how to get your head around revision
By Finley Pamment, William Halley and Jayden Bacon.
With the exams coming up, and so many subjects to revise, it can be hard to know where to start. Here are our top tips to help you get off the mark.
Revision timetables
It is always a good idea to make a revision timetable to plan out your revision. You should revise roughly 2-3 times a week per subject with each revision session lasting half an hour. It is always important to include breaks and snacks to break up your time as long periods can sometimes get too much. It would also be nice to have a day where you do no revision at all to have break and spend some time with your family.
What to revise?
Now on to revising itself. You should start off by thinking about what topics are involved in the subject and write a subtitle for each of them on a piece of paper. You should than write as much as you can remember about that topic. This should help establish the topics that you are good at and the ones which may need more of your attention.
A must for revision in all subjects is to frequently revise your core knowledge, as core knowledge questions will always pop up on tests.
What can I use to revise?
Quizlet is a great source of tests to check your understanding. A-Star learning for Maths and AHS English and Chemistry websites have videos, information and quizzes too. In the library at school there is a whole section of revision books - most are CGP which have great questions and explanations along with illustrations to mix things up at bit and keep them interesting.
Any of your teachers or form tutors will be happy to help you find things to revise from, so definitely ask them if you aren't sure where to begin.
Worried about exams?
On to the actual exam. It is always a good idea to revise well the night before a test as you will store that information and it’ll be fresh in your mind.
TOP TIP: If you come across a question in your exam and you are unsure on it, put a star next to it as one of the other questions may provide an answer.
Here is an example of this situation:
Which of these methods is used to separate salt from water:
How do you use boiling to separate the salt?
We hope this was useful. The word revision comes from the prefix 're' meaning again, and the root 'vision' meaning sight, so it literally means to see something again. Revision is just looking over what you have already learnt and seen - so let's begin!
Revision timetables
It is always a good idea to make a revision timetable to plan out your revision. You should revise roughly 2-3 times a week per subject with each revision session lasting half an hour. It is always important to include breaks and snacks to break up your time as long periods can sometimes get too much. It would also be nice to have a day where you do no revision at all to have break and spend some time with your family.
What to revise?
Now on to revising itself. You should start off by thinking about what topics are involved in the subject and write a subtitle for each of them on a piece of paper. You should than write as much as you can remember about that topic. This should help establish the topics that you are good at and the ones which may need more of your attention.
A must for revision in all subjects is to frequently revise your core knowledge, as core knowledge questions will always pop up on tests.
What can I use to revise?
Quizlet is a great source of tests to check your understanding. A-Star learning for Maths and AHS English and Chemistry websites have videos, information and quizzes too. In the library at school there is a whole section of revision books - most are CGP which have great questions and explanations along with illustrations to mix things up at bit and keep them interesting.
Any of your teachers or form tutors will be happy to help you find things to revise from, so definitely ask them if you aren't sure where to begin.
Worried about exams?
On to the actual exam. It is always a good idea to revise well the night before a test as you will store that information and it’ll be fresh in your mind.
TOP TIP: If you come across a question in your exam and you are unsure on it, put a star next to it as one of the other questions may provide an answer.
Here is an example of this situation:
Which of these methods is used to separate salt from water:
- Boiling it
- Filtering it
- Freezing it
How do you use boiling to separate the salt?
- Bunsen burner
- In a pan on the hob
We hope this was useful. The word revision comes from the prefix 're' meaning again, and the root 'vision' meaning sight, so it literally means to see something again. Revision is just looking over what you have already learnt and seen - so let's begin!
