Why Revise?
It has been proved that any form of revision helps students perform better at exam times.
People who fail to prepare for their exams are preparing to fail their exams.
Where should I revise?
Your revision area must be warm, quiet, (but not silent), comfortable, have lots of air – oxygen helps you stay awake and learn.
Music can help you to revise if it is relaxing e.g. about 60 – 80 beats per minute. This is similar to your resting heartbeat.
When should I revise?
Choose a time and try to stick to it.
Mornings are the best time to revise because your brain is well rested, uncluttered from a days activities and ready to go.
If you cannot revise in the morning, because you are at school, then the best time to work is early evening, after tea.
How long should I revise for?
Less than 10 minutes or over 1 hour of revision is of little value.
Aim for about 30 minutes at a time and then take a break and relax for 10 minutes before starting again.
Exercise before revision helps you to concentrate and remember the information better.
Break difficult topics down into smaller chunks to learn them.
When do I need to start revising?
This is simple – sooner rather than later!
As a general rule 2 – 3 months before the real exams you should have made a start. Make out a revision timetable.
1 month before the exams you should have shortened all your notes and be looking over them for the second or third time.
1 week before the exam you should be finishing learning the work
24 hours before the exam you should be reading over the short notes you have made on the main areas you are learning.
The night before your exam is NOT the time to start learning 2 years of notes.
Finally
People who say they don’t revise are either foolish or telling lies.
If they genuinely do not revise then they are foolish as they will not pass exams without revising.
If they tell you that they are not revising but actually are, then they are lying to you.
Either way you revise as it is the smart thing to do.
A copy of the study guide shown opposite is given to all Year 12 pupils in the College to help them prepare for success in their GCSE exams. Good luck to all taking exams at this time.
Work hard it will be worth it!
