Get organised and make the most of your study time
Exam revision giving you a headache? There are lots of apps, tools and websites that can help make things easier (including this very website, of course!), but searching through them all can be nearly as much effort as actually revising.
That's what this online revision guide is for. We asked members of The Student Room to tell us about their favourite revision resoures; here are their recommendations.
Revision timetables
This has got to be job #1 for anyone starting exam revision. You already know that your exam prep is going to suck up a bunch of your time, but a decent study plan can help you use that time efficiently and make time for the rest of your life too.
It's pretty good for motivation, too, as it's easy to track how you're progressing.
“Make a weekly planner, perhaps on a Sunday evening or Monday morning," says The Student Room member Tsrsuperstar. "You can incorporate your school timetable and other commitments, while factoring in however many hours of study you desire."
Read more: how to make a revision timetable you’ll actually stick to
Where can you build a free revision timetable online?
Lots of people like to get arty with their revision planner and get it down with pens and paper. But there are tons of online options as well, and these can be quicker and easier to set up.
- adapt
The Student Room member pen_to_paper recommends this A-level and GCSE revision timetable builder app. "Once you find out your exam boards for each subject, use an app called adapt. You can enter all your boards and it has a list of all the topics covered and it makes you a revision timetable tool.” - GoConqr
Although mainly a study help app, GoConqr also has a planner page, which kurtcraft says they have been recommended. “It does give you the total time you’ve planned out for each subject you’ve put in, which might be useful,” they add. - Google Calendar
“I recently started using Google Calendar for my revision timetable," says kurtcraft. "It allows you to create an event (say an hour of Spanish revision) and then have it repeat every day/every three days/any other duration at the same time, which has been useful for me,” Download Google Calendar on Google Play here, or on the App Store here.
Revision notes
Making notes is a core part of most students' revision. Collecting all your resources together and then creating the notes helps you know your stuff, as you're going through each topic again.
And then you've got a whole heap of notes that you can use to review information and look for gaps in your knowledge.
“When making revision notes I always write a few bullet points over the main point,” says sanaindaclub. "I then write more on the things I know I forget. If possible, I draw small diagrams. Three of my textbook pages end up as a single sheet of revision notes."
Read more: how to study effectively for your exams
Where can you find free online revision notes?
Making your revision notes online means you won’t lose them and it’s easy to add colours and highlighting to make them more memorable. Canva is pretty good for this, or you could try a more traditional approach with something like Google Docs.
You can also find libraries of revision notes made by other students for your particular exam board and subject online. Here are a few recommended by members of The Student Room.
- BBC Bitesize
GCSE students can find revision notes for their subjects and exam boards as well as quizzes to help test your knowledge. “BBC Bitesize is super helpful,” says pen_to_paper. - Seneca
“I would recommend the website Seneca for revision, this helped me achieve two A*s,” says Semiha(t) "The repetition makes everything just seep into your brain more.” The Student Room member mxqi also likes this one. “It’s the best website that helps to teach you knowledge, recall the knowledge and also tests your knowledge too. It’s free to use and makes learning so fun and interactive." - Save My Exams
“They have revision notes for most boards along with exam questions per topic and past papers,” says pen_to_paper.
Mindmaps
Especially recommended for visual learners, mindmaps are diagrams with a central starting point that you add branches to – you can add more branches to take them as far as you like.
They can show you the connections between different elements of a topic, providing a big picture without losing sight of the detail.
“I normally make a mindmap by drawing a cloud/bubble in the middle of the page, write the main idea here, then draw singular branches off it and then add smaller branches,” says Essie4Real.
Where can you build free mindmaps online?
Here are a handful of the mindmap builders out there that have been recommended by The Student Room members.
- MindMup
Hillmanator recommends using MindMup “to create a detailed mindmap showing your key points”. - GoConqr
“Really good for mindmapping and colour-coding and it’s very visually pleasing,” says Sheffield Hallam student Harry. - Canva
This one is also recommended by Harry, who says it is good for creating “smaller mindmaps with visuals and icons”.
Flashcards and revision cards
Flashcards are small, double-sided pieces of card with a question on the front and its answer on the back. You can use them to test yourself by reading the question and checking you know what the answer is before you read the reverse side.
Revision cards are often larger than flashcards, so they can contain more detailed information and key points can be emphasised with colour or highlighting.
“They really help as they break the information up a bit," says furryfce12.
Read more: can you predict exam questions?
Where can you build flashcards and revision cards online for free?
Here are a few of the websites and apps that The Student Room members have been using to build their flashcards and revision cards.
- Anki
This flashcard-building tool is very popular with The Student Room members. “Anki is great for spaced repetition,” says Tigergirl. "It gives you certain cards every day that you should practice so that the information becomes long-term memory." - Cram
“I make my own flashcards for revision on cram.com,” comments Jasmine528. As well as creating your own flashcards, you can search Cram’s library of flashcards created by other users across a range of topics. - Quizlet
Quizlet’s flashcard offering is “more flexible,” than some others, says Tigergirl.
Quizzes
Quizzes are an incredibly effective method of learning because they can help you see exactly where the gaps in your knowledge lie.
Once you’ve figured out what you need to learn, you can make sure your revision focuses on those areas.
“Once you have revised something, give yourself a mini quiz to refresh your brain,” says Brimstone. "Do this at the end of the revision session, then at the end of the day and then at the beginning of the next day. This will push it into your long-term memory."
Where can you find and build free quizzes online?
Whether you want to build your own quizzes, take quizzes written by other people or a combination of the two, there are websites that can help you.
- Quizlet
Create your own quizzes and discover sets created by teachers and other students. “I swear by the Quizlet app, it helps me so much when revising,” says Bethzz07. - SaveMyExams
Recommended by The Student Room member og-icon, savemyexams has topic questions for students at GCSE and A-level across a wide range of subjects. - Get Revising
This easy-to-use website has tons of quizzes made by other students, or you can choose to create your own.
Past papers
Described by The Student Room member Gingerbread101 as “the holy grail of revision”, past papers are vital because they show you how a course is assessed and the types of questions that you can expect to be asked.
Testing yourself on past papers will also show you where you need to improve and how to perfect your exam technique.
“Past papers are generally a good way to revise all your subjects as you can work on exam technique while identifying weaknesses and strengths to direct your revision accordingly,” says TriplexA.
You can find recent A-level and GCSE past papers on the exam boards' websites. Here are the links to take you there:
