How do I revise?

Hi, I'm in yr 13 and never actually properly revised before- I really want to do well in my a level exams but it's hard when idk what works for me especially since I only have 2 months till my exams.

There's just so many different ways to revise that it just get overwhelmed when people just say revise however you like. I think I need like a step by step guide of instructions on how to revise a topic. I just don't know how to go about that. I'm studying psychology and religious studies if that helps. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

what subjects do you do?

Psychology, religious studies and criminology

ok so I didn't do any of those a-levels, but I did do history so feel your pain with essays

one of my friends did psychology and she just made a ton of mindmaps, and she'd explain the topics to me (ngl it was all lost on me) but maybe finding someone in your class you can study with, or anyone outside of school, i find explaining stuff to people helps me remember it better

coming from someone who started revising very late for their a-levels (um the day before for history), and still got into uni, it's never too late to start - maybe spend the next few weeks trying out different study methods and see which ones work for you - from experience my biggest tip would be however little it is, make your revision consistent - even if it's 5 minutes a day, it's so much better than leaving it till the days before


like you said there's no right way to revise but if you experiment with a few different styles hopefully you can find something that works for you
best of luck

Psychology, religious studies and criminology

I might be able to offer advice on the system I do for psychology and Criminology.
For psychology:
I've made flashcards which I would go through, but considering exams are close, I'd probably suggest looking on Knowt or Quizlet for themes like Attachments and Approaches or even more specifically the theories themselves. As there is still time for exams, I would choose a chapter to focus on each week, by making a list of what chapter you're most to least confident in, and beginning with the least confident topic.
For example, let's say your weak point is Approaches (this topic is most prevalent right now, forgive me) so you'd begin this week by going through the flashcards. To do this, I read through 3 flashcards out loud and then I'd go through them again, trying to see which ones I've remembered. I'd then categorise them into piles of red, orange and green, meaning I don't know, I have some clue and I know it. I'd then go through the red pile until I can move it to the orange pile. I would then review the orange pile again in the evening.
To keep these flashcards in my head, I'd go through the orange and green pile the next day and then I'd leave the new green pile to be related in 2 days, then 5 days, then a week, then two weeks and then a month. And the red (if you're still struggling to remember) every day and the orange pile every other day. (Let me know if this made sense??)
After I'm starting to get more knowledge about these concepts, I'll begin to blurt. This is essentially writing down everything you remember about a concept and then looking at your notes after and adding in what information you missed. I'd suggest doing this with all the red and possibly orange flashcard piles.
Then we move onto past papers, woohoo! When you feel you have enough knowledge (aka a lot of green pile flashcards) then you can start practising past paper questions. You can first try them untimed and from memory, marking your answer afterwards! This is important so you know where to improve. As you start getting more marks in your answers, begin timing yourself so you can try to get the answers achieved quicker.
And then each week, add a new topic of like Attachments and Memory etc until you are able to complete full past papers under timed conditions as you would have memorised the key content!
I've found it difficult to memorise a lot of the research for evaluation points, so to do this, I wrote down the researcher on a post it note and what the evaluation point/ their research is about. I would then stick this on the walls of my room, my wardrobe etc and try to go over them (even if it's quickly reading them when I see it).
I will reply with another part to this one.

Hi, I'm in yr 13 and never actually properly revised before- I really want to do well in my a level exams but it's hard when idk what works for me especially since I only have 2 months till my exams.

There's just so many different ways to revise that it just get overwhelmed when people just say revise however you like. I think I need like a step by step guide of instructions on how to revise a topic. I just don't know how to go about that. I'm studying psychology and religious studies if that helps. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Hi, I'm in yr 13 and never actually properly revised before- I really want to do well in my a level exams but it's hard when idk what works for me especially since I only have 2 months till my exams.

There's just so many different ways to revise that it just get overwhelmed when people just say revise however you like. I think I need like a step by step guide of instructions on how to revise a topic. I just don't know how to go about that. I'm studying psychology and religious studies if that helps. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

what exam board do you do for psychology?

I might be able to offer advice on the system I do for psychology and Criminology.

For psychology:
I've made flashcards which I would go through, but considering exams are close, I'd probably suggest looking on Knowt or Quizlet for themes like Attachments and Approaches or even more specifically the theories themselves. As there is still time for exams, I would choose a chapter to focus on each week, by making a list of what chapter you're most to least confident in, and beginning with the least confident topic.

For example, let's say your weak point is Approaches (this topic is most prevalent right now, forgive me) so you'd begin this week by going through the flashcards. To do this, I read through 3 flashcards out loud and then I'd go through them again, trying to see which ones I've remembered. I'd then categorise them into piles of red, orange and green, meaning I don't know, I have some clue and I know it. I'd then go through the red pile until I can move it to the orange pile. I would then review the orange pile again in the evening.

To keep these flashcards in my head, I'd go through the orange and green pile the next day and then I'd leave the new green pile to be related in 2 days, then 5 days, then a week, then two weeks and then a month. And the red (if you're still struggling to remember) every day and the orange pile every other day. (Let me know if this made sense??)

After I'm starting to get more knowledge about these concepts, I'll begin to blurt. This is essentially writing down everything you remember about a concept and then looking at your notes after and adding in what information you missed. I'd suggest doing this with all the red and possibly orange flashcard piles.

Then we move onto past papers, woohoo! When you feel you have enough knowledge (aka a lot of green pile flashcards) then you can start practising past paper questions. You can first try them untimed and from memory, marking your answer afterwards! This is important so you know where to improve. As you start getting more marks in your answers, begin timing yourself so you can try to get the answers achieved quicker.

And then each week, add a new topic of like Attachments and Memory etc until you are able to complete full past papers under timed conditions as you would have memorised the key content!

I've found it difficult to memorise a lot of the research for evaluation points, so to do this, I wrote down the researcher on a post it note and what the evaluation point/ their research is about. I would then stick this on the walls of my room, my wardrobe etc and try to go over them (even if it's quickly reading them when I see it).

I will reply with another part to this one.

Thank you so much that's really helpful! And yeah it made sense! I also struggle with evaluation points so that's a good method thanks, I'll try that one