Study Skills: A Guide to Prioritisation

No matter whether you're doing GCSEs, A-Levels or something different entirely, planning your revision out to make sure you're covering everything can seem quite a daunting task.

Know your weak subjects and areas.
If you're completely stuck on where to start with your revision, start by identifying which subjects you may be struggling in and would need to devote a little more time to. You can use past assessments/mocks, teacher feedback and of course, your own opinion on how you're performing- or even do a timed paper in exam conditions!!

In some cases, you may not have a weak subject but may just be struggling with something across a number of subjects. Examples of a few weak areas, and how you can manage them:

Exam technique - practice papers and practice questions!! The new specification asks for a lot more application of knowledge nowadays and you won't get that through simply reading your notes. There's tons of resources available online nowadays and you can use papers from different exam boards too.

Timing - this may be an issue more in the essay based subjects, like geography and english. Ensure you're familiar with the mark schemes for the long mark questions especially, as it may not be an issue of timing but that you're writing too much A01 in your answers, for example, and not enough analysis. You can also go to your teacher for guidance and advice.

Planning revision sessions- be realistic!
At GCSEs, you have a good few amount of subjects you need to manage, so a timetable would really help you here to see how much free time you've got throughout the week and what you can accomplish realistically. At A-Levels or equivalent, it's a little easier organisation-wise with less subjects but obviously you're going to need to break up subjects into smaller elements eg. for English Literature, you could focus on one text in a revision session.

These exams are important, but make sure you're giving yourself breaks- they're not the end of the world and providing you pace yourself and put the effort in you'll be okay. You're unlikely to manage to do 8 hours of revision every day (and I would not recommend you do!!) so keep your mental health in check by taking breaks :yep:

What you're hoping to do next
Another way you can prioritise is dependent on what you would like to do after exams; generally people will have a weak subject or two but it's worth bearing this in mind too. For example, if you want to do A-Level Biology but are currently getting 3s in the subject at GCSE, it may be worth devoting more time to revising that subject rather than the 4 you are currently on in History. That being said, don't completely forget about some subjects; try to maintain a balance.
Remember that most sixth forms, colleges, unis etc will ask for at least a 4 in English and Maths so ensure you're doing enough practice and are confident with the exam papers to pass.

Study Skills: A Guide to Prioritisation

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you