Study Skills: Revision & Exams

Preparing for your exams can be daunting, you have learned lots of information and it can be difficult to see how you will remember it all. Exam preparation is about three things: Planning, Knowledge and Performance. Focussing on these three aspects will help you to reach your full potential.

Planning

• Before your exams, make a revision timetable. It should be realistic with plenty of down time.

• When you finish revising a topic, make a  summary page of the subject with the key points that you need to remember.

• Make sure you understand the format of your exams. Are they essays, problem-based questions, or multiple choice?

• Keep a collection of all the relevant textbooks, revision guides, past papers and anything else that you need to do well in the exam.

Knowledge

• Start with and spend more time on the subjects that you find the most difficult.

• There are lots of different ways to revise – experiment!

• Try to understand your most effective revision habits. Do you work better in quiet or busy surroundings? Alone or in a group?

•  It is impossible to concentrate for long periods of time, particularly if you are stressed or tired. Allow yourself regular breaks.

Performance

• Make sure you know all the important details in advance of your exam so that you arrive in plenty of time.

• If you have a choice of questions, select the subjects that will best enable you to demonstrate your knowledge to the examiner.

• Allow some time at the end to read through your paper – make sure that your answer is written, that you have avoided making silly mistakes and that you haven’t missed any pages/questions by accident.

After the exam

• Do take time to relax before you start revising again.

• Have a quick look at your revision plan. Do you need to adjust it?

• Stay positive! There is no point dwelling on an exam that didn’t go to plan so stay focused on the next exam and think about how you might improve your technique.

• Try not to stress about results day – there are always options if you don’t do as well as you hoped.