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Textbook vs Revision Guide (AS)

What do you think is best to revise from?

Textbook - has all the information you need, but in a long winded way
Revision guide - good, short explanations but not necessarily everything

I think I would find it best to learn from the revision guide, use the textbook for anything i found difficult, then do past papers to know the question types.

Any better ways for revising?
Reply 1
Original post by Snoopop
What do you think is best to revise from?

Textbook - has all the information you need, but in a long winded way
Revision guide - good, short explanations but not necessarily everything

I think I would find it best to learn from the revision guide, use the textbook for anything i found difficult, then do past papers to know the question types.

Any better ways for revising?


It does kind of depend which subject to some extent, but for subjects such as biology, it's much better to learn from the text book, and use revision guides for further reading and to support what you have already learnt from the textbook. Past papers are good for that, and if used effectively with the mark scheme, can teach you how the exam board want you to answer their questions.


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I used a textbook and a revision guide for AS and got a D in one biology module. For the resit I only had my cgp revision guide from last year and that was the only thing I used and got an A. It might have been I found it all easier the second time round but I this was much easier to understand especially in a short amount of time. I would then look up any of the harder and more challenging bits online. It is important you get a revision guide for your exam board and I wouldn't recommend only using a revision guide.
Reply 3
Like Rhodopsin94 said, it does depend a lot on the subject and exam board. I do biology and chemistry which require quite a bit of extra reading and knowing other little, weird applications of what you have learnt from the specification. For these it is best to use multiple text books, as all have their weak topics which they don't explain very well and don't give you enough information.
Whereas for my psychology, you very much know the structure of the question and that it will only ask you directly about the specification. So for this, you could just use a normal revision guide and make brief, bullet point notes.
Hope this helps :smile:
Depends on the subject
Science - Revision guide (Edexcel IGCSE is amazing)
Maths - Don't use any, used the textbook in class but now just past papers
Classics - Textbook/ rarely - teacher gives amazing notes/from power points he makes
Geography - Textbook & revision guide
ICT - none/ past papers


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