Revising through the specification?

Hi.

I'm in year 11 now and am revising for my IGCSE's.

I was wondering whether you should revise for your exams through the specification.

e.g in my biology specification all it says to learn about the eye is:

1. Describe the structure of the eye as a receptor
2. Understand the function of the eye in focusing and responding to changed in light intensity

However, in my textbook there is a lot more about the eye!

I don't know whether I should revise from my textbook (where there is a lot), or the specification.

Can the exam board ask you questions of the specification?

Another example is my physics specification, all it says about the Electromagnetic spectrum is to recall the different parts of it such as radio waves and light waves.

Do I need to know more detail about radio waves? Such as long wave and short wave?

Thanks

Reply 1

master y

12

revise from the spec, and when finished read the txtbook. seemples.

Reply 2

chanelleisme

10

Original post by fisika

Hi.

I'm in year 11 now and am revising for my IGCSE's.

I was wondering whether you should revise for your exams through the specification.

e.g in my biology specification all it says to learn about the eye is:

1. Describe the structure of the eye as a receptor
2. Understand the function of the eye in focusing and responding to changed in light intensity

However, in my textbook there is a lot more about the eye!

I don't know whether I should revise from my textbook (where there is a lot), or the specification.

Can the exam board ask you questions of the specification?

Another example is my physics specification, all it says about the Electromagnetic spectrum is to recall the different parts of it such as radio waves and light waves.

Do I need to know more detail about radio waves? Such as long wave and short wave?

Thanks

I always prefer to base my revision on whats in the specification. they will never ask you a questions on topics that are not in the specification - so far this has been true for me

Reply 3

Pride

21

Original post by fisika

Hi.

I'm in year 11 now and am revising for my IGCSE's.

I was wondering whether you should revise for your exams through the specification.

e.g in my biology specification all it says to learn about the eye is:

1. Describe the structure of the eye as a receptor
2. Understand the function of the eye in focusing and responding to changed in light intensity

However, in my textbook there is a lot more about the eye!

I don't know whether I should revise from my textbook (where there is a lot), or the specification.

Can the exam board ask you questions of the specification?

Another example is my physics specification, all it says about the Electromagnetic spectrum is to recall the different parts of it such as radio waves and light waves.

Do I need to know more detail about radio waves? Such as long wave and short wave?

Thanks

you won't be able to revise from your spec, revising using your spec could involve going through all the topics and making sure you're confident with all of them. If you come across a topic that you think you'd like to revise, then you can open your textbook and take notes or w/e you do to revise. But don't expect to be able to revise solely from the spec, it should be more like a checklist than a revision guide, I reckon.

Reply 4

saraharrowsmith

I don't know, I do think its better to revise around the topic as well, it definitely helps when the question is worded different and also if there is a longer answer question where you have to write more about the topic, then you can say more and sound like you know what's going on :smile:

I'd say learn a broad knowledge of most and then check the spec and recap them like a list :smile:

Reply 5

Flowerii

2

Specs are a good method of getting an idea of the content of your course, but personally my advice would be to live, breathe and sleep past papers (if you can get hold of them, I'm not entirely certain about the availability of them for IGCSEs).
We all revise in different ways, but for me, past papers have been (and will continue to be) my best friend during the exam period.
You'll get a feeling for the format of the questions and paper, it should give you an idea about the depth of knowledge you'll need, and if you're very, very lucky, occasionally examiners will recycle questions, so make sure you check out legacy papers too.
Also, if you're that way inclined and are pretty good at working out odds, you can do as one of my friends did and make a grid of topics likely to come up.
Although personally, I don't find they work particularly well for science subjects. You're more likely to get an accurate prediction for essay subjects.
If revising from the spec works for you, then that's grand. But I find that seeing all the topics listed out in that kind of format can be a little impersonal (for want of a better word). Exam technique and time management can contribute hugely to your grade.
I wouldn't worry hugely about the amount of content in your textbooks either; some publications tend to drown you with copious amounts of information that you just don't need, and there's a certain temptation to try and note down/memorise it *all*, which is usually followed by a rather swift freak out session when you see how (seemingly) little headway you've made.
I refer again to the past paper - certain topics tend to always come up, and it's usually only the really brutal stretch and challenge questions that refer to some strange process you can't remember covering.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 6

fisika

OP

10

Original post by chanelleisme

I always prefer to base my revision on whats in the specification. they will never ask you a questions on topics that are not in the specification - so far this has been true for me

Thanks! Are the exams pretty much 100% on syllabus in your experience?

Reply 7

chanelleisme

10

Original post by fisika

Thanks! Are the exams pretty much 100% on syllabus in your experience?

Yes pretty much. I am in university now and so far it has been true for my GCSE, Alevels and even university exams. the exam paper is based on what has been specified in the specification.

So i would advise you to use the specification as the basis for your revision alongside a textbook. Specification will tell you what you need to revise. Textbook is where all the information is at.

Also use past exams papers, they tend to recycle the same questions. Exam boards are somewhat limited in what they can ask you due to the fact that they can only ask you about the things in the specification. Same questions tend to come up re-phrased and so on

Hope that helps !

Reply 8

fisika

OP

10

Original post by chanelleisme

Yes pretty much. I am in university now and so far it has been true for my GCSE, Alevels and even university exams. the exam paper is based on what has been specified in the specification.

So i would advise you to use the specification as the basis for your revision alongside a textbook. Specification will tell you what you need to revise. Textbook is where all the information is at.

Also use past exams papers, they tend to recycle the same questions. Exam boards are somewhat limited in what they can ask you due to the fact that they can only ask you about the things in the specification. Same questions tend to come up re-phrased and so on

Hope that helps !

thanks a lot! :biggrin:

Reply 9

David2001

5

What I did was split the work from the revision guide into topics with the points from the specification as titles

E.g.

“Students should..... whatever the spec says”
-points from spec
-extras from Revision guide

Etc.

Reply 10

username2345291

21

I revised using the revision guide and then at the end went through the spec and made sure I’d covered everything :smile:

Reply 11

IQuitTSR

21

Original post by David2001

What I did was split the work from the revision guide into topics with the points from the specification as titles

E.g.

“Students should..... whatever the spec says”
-points from spec
-extras from Revision guide

Etc.

Original post by bfm.mcdermott

I revised using the revision guide and then at the end went through the spec and made sure I’d covered everything :smile:

This post was made in 2018. The OP posted this in 2013.

Some mod will come to close this thread now lol

Revising through the specification?

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