The Student Room Group

Christmas break revision

Can someone help me (a year 11) figure out what revision i'm meant to do over the christmas break, if any?! i break up on friday and get my mocks back this week. can any other yr11s lmk what they're doing to stay on track or past year 11s lmk what they did/think they should have done over the xmas break for optimal grades? thanks!

Reply 1

Original post
by serenabeak
Can someone help me (a year 11) figure out what revision i'm meant to do over the christmas break, if any?! i break up on friday and get my mocks back this week. can any other yr11s lmk what they're doing to stay on track or past year 11s lmk what they did/think they should have done over the xmas break for optimal grades? thanks!

Hey!!
Im in Year 13 and genuienly did not start revising for my real exams until the start of april. I left them extremely late but came out with 888766655, going from a 5 in year 11 mocks to an 8 in english literature for the real exams. Personally, unless you have mocks in january/february ( mine were in late feb so i revised a little for those but they arent that important so don't stress) then i would take the christmas break to revise and maybe read over the stuff you did badly on in mocks. No need to do any extra revision material etc, just pick a subject or two you've been struggling with and recap for 1-2 days the content you struggled on - maybe approach it differently. But please do not revise lots as it is simply not needed!

Reply 2

Original post
by slaybrams
Hey!!
Im in Year 13 and genuienly did not start revising for my real exams until the start of april. I left them extremely late but came out with 888766655, going from a 5 in year 11 mocks to an 8 in english literature for the real exams. Personally, unless you have mocks in january/february ( mine were in late feb so i revised a little for those but they arent that important so don't stress) then i would take the christmas break to revise and maybe read over the stuff you did badly on in mocks. No need to do any extra revision material etc, just pick a subject or two you've been struggling with and recap for 1-2 days the content you struggled on - maybe approach it differently. But please do not revise lots as it is simply not needed!


okay thanks, this is really helpful!

Reply 3

Original post
by slaybrams
Hey!!
Im in Year 13 and genuienly did not start revising for my real exams until the start of april. I left them extremely late but came out with 888766655, going from a 5 in year 11 mocks to an 8 in english literature for the real exams. Personally, unless you have mocks in january/february ( mine were in late feb so i revised a little for those but they arent that important so don't stress) then i would take the christmas break to revise and maybe read over the stuff you did badly on in mocks. No need to do any extra revision material etc, just pick a subject or two you've been struggling with and recap for 1-2 days the content you struggled on - maybe approach it differently. But please do not revise lots as it is simply not needed!

hey what revision resources did u use and howd u revise? u got such good grades wow

Reply 4

Original post
by serenabeak
Can someone help me (a year 11) figure out what revision i'm meant to do over the christmas break, if any?! i break up on friday and get my mocks back this week. can any other yr11s lmk what they're doing to stay on track or past year 11s lmk what they did/think they should have done over the xmas break for optimal grades? thanks!

Hiya! Im currently in year 12 and didn't really revise until march time. I feel that it depends heavily on personal circumstance, I would recommend that you rest for at least 1 week, otherwise you'll get burnt out, and that'll be hard otherwise recover from and won't put you in the best place for learning and revising more year 11 content. I would also try and organise your notes and flashcards (if you use them). I found it quite useful organising by points on the specifications, so I could see what notes I was missing or which specific bits of the course that I struggled on. I would recommend a steady flow of revision, maybe like 30 minutes a day, 3 hours absolute MAX! If you're unsure, maybe ask your teachers as they know you better, and it would be great to get another person's perspective on it. I hope you get the results you want!

Reply 5

Original post
by serenabeak
Can someone help me (a year 11) figure out what revision i'm meant to do over the christmas break, if any?! i break up on friday and get my mocks back this week. can any other yr11s lmk what they're doing to stay on track or past year 11s lmk what they did/think they should have done over the xmas break for optimal grades? thanks!


Hi,

I’d recommend starting by going through your subject specifications and using a RAG system (red, amber, green) to identify any areas you feel less confident in. Your mock results can also be really useful for this.

Make sure all your active recall resources, such as flashcards and mind maps, are ready so you’re not cramming when it’s time for exams. You can then move on to topic-by-topic questions and eventually full past papers.

It also helps to create a flexible timetable so you can revise effectively but still enjoy your break and avoid burnout. The Pomodoro method, with focused 25-minute sessions and short breaks, works well for maintaining concentration. Remember, quality over quantity.

Hope this helps, enjoy your holidays!

Tayba
Student Rep

Reply 6

Original post
by Wheelbarrow24
Hiya! Im currently in year 12 and didn't really revise until march time. I feel that it depends heavily on personal circumstance, I would recommend that you rest for at least 1 week, otherwise you'll get burnt out, and that'll be hard otherwise recover from and won't put you in the best place for learning and revising more year 11 content. I would also try and organise your notes and flashcards (if you use them). I found it quite useful organising by points on the specifications, so I could see what notes I was missing or which specific bits of the course that I struggled on. I would recommend a steady flow of revision, maybe like 30 minutes a day, 3 hours absolute MAX! If you're unsure, maybe ask your teachers as they know you better, and it would be great to get another person's perspective on it. I hope you get the results you want!


Thank you!!! This is really helpful, I'm going to try spend like 45 mins - 1h a day apart from Christmas obviously going through my mock papers and seeing what I got wrong

Reply 7

Original post
by serenabeak
Can someone help me (a year 11) figure out what revision i'm meant to do over the christmas break, if any?! i break up on friday and get my mocks back this week. can any other yr11s lmk what they're doing to stay on track or past year 11s lmk what they did/think they should have done over the xmas break for optimal grades? thanks!

If you've had your mocks back i would RAG rate the topics so you know where to focus revision. Ask if you've never heard of this.

Have one week of complete rest.
(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 8

Original post
by Wheelbarrow24
Hiya! Im currently in year 12 and didn't really revise until march time. I feel that it depends heavily on personal circumstance, I would recommend that you rest for at least 1 week, otherwise you'll get burnt out, and that'll be hard otherwise recover from and won't put you in the best place for learning and revising more year 11 content. I would also try and organise your notes and flashcards (if you use them). I found it quite useful organising by points on the specifications, so I could see what notes I was missing or which specific bits of the course that I struggled on. I would recommend a steady flow of revision, maybe like 30 minutes a day, 3 hours absolute MAX! If you're unsure, maybe ask your teachers as they know you better, and it would be great to get another person's perspective on it. I hope you get the results you want!

thank u sm!!

Reply 9

Original post
by serenabeak
Can someone help me (a year 11) figure out what revision i'm meant to do over the christmas break, if any?! i break up on friday and get my mocks back this week. can any other yr11s lmk what they're doing to stay on track or past year 11s lmk what they did/think they should have done over the xmas break for optimal grades? thanks!

Hi, in yr11. I would just keep it fresh in your head keep breaks, Lucky if you dont have mocks back in January (I DO I THINK IT IS CRAZY) but just take breaks. This is a good time to go over topics that you didnt understand.

Reply 10

Original post
by mariam!!
hey what revision resources did u use and howd u revise? u got such good grades wow

Hey, sorry for the late reply!!

My teacher created quote banks which helped me massively, then i essentially made a crap tonne of flashcards that had short but easy to remember analysis which linked to other quotes that i knew had much more depth to them. To memorise lots of quotes, i found multiple quote songs on youtube - the one i liked most was a gilr with a ukelele and a christmas carol rap - then simply analysed these quotes with my teacher;s help.

My main advise is stick to past paper questions, and developing your understanding of the themes in relation to certain characters/ texts, E.g for Macbeth i looked at every character's quotes, then broke them down into Religious imagery, motif of blood/daggers, supernatural, kingship, power/powerless etc. I would then ask my teacher to give me essay questions and i would complete them, then we would go over them together and i would rewrite with feedback

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