A and A* students... Share your revision tips
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Make sure you thoroughly understand everything that is in the specification the exam board give. I just read but not everyone learns that way. Look at past papers and the mark schemes and then if you have to remember specific facts or whatever, then write them on revision cards and read through them on the night before your exam 
GOOD LUCK!After reading a lot, make sure to write some notes on what you've taken from what you've read - sometimes things are so clear in your head but when it comes to remembering them you can't.
Drink a lot and take care of yourself - will make you feel better. So will going out and taking breaks.
Maybe find a study partner, so you can help each other out on weaker points.
Hope this helps!
Drink a lot and take care of yourself - will make you feel better. So will going out and taking breaks.
Maybe find a study partner, so you can help each other out on weaker points.
Hope this helps!
People say don't cram on the night before - I've done it for every single Psychology module so far and got an A 
Find a technique that works for you. Just because it doesn't work for others, doesn't mean it won't for you - I rarely revise in the run up to Psychology exams, I just work hard in lessons and then sit there the night before and do a couple of hours of solid revision, reading over it, memorizing the terms and studies (it helps that I have a good memory for things like that
) and it's never seen me wrong before
Find a technique that works for you. Just because it doesn't work for others, doesn't mean it won't for you - I rarely revise in the run up to Psychology exams, I just work hard in lessons and then sit there the night before and do a couple of hours of solid revision, reading over it, memorizing the terms and studies (it helps that I have a good memory for things like that
) and it's never seen me wrong before I find personally just writing things down, like a chapter on something and getting the key points usually helps me, I kind of read something then paraphrase it on paper in my own words to help me remember it. I then after learning the chapter do either a past paper question on it or I make one up, because that allows me to develop exam technique as well as cementing ideas in a way that interests me. It helped me a lot in getting 3As and 1B this january, whereas at AS i was falling back a little.
People apparently say don't revise on the morning of the exam - I did this for my English Lit resit and got 114/120 UMS. I've done this for my Law Unit 2 resit and my Law Unit 3 exam and got an A in both. It helps me to go over the basic stuff I need to remember for the exam on the morning, so it might work for you.
This thread should seriously be a sticky.
Rewrite the text book. Got me 100 percent in all my history exams so far.... just saying
Why the neg? I'll show you all 4 if you want..
Why the neg? I'll show you all 4 if you want..
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by Vanny17
I worked very hard for my As level exams but came out with very bad grades. I read during every break/ lunch and sometimes 4 hours straight. I worked through EVERY past papers, made revision notes, cut out on social life and always read before every new chapter. My teachers and students said I had potential to get AAAB grades. How come I messed up? Please tell me what I did wrong. Share your revision tips as well! Please. My subjects are biology, chemistry, Religious Studies and sociology. Thanks.
I know you spent a lot of time studying but maybe you weren't revising efficiently. Did you feel anything was sinking in whilst you were studying? For a long time I was using the wrong revision technique by taking notes. I realised that summarising a paragraph into a series of questions worked better for me. Don't know if this helped
Perhaps you've not got the best revision plan for you? 4 hours is too long, by then you're revising on auto-pilot. You're seeing the words, but they're not sticking.
I'm lucky, I can get away with very little revision, (and I'm a Scottish higher A student). Make sure you understand in class, that above everything will help.
Everyone is a different type of learner, I'm fairly balanced, but some people learn best through speaking, others through movement or drawings. Try a variety, read the notes aloud, like you're preparing a speech. You for a walk while revising or revise, then go for a walk and try to remember everything you've just looked at, draw spider diagrams or pictures.
By far the best way to prove you've learned something, is to teach it to someone else. Find a friend, and take turns teaching each other parts of the course. If you can teach someone something, you clearly understand it in all its forms.
I'm lucky, I can get away with very little revision, (and I'm a Scottish higher A student). Make sure you understand in class, that above everything will help.
Everyone is a different type of learner, I'm fairly balanced, but some people learn best through speaking, others through movement or drawings. Try a variety, read the notes aloud, like you're preparing a speech. You for a walk while revising or revise, then go for a walk and try to remember everything you've just looked at, draw spider diagrams or pictures.
By far the best way to prove you've learned something, is to teach it to someone else. Find a friend, and take turns teaching each other parts of the course. If you can teach someone something, you clearly understand it in all its forms.
A few people have PM'ed me asking for revision advice so I'll post a copy of my reply here:
-Always keep up with work throughout term and don't get behind. Try and actively learn things, try and listen to the teacher and read the notes properly, that will lessen the amount of revision you have to do. It's also important to check your teacher has covered the whole syllabus for the exam.
- When it comes to actually revising, I think it's definitely worth starting at least 2 weeks before the exam. You need to completely cut off any distractions (facebook, phone, internet, tv, computer, whatever) and focus 100% on work for the weeks leading up to the exams. It really sucks for those weeks, but it means you do your best and then you have no regrets.
- For actual revision, you need to actively engage, reading isn't good enough most of the time. So write/ draw/ read/ memorise but make sure you're actually learning. You should also find your weak points and concentrate on getting really good at those.
- Plenty of past papers, self mark with mark schemes, learn the patterns in the mark schemes (especially for maths) and try to apply previous questions and experience to the newer papers (and your exam).
- Around revision and exams, it's important to do plenty of exercise and also eat healthily. It's also important to have proper lighting in the room you study in. Also, doing 10 hours straight doesn't work well. 5 lots of 1hour sessions with breaks in-between would be much more efficient.
- For the actual exams, you should aim to be as logical as possible and work at your normal pace. Try to imagine what the mark scheme may be before writing answers, don't get too stressed if things don't go well. Try to finish with time to spare and check over your work imaging you were an examiner.
-Always keep up with work throughout term and don't get behind. Try and actively learn things, try and listen to the teacher and read the notes properly, that will lessen the amount of revision you have to do. It's also important to check your teacher has covered the whole syllabus for the exam.
- When it comes to actually revising, I think it's definitely worth starting at least 2 weeks before the exam. You need to completely cut off any distractions (facebook, phone, internet, tv, computer, whatever) and focus 100% on work for the weeks leading up to the exams. It really sucks for those weeks, but it means you do your best and then you have no regrets.
- For actual revision, you need to actively engage, reading isn't good enough most of the time. So write/ draw/ read/ memorise but make sure you're actually learning. You should also find your weak points and concentrate on getting really good at those.
- Plenty of past papers, self mark with mark schemes, learn the patterns in the mark schemes (especially for maths) and try to apply previous questions and experience to the newer papers (and your exam).
- Around revision and exams, it's important to do plenty of exercise and also eat healthily. It's also important to have proper lighting in the room you study in. Also, doing 10 hours straight doesn't work well. 5 lots of 1hour sessions with breaks in-between would be much more efficient.
- For the actual exams, you should aim to be as logical as possible and work at your normal pace. Try to imagine what the mark scheme may be before writing answers, don't get too stressed if things don't go well. Try to finish with time to spare and check over your work imaging you were an examiner.
- Start early. I plan on starting revision for summer exams around now, because I'm resitting 3 maths exams. Fun times. But the earlier you start, the less you'll have to cram at the last minute. You can take longer going over each module and you've got more time to take breaks, so you won't lose concentration by doing 4 hours of work in a row. :-P
- For essay subjects, do past papers and get your teacher to mark them. You should be doing past papers for all your subjects, but things like maths are quite easy to mark yourself. Essay subjects like English are harder for you to mark, so ask your teacher if they can mark it. Most of them probably won't mind. And then you'll get a better idea of how well you're doing and what you need to work on.
- Draw diagrams, and stick them up in your room. For my Biology AS I had diagrams of the structures of sugars and proteins etc. and I also did pictures of enzymes and stuff, showing how coenzes and the different types of inhibitors worked. Make them bright and colourful and put them somewhere you'll see them every day, so they'll stick in your mind.
- Use revision guides, but don't just read them. Highlight them to death (my AS Biology revision guide looked like a highlighter factory had exploded), make notes, draw diagrams, and do all the questions in them. Make sure you actually take in all the information instead of just reading it.
- I made revision notes in tons of different colours. It wasn't exactly 'colour coded' because there wasn't a specific colour for a specific thing, I just changed colours whenever I felt like it. It made revision a bit less boring that writing pages and pages of black.
- I find it helps to do work at a desk or table. This may sound obvious to some people, but I quite often do work on my bed. I tend to concentrate more if I go downstairs and do it in the dining room (provided that the neighbours don't have their TV on really loud.
) Also, try and go somewhere here there aren't as many distractions. So no TV, computer or games consoles. And turn your phone off!
I can't think of anything else. If you're wondering, I got AAAC at AS, in Maths, Biology, English Language and Chemistry. I hated Chemistry and kinda gave up on it, so I did hardly any revision so I could focus on my other subjects. I'm hoping to get AAB this year (same subjects, without Chemistry. God I hated Chemistry.)
- For essay subjects, do past papers and get your teacher to mark them. You should be doing past papers for all your subjects, but things like maths are quite easy to mark yourself. Essay subjects like English are harder for you to mark, so ask your teacher if they can mark it. Most of them probably won't mind. And then you'll get a better idea of how well you're doing and what you need to work on.
- Draw diagrams, and stick them up in your room. For my Biology AS I had diagrams of the structures of sugars and proteins etc. and I also did pictures of enzymes and stuff, showing how coenzes and the different types of inhibitors worked. Make them bright and colourful and put them somewhere you'll see them every day, so they'll stick in your mind.
- Use revision guides, but don't just read them. Highlight them to death (my AS Biology revision guide looked like a highlighter factory had exploded), make notes, draw diagrams, and do all the questions in them. Make sure you actually take in all the information instead of just reading it.
- I made revision notes in tons of different colours. It wasn't exactly 'colour coded' because there wasn't a specific colour for a specific thing, I just changed colours whenever I felt like it. It made revision a bit less boring that writing pages and pages of black.
- I find it helps to do work at a desk or table. This may sound obvious to some people, but I quite often do work on my bed. I tend to concentrate more if I go downstairs and do it in the dining room (provided that the neighbours don't have their TV on really loud.
) Also, try and go somewhere here there aren't as many distractions. So no TV, computer or games consoles. And turn your phone off!I can't think of anything else. If you're wondering, I got AAAC at AS, in Maths, Biology, English Language and Chemistry. I hated Chemistry and kinda gave up on it, so I did hardly any revision so I could focus on my other subjects. I'm hoping to get AAB this year (same subjects, without Chemistry. God I hated Chemistry.)
Original post by LETSJaM
DO PAST PAPERS!
<3 x
<3 x
Agreed. It's the best way. However, I find that I've got quite a visual memory and tend to remember colours, or locations, or where stuff is on a page etc. So in terms of getting all that knowledge to stick, I make colouful mind-maps with everything I need to know and read it maybe once or twice a day. I keep doing this until I can recite all the info on the page. I then combine this with making essay plans for each topic that could come up. This way, you're consistently associating certain facts and statistics with each topic and when you're sat in the exam the key words in the question should provoke you to remember it. You've already prepared for a similar essay and because you've practised your timing and exam technique then all you have to do is write for however long they want you to and... done
Well i'm gonna start my A2 revision early April after i've passed my driving theory (hopefully 
)
For Philosophy and Religious Study there is a ridiculous amount of cross over, so i just revise them as one subject. Last year i pretty much just took word for word notes out of the text books, but i think the best way for me personally is to read a chapter then in a pukka pad or something do a mind map with all the key scholars/ideas/terminology - so when you come back and read it again the names should jog your memory
For English i'm doing love through the ages, so i'm just gonna memorise some dates by re-reading and re-reading (i.e 1600 jacobean, 1950s post modern) and for each time period memorise a quote from prose/poetry etc for wider reading. And then analysing literature is just practise!
Although i'm very much a crammer nearer the time even if i've revised for months, and so far i've managed to remember loads of stuff on exam day only to forget it a week later haha
)For Philosophy and Religious Study there is a ridiculous amount of cross over, so i just revise them as one subject. Last year i pretty much just took word for word notes out of the text books, but i think the best way for me personally is to read a chapter then in a pukka pad or something do a mind map with all the key scholars/ideas/terminology - so when you come back and read it again the names should jog your memory
For English i'm doing love through the ages, so i'm just gonna memorise some dates by re-reading and re-reading (i.e 1600 jacobean, 1950s post modern) and for each time period memorise a quote from prose/poetry etc for wider reading. And then analysing literature is just practise!
Although i'm very much a crammer nearer the time even if i've revised for months, and so far i've managed to remember loads of stuff on exam day only to forget it a week later haha
Original post by Vanny17
I worked very hard for my As level exams but came out with very bad grades. I read during every break/ lunch and sometimes 4 hours straight. I worked through EVERY past papers, made revision notes, cut out on social life and always read before every new chapter. My teachers and students said I had potential to get AAAB grades. How come I messed up? Please tell me what I did wrong. Share your revision tips as well! Please. My subjects are biology, chemistry, Religious Studies and sociology. Thanks.
Very good thread to open
A few tips that i use are teh following:
1) Make sure you have very good revision notes
2) Create some kind of example booklet that consists of all worked examples for different kinds of questions.
3) Plough through lots of past papers, but do not just stick to your exam board go further a field and try different kinds of exam boards.
4) The questions you do bad on go back through a worked example and try see where you have gone wrong and revise your mistakes.
5) Make sure you have a break!!!!!!!!! 4 or 5 hours a night is fine as long as you still have time for your self on weekends or during the week
Hope this helps
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