Some tips on how to revise

This information will help anyone who is revising for an upcoming test or exam.

• Give yourself enough time to revise and pace yourself.  
  
• If there is a lot to revise, plan a revision timetable and stick to it. 
  
• Remember that you can only concentrate usefully for about 30 minutes at a time.
  
• Set yourself achievable targets. Don't be too ambitious - failing to meet targets can cause morale to suffer.
  
• Create variety for yourself in your revision - monotony will not make for fruitful learning.
  
• Try brainstorming what you can remember on a topic before you then go through it.
  
• Work through the material topic by topic, using textbook and notes together so they reinforce each other.
  
• Make it active. Have paper in front of you and write on it; don't just stare at your notes. Put case study material onto revision cards.
  
• Arrange important points as lists, tables, spider diagrams, mnemonics etc.
  
• Stick pieces of paper with important information / diagrams on your bedroom wall so that you see them regularly.
  
• Go back through old tests and consider how you could improve your performance. Redo difficult questions as model answers.
  
• Having finished a topic, leave it for a few hours, then come back and see how much you can write down about it on a blank piece of paper.

Test and Exam Technique

• Above all, you must answer the question: don't try to explain when the question asks for description. Click here for a list of common command words.
  
• Pace yourself in the exam and divide your time according to the number of marks available.
  
• Write answers that are proportional to the marks available: questions worth 4 marks will usually require about twice as much time and thought as a question worth 2 marks.