Anyone else not started revising yet?

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Reply 20

awais590

Original post by Elynnor1811

i haven't started yet.. don't plan on starting until the new year. i'm not worried. :smile:

you are a strong woman. <3

Reply 21

Lintu93

I know.

I have 4 exams in January and the furthest I've got so far is printing countless exam papers off the internet. I've got them all sitting in a neat pile on my desk, all stapled together. Right next to all my colour-coordinated notes, which I've been through with a highlighter but haven't understood in the slightest.

Damn it I need some motivation!

Reply 22

hiyarearl

Original post by Da_hopeful_1

Great post. Thank you for this.

Would this method apply to subjects like decision maths and psychology aswell ?

Also what tips would you give for trying to improve exam technique, because a lot of the paper is marked on exam technique and knowledge of the specification.

Is there anyway someone can improve their exam technique, aside from doing countless past papers and going over mark schemes.

Also what would you suggest if my modules are from a new specification, so there aren't a lot of past papers about, like there is for other subjects.

How many hours a day would you on average be revising from now until mid january ?

Thanks in advance :smile:

I'm not totally sure what decision maths entails so I can't comment. As for Phychology I would expect this would work fine, obviously you have to see what suits you best - look at past papers, if there is a lot of stuff which you can revise through learning the information in your text book (as in most cases) then this method will be fine. If the exam is more intensive on the application side then maybe consider doing general reading rather than very heavy verbatim note learning and in this case do lots of past paper material and questions.

Exam technique is a bit of a funny thing really. Most people will develop it best from going over past papers and analysing mark schemes - looking at how the examiner wants each type of question to be answered and then trying to adapt their answers to match that of what is required to gain the maximum mark.

Looking at specific areas of exams and what else people can do, I find people tend to struggle on the English side when it comes to exams at a level and this is something which requires practice. In this case try to practice the longer more wordy questions on past papers and sample questions or just try choosing a topic and writing about it to help improve your writing skills and help you revise. For me, I find doing a few past papers gets my "essay" style skills back up to speed which may have suffered, if like me, you don't get coursework in your subjects.

When answering questions aim to provide a clear concise answer - learn the key points and link them in your essay style answers with good English and make it as easy as possible for the examiner to give you full marks - don't put any doubt into the examiners mind by rambling if you can avoid it.

Another exam area which people suffer with is timing and again I'm sad to say this is just down to doing practice papers and being familiar with your work. Looking over your notes more and more and doing plenty of questions make the work clear and familiar in your head and will allow you to answer much more quickly and without hesitation. When you're at a stage where you are almost automatically jumping into an answer then you know you're ready.

Finally when revising make sure you practice RECALLING not just reading. You can read a page 1,000,000 times and remember it no better but by trying to write down or speak aloud the content of each page/topic you will strengthen your memory of that topic. It's like anything - you remember your phone number without a thought. Why? Because you think about it on a regular basis - same thing applies here. Try to recall the information you need enough and you will remember it more easily.

If there are not many past papers then look at questions from your text book, get hold of (or borrow) lots of revision guides for that spec and use their questions, do the specimen paper provided and look for any similar old syllabuses. If you have the time then get the older syllabuses papers (if available) and pick out (using the new syllabus) those topics/questions that are still on the new scheme. However in this case take the mark schemes with a pinch of salt in case the content of a topic has changed - it should be pretty clear if the information in the mark scheme isn't available in the resources you have which would suggest that answer no longer applies.

I don't really like to say how many hours you should revise per day. It depends on your focus and general memory etc. For some people 4 hours will be easily enough, for others it will not be nearly enough. Just revise little and often. Try to set targets based on being able to recall information opposed to time. If you remember everything you wanted to for that day in then you are probably done (if you planned properly) - try to throw in some past paper material on those topics you've looked over and questions to consolidate what you've learnt and maybe come back to it later in the day and see what you remember and if it has sunk in.

If I had to give a general bench mark figure for someone aiming for top grades there are few who could achieve them with less than 3+ hours work a day up until Jan. However some days I do 2 and others I do 6 - it depends on where I am with my targets and how well I understood the topic beforehand. :smile:

I hope this helps. Good luck.

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