With that in mind, here are my top 10 revision tips for any age and any subject:
- Have a quiet, tidy place to study
- Leave your phone in another room - it is too distracting
- Work in 30-minute sections: Revise solidly for 15 minutes, take a 5-minute exercise break then test yourself on what you have just tried to learn. Take another short break then start the next topic.
- Make a schedule so you plan when you will revise each subject, remember to put each subject in several times.
- Try to get checklists or a syllabus from teachers which shows what you need to learn
- Use different sources - textbooks, websites to read, youtube, notes from books to find out information
- You need to process the information several times in different ways to help you remember it: Write notes, make flash cards from notes, make mind maps, record yourself reading it out, listen back and make new bullet points.
- Don't just do it once and think that is enough - you need to repeat the process several times over several days
- Answer questions. These could be from past end of unit tests, ones you have written for yourself or ones asked by a parent
- Reward yourself for sticking to your schedule but don't be harsh with yourself if you fall behind; amend it. The schedule is there to help you, not to punish you.
I hope you will find some of these useful as you prepare for exams. Good luck everyone!
Vicky Tompsett
Head of Year 8