Revision

Revision is an essential part for doing well in your education, though many people aren’t sure about the best way to go about it.

First of all you need to know your learning style. People learn in different ways, methods that one person may find effective may not help another, and some people find a combination of different methods help them to learn best. The three main methods of learning are:

• Through sight; some people are able to take in things best when they read them or see them draw in a diagram.
• Through sound; hearing facts read out or even reading them out themselves is the best method for some people.
• Activity; making posters or even acting out situations (such as the flow of electricity through a circuit) really make ideas stick in some peoples head.

If you learn best through sight, your best bet is probably to rewrite out your notes, and read books for clarification on parts you don’t fully understand. For hearing, record yourself reading your notes out, and play them back to yourself, or just keep repeating your notes aloud. If you have an active mind, make posters or spider diagrams.

The point of revision is to condense all you have learnt into, manageable chunks that are easy to remember. Try to condense your notes into a side of A4 bullet points, or a single spider diagram. Many people find cue cards helpful: small pieces of card, with a question on one side and the answers on another, then get someone to test you.

Find the best environment that suits you for your revision. Some people like total silence to learn in, then maybe in this situation a library would be ideal. Others like background noise, so possibly try having music on in the background, just make sure its nothing that will distract you!

If you find it hard to motivate yourself to do revision, make it more fun. Arrange a night to get together with all your friends, this will ease the boredom factor of it all, but be sure to actually get some revision done! It also useful to revise with other people, as they may know things you don’t and similarly you may know things they don’t. This way you can both help each other out, and better each others understanding of the subject.

You need to remember to not over-do it! Your brain can only concentrate fully for 20-30 minutes at a time. Try organising your revision into one hour slots, work for 25 minutes, take a 10 minutes break (maybe to have a snack or get a drink, but make sure to get up and move a little) and then do another 25 minutes.

And last of all, don’t panic. stressing about exams won’t help you, and makes it harder for you to concentrate. If you’re struggling with something, take a break, do something fun and relaxing, then go back to it. If it still doesn’t make much sense, ask a teacher or friend to go over it with you, there’s always help around!