Different people's minds work in different ways, and a good revision strategy for one person might not be the best for another. I used a strategy similar to the following for the last two exams that I took, in 2002 and 2003.
Planning
- Find out the date of the examination. How many weeks are there before the exam?
- Find out exactly which topics you are going to be examined on. You may find it useful to look at the Subject Specification from the examination board. These can be downloaded from the examination board website.
- Decide which topics you are going to revise. You may not have time to revise them all, or you may feel that you know a topic well and do not need to revise it. Conversely, you may feel that you'll never be able to grasp a particular topic. It happens, but don't do this with more than one topic.
- Now, with the help of a calendar, make a revision plan. Decide when you are going to revise each topic. Start with topics you find easiest and aim to finish revision about a week before the exam.
- Stick to the revision plan.
Revision Sessions
There are many different techniques for revising.You might like to experiment with a few to find out which of these work best for you.
- Rather than just reading through notes, it can be useful to highlight key points as you read.
- Try to summarise a topic in a short as space as possible, such as a side of A4 paper. Record cards can also be useful for this: they are also portable.
- Rather than producing a summary after reading through notes, start by writing down all the key points you remember about a topic and then checking these by referring to your notes.
- Many good revision guides are available. However, I think it is better to produce your own summary rather than to rely on someone else's.
- Some students find mind maps (also known as spider diagrams) useful. I don't.
- Looking at questions from past papers can be useful. However, unless time is short, do not rely exclusively on this.
Most students will probably use a combination of these techniques. Varying revision activities is likely to make the sessions less tedious. However, I did teach a physics student who revised for A' level by copying his notes, word for word. I don't recommend that technique, but it worked for him: he obtained a grade A.
The Evening Before The Examination
Go to the Cinema! Few students take this advice, but I don't think that there is much that can be done at the last minute, particularly if you have revised thoroughly during the preceding weeks.
Good Luck!