How do you revise?

Former Member

As a wonderfully ironic way to avoid revision, I am making this thread.

What techniques do you use when you are revising? I've never been told how to revise, just that I have to do it. And seeing as the exams are drawing ever closer for us all, now is probably the best time to share tips.

I'm having a go at drawing up a few mind maps, making some flash cards to test myself on studies and theories, sticking post-it notes with key terms all over the place, and practising exam questions. All good fun. :thumb:

So what works best for you?

Former Member

Write a plan of what I need to do before the day is over.
Cross out whenever I move on to a new subject.

Makes me feel accomplished, and it all becomes a bit more bearable.

And yes, I am also avoiding to work, by replying here.

Former Member

i tried the making a plan thing, gave the work a bit more structure and stuff. unfortunatly i spent more time making a pretty and useful plan rather than doing the work. usually i just compile my notes together for revision, read through them and make notes on the important its or stuff i dont understand. then its a case of just keep on going over it. some subjects are different to revise for though. learning case studies for psychology is different to maths.

Former Member

badly.

Former Member

depends what you're doing
for history, sociology etc where you have to remember facts and argue them, condensing notes works very well
for maths, biology, chemistry, i think the ONLY way is just to practise, practise, practise on mock papers, past papers, practise papers.... anything to just prepare you

Former Member

I make a revision time table which i generally keep to. I do an hours stint in 3 20 minute sections. I generally just take notes from text books or condense my own notes. It must have worked, i got almost straight A's in my january retakes ^^

Former Member

Well, for my uni exams I'm just preparing three topics that I know (with the exception of monday's exam), writing key phrases/arguments/points down on paper, collating the paper and learning that. Also been doing highlighting and mind-maps (which are a bit long-winded for my liking, and you can't get as much specific info down on it). It's a hard slog, but anything that works for you is a good 'un.

Former Member

break each topic up into sections, write short bullet points on sections, basically just sit and memorize them. of course its dfferent for other subjects but thats what i do geneally

Former Member

um, i don't.

i find revision just confuses me. if i don't know it after i've sat through the lessons on it, i'm never going to know it.


not that i recommend this to others.

Former Member

I was crap at revision till I got to university - I just used to read through all my notes that I had made over the year and look at books and stuff.

However I now realise this isn't the way to go about it. Firstly what I do is read through my notes from the year and make notes on each subject and then look up any extra stuff I need to know and make notes on that .

Then order all my notes into some kind of sense

Then make bullet points from these (If there is time).

However I have also found that the most useful thing you can do is sleep with all your books in your bed and hope that the knowledge seeps in whilst your asleep - I slept with my A-level geography book in my bed for the whole of my A level exams and got and A.

Oh and revising in bed is good as well because it means you cant get up and get destracted by anything.

Former Member

About two days before the exam I take text books and *all* my notes, as well as any other relevant handouts etc. and just go through and make notes on them all (it takes from like 9.30-7pm each day). And then if there is anything that hasn't sunk it, I make notes on those bits of my notes.

Last time I did it I made 70 sides of notes in the two days. This method wouldn't work for most people I don't think, but it works really well for me.

Former Member

I condense all the important facts on each topic into revision notes for myself. The writing down of everything in the first place helps me remember it all, then I just go through it all loads, trying to come up with memory aids to help me. Seems to be working this year for the first time ever...never before have I com out of an exam and thought, wow I actually knew everything on every topic on that exam .

Former Member

Oh and revising in bed is good as well because it means you cant get up and get destracted by anything.

Revising in bed is an awful idea as you tend to fall asleep, and there is no distinction between working and relaxing, which bed is supposed to be! Depending on whether you're left or right-brained (which side of your brain you use more) affects how you learn and absorb information. I'm definitely an Intrapersonal and Linguistic learner, so unfortunately have to write sheafs of notes to remember anything. I find mind-maps messy and difficult to revise from, as I don't like diagrams. The best thing about doing a language is that there's less revision and more a skill; i just have to go over particular arguments/themes for various topics

Former Member

i have to be doing stuff, past papers etc or those wacky revision websites.

i think for history and english though im going to make posters with all the linking idea on.

Former Member

Hardest subject to study for? I used to do AS chemistry and I guess it's not the best choice for those of us who are numerically illiterate. :rolleyes:
English is waaayy hard to revise for too.. literary terms like "iambic pentamenter" and "creative methods" just fuzzle my brain

Former Member

i write stuff out and then read it over and over...:(

i don't mind revision if i like what i'm revising, but if i don't like it then it's pointless.