Revision Techniques

Revising for exams is probably the single most important thing that you will do at school. From the outset let us agree that luck can play a major part in how well you do. But the purpose of revision is to increase your chances of being lucky, and critically reduce you chances of being unlucky. For sure there will be students who will sacrifice very little during the year and end up doing well in their exams. But over a number of courses and through a period of time luck has very little impact. Indeed you may even see some very able students do quite badly due to nerves, pressure and bad luck.

Though ability is important, exam technique is the key factor - how you perform on the day with the resources at your disposal.

PassMyExams suggests the following to optimise exam technique and marks.

BEFORE EXAMS and DURING THE ACADEMIC YEAR- focus and objectives

Ensure that from the moment you start your course you have at hand a full set of past examination papers and a copy of the syllabus. This should be your focus and method of keeping track of general (mental) progress.

Focus on the exams as you go to your lectures/classes make a note of how you are doing with the content. Do you find it interesting, could you cope with this in the exam. This is important in helping you choose the topics that you will spend time revising. Cross Reference your exam papers. At the start of the year the question will mean nothing but as you do each topic see if you can tell what topic the exam question relates. Also by attempting questions early on in the year gives the opportunity to bring up problems and questions during lectures.

Be aware of syllabus changes. Ask your teachers whether there are any new topics. New topics have to be tested at some point. Be careful between an actual syllabus change and a change in focus from the examining board.

Similarly ask how people did in the exams. If generally students do badly in a particular part of the course then examiners infer that these topics have not been taught properly. So understand the mind set of examiners and they will want to ensure the same is not the case next year Be prepared to sacrifice time - it does pay.

For GCSE students to go on to do A-levels of their choice they will require grade C or above. Final year A-level students need to meet the conditional requirements set out by the university of their choice. Also remember that the job market is very competitive and blue chip employers go as far back as your GCSE results during recruitment. Remember even in Year one of A-Levels that your entry in university will be via your expected grades. Your expected grades are primarily determined by your mock exam results these are usually based on exam questions from the previous years on topics that you have covered.

DURING REVISION PERIOD

Pick your topics. Attain a copy of the syllabus from your teachers or by ordering it from the examining board. The syllabus will give you a breakdown of all the topics and the requirements the examination board is looking for.

Make sure to have done as many question as possible. YouÕll be surprised that examiners do repeat question and many questions are in fact the same that simply require a different conclusion.

Sit through examination conditions. By doing this you will be able to see how much you can recall without your books and how good your answers are. You will also get into the habit of pacing yourself and learning to provide concise answers.

Prioritise your time. In particular do not neglect the easy subjects. If you have sorted Chemistry and Math seems a bit suspect then concentrate on Maths. You can classify chemistry as exam mode when you comfortably answer exam questions and learn bits and bobs to refresh your mind remember one grade A is no good if the others are grade D.