To sixth formers: what is the secret to a good revision timetable?

Over your gcse and a level years, what have you learned about timetables?
please share your tips on how to make a good revision timetable

Reply 1

German123

Having a study timetable is a good way of organising your day etc

Reply 2

simran_x

Original post by Hate_skl

Over your gcse and a level years, what have you learned about timetables?
please share your tips on how to make a good revision timetable

The main thing for me when making a timetable is firstly, factor in when you defo cannot work (for me that was 9-10 on mondays because the Walking Dead would be on or something). Then REALISTICALLY think of how many hours you can do- I do around 6-8 hours everyday during the holidays and the weekend and 3-4 hours after school.
Also, think about which subjects need priority and so need more hours put in each week.
I also have one hour everyday where I have nothing scheduled and I use this time to do a subject I feel I am weak on.
If you find it difficult to stick to your timetable, it may mean because you have scheduled too many 'study session's and too little breaks.
At the moment, TSR has an app that allows you to make your own study planner- so it may be a thought to use that- it takes into account your extra-curricular activities and your priorities.
Hope this helped x

prioritize.

One important thing to learn is that timetables don't work for everyone. I tried them but went back to doing what subject I wanted for however long I needed with consistent breaks each day.

You may find it helpful to do the same subjects you did earlier at school to go over notes or class work.

Reply 5

Wahrheit

Everyone is different but plan what you actually are going to do in each session. For me it worked better to have it so I didn't just write 'maths', but instead wrote 'maths past paper 2012' or something. You might want it to be as constricting as possible and to completely reduce your freedoms or it might be better for you to have loads if freedom if you can trust yourself. For me, breaks only served to interrupt my flow because I have a great attention span, so I'd work for 4 hours, 1 hour break, work for 5 hours, 1 hour break work for 2 hours, 3 hours off, bed. This was much better for me than regular 5 minute breaks or whatever.

Reply 6

Cosmocos

Original post by shroomie

I find that making a list of what you wanna accomplish by the end of the day, and the rough times you want to do them, works better. Give yourself specific tasks and targets - make them useful but not overly ambitious. Rigid times don't work out if you run over/don't have enough to do/get bored really quickly. Being productive with your revision in 10 minutes is better than revising for an hour in a way that's not effective, so ensure you make the most of your time - breaks between your revision are a must for destressing and it'll help you in the long run.

I agree with this, I find timetables to strict and don't really focus on learning but rather on time spent. I don't think our minds have a set time to do a specific subject. I personally find revision rather spontaneous where I would just feel like revising and getting work done. I find it helpful to just have a list of topics, homework and other stuff and just ticking them off when you're done. It's better than just having 9am-10am chemsitry and not knowing what to do with that time. It could also be the case that you would rather revise something else when "the timetable says" that you should be focusing on what you're doing right now.

Reply 7

turn-to-page394

Well, not a sixth former, but I've learnt that they do not work for me at all. AT ALL. They just stress me out with the whole : YOU MUST DO THIS NOW! IT IS TIME!

To do lists all the way.

Reply 8

gr8wizard10

I just revised whenever I felt like it. Timetables make it feel like a chore, when in actuality it's better to do it when you're in the mood.

Saying that I failed my A levels :smile:

Reply 9

loperdoper

I found them pretty useless imo. Task-based revision is much better.

I also downloaded an app called Forest, which blocks out your phone for half an hour at a time. It's really good for breaking down your revision into the half-hour chunks, so you can work in short bursts of high concentration.

Reply 10

SlowlorisIncognito

Original post by Hate_skl

Over your gcse and a level years, what have you learned about timetables?
please share your tips on how to make a good revision timetable

I didn't really use revision time tables using GCSEs or A-levels, but at university level, I did make them, as I had a lot of content to revise, and just having a list of that content, even if I didn't revise it on the exact date and time I'd planned was useful. My timetables were fairly simple- I'd work out how many days between starting revision and the exam I could devote to each module, make a list of subjects within the module and allocate each subject a day/time to be revised, and make a little bit of time for past papers.

I do think making very rigid and complex timetables can be a form of procrastination, though.

Reply 11

aranlong

I use google calendar and set up a ton of things I know I need to do. Then pack these into revision days of ~6 hours of work. When a task is finished I set its colour to green, If I don't finish (or even start as the case may be) I set it to red. This means I know which subjects I am avoiding and hence, the subjects I need to revise the most.

I really dislike rigid timetables though as they do not tailor learning to how you're currently performing so I will change my timetable the day before to suit what I most need to study.