How to start revising
Starting to revise can be a right pain, there’s no doubt about that. So here’s some handy tips to get you started on this rather large task of yours.
Start earlier, take it easier
Although you can’t exactly say how much work you do have to do, spreading it out will help a lot. This works when it comes to days/weeks spent revising, and the time of day you revise.
The more you spread out the revision you have to do over a month, the less you’ll have to do on each revision day. By setting yourself less work to do, you can do it quicker, while paying better attention, and avoid pre-exam cramming sessions which can happen (and ruin grades).
Taking it easier is a good thing. Working hard and then taking it easy should come hand in hand. Bit by bit, revise and then break, revise and then break. Simple, easy and much better than just working for ages on end.
March is the best month to start in
Well, I’d say so, anyway. No one can tell you absolutely when the best date to start your revision is, because the amount of revising we need to do can vary a lot.
So you should have a good think about what you need to do, draw up a decent timetable of revision (see below) and try to estimate how long it will take you.
March, however, gives you March, April and perhaps even May to revise a lot of subjects, and it’s not far away from the exams (so you won’t forget so easily).
Get yourself organised
Have everything ready for you to work with. Internet, revision books, textbooks, your qualification specifications, your pens, paper and calculators. If it’s within arm’s length of where you study, you’ll find you can get a lot more done, because you’ll cut out any interruptions.
Make a clear, clever revision plan
Don’t ever go into revision without one. Revision plans are excellent, because they allow you to time out when you need to revise what.
They take a bit of time to make, but once it’s done you’ll have an excellent reference to guide you though revision. You can also relax knowing you’re going to cover everything this way.
- Each specification you’re studying is split into smaller topics (e.g. Physics has the Waves topic).
- Draw up a list of these topics
- Draw into your diary or calendar what day you are going to revise each one on.
You could use the free printable revision calendar provided by Buster Studies.
Simple. But you need to think carefully and realistically about this. How long will it take to revise? Can you do two or three topics in a day (I wouldn’t, especially if you have one day per topics for all of your GCSEs or A-Levels)? Will a topic take two days of after school revision? These dates can be rough, but they should give you a good idea about how long the process will take.
Aim to complete all topics about two before your exams start – plenty of room to take your own mock exams and tests and find out what you need to work on. Then you can do targeted, specialised revision on your weaknesses.
Be realistic and give yourself room to lag behind – you’re starting early remember, so it’s okay to miss a few of these items.
Get going! You’ll be delighted you did!
After a successful exam, you’ll often look back on your revision and be very thankful you did it so well.
Revision isn’t always the key to acing an exam, but it can be a very big part of the experience, and generally help you immensely.
You and you alone are the only one who benefits from revision, so if you should put effort, planning and care into any part of your learning experience, this is it.