Exam Essays

So I've never written an essay from scratch, I have also never actually done a history exam since I have never done history before.

I therefore ask, has anyone got any personal advice that they would like to share on how to do well on exam essays and how to revise efficiently for them? (its clear that memorising a bunch of facts wont work)

Reply 1

*River

15

Mind maps, mind maps, and more mind maps have helped me revise (mind you, I'm only a first year and haven't actually got to the end of my epic exam period yet). I find it helps me to make connections between different ideas and topics, which is really useful in exams.

In the exam itself, spend a decent amount of time planning (mind maps!) and you'll probably find that your resulting essay is much more coherent and well put together than it would be if you just wrote straight out of your head.

Reply 2

gooner1991

1

I agree with *River do loads of mind maps. Also, if you can get hold of any past papers then do those under timed conditions :smile:

Reply 3

footy99

1

Yeah as has been said above, planning out goes a long way. It gives you a chance to put all that you can remember down and then from there you can write your essay. It's not that hard really.

Reply 4

Jsuper

depends what works for you.

personally I could never be bothered with mind maps and (at A-level) just spent a few days answering past paper questions. I found that largely questions were pretty similar and that bar an extremely harsh paper you would go into the exam having already answered the question at some point.

Reply 5

Piggsil

16

GarageMc

So I've never written an essay from scratch, I have also never actually done a history exam since I have never done history before.

I therefore ask, has anyone got any personal advice that they would like to share on how to do well on exam essays and how to revise efficiently for them? (its clear that memorising a bunch of facts wont work)