Revising in May Half Term: A Guide

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Know when your exams are! It sounds trivial, but it is important to know when your exams are to prioritise revision! If you're already in the midst of exams, you probably want to be spending more time revising for the closer exams. However, it's important to strike a balance- if you've got a load of exams bunched up at the end of exam season, you need to be planning ahead for that too, so it's important not to neglect further away exams completely.

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Consider which subjects are your strengths, and which ones you need to work a bit more on. You should probably be spending more time on the subjects or topics which you struggle with to make your knowledge as complete as possible before the exam. If there's subjects you're doing well in, it's a case of maintaining that standard and filling any gaps, but for subjects you are struggling with, you will need to set aside more time to understand and be able to apply the content to exam questions.

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Look at how many marks are allocated to topics. Look at the specification to see which areas and skills are allocated the most marks. You can use this to your advantage to guide your revision- for example, if there are two areas you are equally struggling with, but you only have an hour to dedicate to revision, it might be better to spend more of that time on the area with a greater mark allocation, as it's going to make up a greater proportion of your overall grade!

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Think about which subjects you need. The subjects you need for the next level will be the most important ones for you to do well in. If it's A levels, then look at what universities/apprenticeships/employers need most from you. Try to prioritise those subjects which you aren't hitting the grades you need over the ones you are Again, it's all about balance- you don't want to neglect any of your subjects, but when time is short, it is sometimes necessary to make the decision to prioritise which ones you need to improve in most.

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Know that you won't be able to get through the entire course for every subject! The half term holiday just isn't realistically long enough to get through absolutely everything in the specification for every subject. But, it is plenty of time to be able to do revision that can improve your grades, and prioritising your work is one part of making sure that you get the most from this half term.

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Just taking some time for yourself, whether that be to read a book, lie in your garden doing nothing, or a trip out. Allow yourself to do something relaxing for a while to clear your head

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Organise everything. Sounds odd, but by having things organised it does make things easier for you as you won't have to search around in a stressed panic for that important revision guide, or turn everything upsidedown looking for something!

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Extra time in bed Sleep is never going to do you any harm…so why not head to bed early one night, or allow yourself an extra couple of hours in bed in the morning before cracking on with your revision?

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Watch a film (or catch up on your latest Netflix series)

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Meet up with friends

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Spend time with family

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Work on a hobby/interest

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Read a book