty of learning done.

Get some

fresh air

Where to reviseEverywhere! Stick post-it notes on your fridge, list some key points on a bit of paper and blu-tack them to the wall next to the toilet.

Write some Q&As on index cards and keep them in your bag. If it’s a nice day jot down some notes and head out to the park.

KeyPoints

Revising in different places and in different ways will also focus your mind.

Don’t just try and cram everything into your head in one horrible chunk – break it up into specific sections, and have a goal in mind.

There’s nothing worse than sitting up until three in the morning and then going to bed feeling as though you still haven’t got anywhere – so don’t do it! Set yourself small, achievable tasks, plan when and where you’re going to do them then reward yourself when you’ve done them.

Start early, plan and don’t drive yourself crazy

OK, OK, so student life is sometimes about putting off the important stuff so you can do things you like.

Everyone does it sometimes. But you know what? You can have a good time and still get your revision done – you just need to plan and to prioritise. There’s a gig you want to go to next week? No problem – just decide how much revision you want to get done before that, schedule it in and do it – a night out seeing your favourite band can be your reward. Or your mates have decided to go to the cinema tonight – but you’ve got revision planned. It’s no big deal – you can miss a couple of sessions, as long as you’re more or less keeping to your timetable. Just don’t forget to reschedule it another time.

But remember – start revising when there’s plenty of time to spare – that way you can be flexible with your revision timetable and still get all of your revision topics covered. And more importantly, you won’t have to stay awake for two nights running before your exam frantically drinking coffee and trying to fit in all the revision you should have done.

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