Revision for year thirteen during summer

3

Hiii, I'm a year twelve (about to be year thirteen) student and I'm wondering how much I should be studying per day .So far I've been studying about two to two and half hours a day consistently, however, it feels like that's much too little. I was wondering what some recommendations would be on types of revision techniques and how much to revise per day?
( for context I do A Level Biology, English literature and psychology. And for my mocks I got BBB)
I have ADHD so if anyone's done any of my subjects and they have ADHD if you have any tips on how to bypass the parts of ADHD that prove to be a hindrance? ( lack of focus, lack of motivation extreme procrastination )

Reply 1

BCU Student Rep

Official Rep

18

Original post

by Eddie08

Hiii, I'm a year twelve (about to be year thirteen) student and I'm wondering how much I should be studying per day .So far I've been studying about two to two and half hours a day consistently, however, it feels like that's much too little. I was wondering what some recommendations would be on types of revision techniques and how much to revise per day?
( for context I do A Level Biology, English literature and psychology. And for my mocks I got BBB)
I have ADHD so if anyone's done any of my subjects and they have ADHD if you have any tips on how to bypass the parts of ADHD that prove to be a hindrance? ( lack of focus, lack of motivation extreme procrastination )

Hi @Eddie08

I did biology, psychology and chemistry A-Levels. I used to base how long I was revising for by tasks rather than time. This gave me more motivation to complete each task as I knew that I would be finished and able to take a break after I had finished.

My favourite revision techniques were:

•

Making mindmaps for all of the content in a topic and then rewriting them without looking. This was particularly helpful for psychology as I did a mindmap for each potential exam question.

•

Answering lots of exam questions and looking carefully at the mark scheme. I found this helped me to improve my exam technique and know what key vocabulary I needed to include to get full marks.

•

Watching videos about subject content and exam technique.

Hope that helps!

Sophie.
BCU Student Rep

Reply 2

Eddie08

OP

3

Original post

by BCU Student Rep

Hi @Eddie08
I did biology, psychology and chemistry A-Levels. I used to base how long I was revising for by tasks rather than time. This gave me more motivation to complete each task as I knew that I would be finished and able to take a break after I had finished.
My favourite revision techniques were:

•

Making mindmaps for all of the content in a topic and then rewriting them without looking. This was particularly helpful for psychology as I did a mindmap for each potential exam question.

•

Answering lots of exam questions and looking carefully at the mark scheme. I found this helped me to improve my exam technique and know what key vocabulary I needed to include to get full marks.

•

Watching videos about subject content and exam technique.

Hope that helps!
Sophie.
BCU Student Rep

Thank you so much !!!

Reply 3

Camer0nR

11

Hey! I'm also going into y13 and I'm also not sure how much I should be doing (haven't done much at all). I definitely need to do some biology consolidation. I don't know how much is recommended but what I do know is my teachers have set homework but not explicitly told us to do anything extra. I suppose that means that what you're doing isn't too little necessarily as long as you're really strong on y12 by the start of y13. Again idk what I'm doing but that's my 2 cents'

Reply 4

Vanillaporridge

6

Original post

by Eddie08

Hiii, I'm a year twelve (about to be year thirteen) student and I'm wondering how much I should be studying per day .So far I've been studying about two to two and half hours a day consistently, however, it feels like that's much too little. I was wondering what some recommendations would be on types of revision techniques and how much to revise per day?
( for context I do A Level Biology, English literature and psychology. And for my mocks I got BBB)
I have ADHD so if anyone's done any of my subjects and they have ADHD if you have any tips on how to bypass the parts of ADHD that prove to be a hindrance? ( lack of focus, lack of motivation extreme procrastination )

Hey, i understand how ADHD can interfere with school life especially when studying. What i try to do is implement the pomodoro technique so that my revision is more focused for a period of time rather than giving myself unlimited time. For example i would do psychology flashcards for 20mins then for the next 20min block do some psychology practice questions. This way your brain is learning in different ways and won't get bored so easily whilst making revision more interactive. Obviously use this summer to relax, in terms of studying don't burn yourself out by trying to learn new content (tested and tried-by me!), instead focus on consolidating Year 1 knowledge because Year 2 builds off from these foundations. Also try and study in a place where distractions are most limited, for me that's the library, i try to avoid my room because i usually end up on my bed a minute later-just find what works for you and also limit social media-set timers and install apps to track your productivity. Aim for even just 1 hour of focused revision per day rather than what you are doing now-focus on quality rather than quantity-active forms of revision (flashcards,mindmaps,practice questions,blurting), and also for the rest of the summer focus on building your uni applications to reduce stress in early September. Hopefully we get through Y13 okay! Hope this helped.

Reply 5

UoNstudents

Official Rep

12

Original post

by Eddie08

Hiii, I'm a year twelve (about to be year thirteen) student and I'm wondering how much I should be studying per day .So far I've been studying about two to two and half hours a day consistently, however, it feels like that's much too little. I was wondering what some recommendations would be on types of revision techniques and how much to revise per day?
( for context I do A Level Biology, English literature and psychology. And for my mocks I got BBB)
I have ADHD so if anyone's done any of my subjects and they have ADHD if you have any tips on how to bypass the parts of ADHD that prove to be a hindrance? ( lack of focus, lack of motivation extreme procrastination )

Hi @Eddie08,
First off — BBB in Year 12 mocks is a great base to build from, so you’re not behind. Two to two and a half hours a day in Year 12 is already more than many manage consistently. The jump to Year 13 is more about making revision targeted and active rather than massively increasing the hours.
How much to revise:

•

In term time, 2–3 hours after school is reasonable, with longer weekend sessions (maybe 4–5 hours total, split into chunks).

•

Closer to exams, you can increase that, but quality matters more than just clocking hours.

I did Biology and English Lit at A-Level too, and what worked best for me was:

•

English Lit: Watching YouTube videos on annotations — it gave me more perspective on the text and helped me get started with writing answers, which can be tricky with ADHD.

•

Biology: Focus heavily on active recall (flashcards, blur-and-redraw diagrams) and do lots of past papers. Go through the mark schemes in detail so you know exactly what examiners want.

For psychology this is what Ive heard works best: Summarise studies in bullet points, practise past paper questions, and use mind maps for theory comparisons.

For ADHD-specific challenges:

•

Break revision into short bursts (Pomodoro method — e.g. 25 mins work, 5 mins break) to keep focus.

•

Change your environment — move between locations or use background noise like study music to help your brain “switch modes.”

•

Body doubling — work alongside a friend or even on a silent Zoom/Discord call so there’s someone there while you study.

•

Use clear, specific goals — instead of “revise biology,” write “cover immune system flashcards and answer 3 past paper questions.”

•

Reward yourself for completing a task — even small wins count.

Remember: with ADHD, starting is often the hardest part. If you can get yourself into a task for even 5 minutes, it’s much easier to keep going. Consistency, not perfection, will make the biggest difference.

Hope this is helps!😁
Leena - UoN student Rep

(edited 5 months ago)

Revision for year thirteen during summer

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