Make the Grade with our Revision Strategy
Exam revision can be a very stressful endeavour, lasting for what seems like weeks on end. Too much to do. Too little time to do it; you have to work smart, preserving your sanity while maximisig your learning ability.
We've put together a quick guide to help you make manage the journey a little better and of course make sure you preserve your mind and body as much as possible.
Research has shown that one of the most important factors in any revision strategy is the planning stage. Drawing up a revision timetable and more importantly sticking to it will help ensure you set time aside for each of the topics you need to revise for. Remember to give yourself a break though with 5 minutes of rest recommended for ervy 40 mins of focused revision.
It goes without saying that your mind needs both space and time to learn difficult revision material. Finding somewhere where there is little to distract the mind underpins any revision strategy. Libraries are a safe bet but try to stay away from those coffee shops!
Sitting around revising all day can have diminishing returns in terms of your ability to concentrate and learn. Any revision strategy should have planned physical activities at set points through the day to raise the heart rate, increasing oxygen flow to the brain and improving cognitive productivity.
Your mind is at its most active in the morning to early afternoon. This is the best time to study and therefore your revision timetable should factor in an early start. In the weeks coming up to the exams, aim for around 7 hours a day.
While stating the obvious, good note-taking is an art-form and often under-rated. A cycle of making and reducing notes down to fewer and fewer key points during each round of revision, using revision tools like spider diagrams, helps the brain organise material into more succinct packets of knowledge improving recall and understanding in an exam situation.
Test your knowledge and understanding of the material by attempting unseen past paper questions perhaps even under strict timings to ascertain how you perform under pressure. Testing could take place at the end of a particular cycle of revision for each topic.
Dont stick to the same revision plan day-in-day-out or you'll get bored. Vary the times spent revising each day and make sure you have regular breaks to help the mind relax and maintain cognitive ability.