REVISION TIPS, FROM GCSE TO UNIVERSITY STUDENTS.

Friday 29 January 2016

I’m sure some of you are familiar with the TimeHop app, sometimes it’s nice to reminisce on the past and other times it brings up stuff you’d rather forget – but one thing that I came across this morning was that 3 years ago today I was sitting my Geography Pre-release exam. I must say I surprised myself during my AS year when I got 3A’s (and a D for Biology but let’s not talk about that) because I actually stuck to a revision plan, but then I got lazy during A2 and ended up with 3B’s in Geography, Psychology and Spanish. 

It’s been ages since I’ve picked up a highlighter and coloured pens to make revision notes, but having a sister currently doing her A-Levels, I thought this would be a useful post to get you guys motivated and ready for your exams come Spring! 













1. Make a timetable 
This is probably the first thing you should plan out - what you're going to study and when! You don't even have to get a pen and paper out as there are plenty of apps and websites online that do it for you! 

2. Have a folder and notebook for each subject
I loved buying school supplies.... so I kept everything pretty organised. Keep your notes in order and categorised in topics so it makes it easy to revise in sections. 

3. Start in advance 
Basically don't leave it until the night before, unless you're stupid like me and end up pulling an all nighter the night before a psychology exam with the help of pro plus (I was doing roley poley's over my sofa at 5am).

4. Dedicated a day to a particular subject or two 
Don't try and cram all your subjects into one day, you'll forget everything. Instead dedicate a few days to two subjects and then switch it up.

5. Make a study group
It's not as lame as it sounds, even if it's just you and one of your classmates - quizzing each other and explaining things to other people makes it stay in your mind. 

6. Work out if you’re a visual or acoustic learner
If you're visual, try using more labeled diagrams and pictures to explain things, or try imaging something the thing looks like. If you're an acoustic learner, try turning something into a rhyme (or rap if you're that talented)

7. Prepare all your notes on whatever format you want
Coloured paper, colour coded, note cards - writing something out instead of typing it will make you infiltrate the information more.

8. Set yourself targets and rewards
If you manage to read all of chapters 1 and 2 by 6pm - go to the cinema with your friends etc.

9. Come up with associations 
I did this a lot and it's quite useful, if you don't think you're going to remember a researchers name i.e. Bob Rose try and link it to something that's familiar to you - your uncles name might be bob and rose might be your favourite flower. 

Week before your exams


1. Download every past paper 
I cheated and looked at the marking scheme for most – but it works either way. See which questions come up often and highlight these and also the sections that haven't been covered for a while. For biology you can guarantee you'll be answering a question on something being "biased"


2. Read your notes before bed
Read your notes instead of cosmopolitan magazine, you'll be surprised how much information you'll be reciting in your sleep. 

3. Re-write your notes in summary
This can be time consuming but worth it (if you have time). If you're studying the formation of waterfalls re-write the steps but using trigger words instead that you can jot down in the exam and then write out the whole thing effortlessly. 

3. Get good sleep 
Admittedly, this probably won't happen, but try. 

Day of your exams

1. Be on time
Make sure you’re not in a rush to get to the exam room as this will only stress you out more.

2. Have a good breakfast 
Maybe even read over a couple of notes to refresh your memory whilst you sip your cup of tea.

3. DON’t sit with the nervous wrecks 
Or with people who are testing each other last minute – you’ll panic when you think you don’t know something but it will come to you when the paper is in front of you (hopefully).

4.Fill everything out, and keep going
Your teacher would have probably told you this 100 times, but don’t leave anything blank, or spend too much time stuck on a question. The strangest thing could earn you a mark and make the difference between a pass and a fail. 

Finally....good luck! 

G ♡

♡ @GIANAMARIEX ♡

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