Tips for revising essay based exams

Hi everyone,
As exams are soon approaching and many of you may be in the full swing of revision I thought I would share some tips on how to revise for essay-based exams. With studying English combined and government and politics at a-level all my exams where essay based.
Probably the most effective way to get better at essay writing is to do practice questions, especially timed practice questions to get use to writing at such a fast pace. You can do this by using past paper questions or even making up your own questions to make sure you cover all topics.
However, this can be really time consuming, so something I did was question plans. Instead of writing the whole essay I would just make essay question plans. This really helps you see where there are gaps in your knowledge and what key pieces of information are easy to remember. You can even do these timed to how long you would get in the exam to plan your answer.
Then I turned these question plans into digital flashcards, so I could memorise the key information I need for each topic/theme.
I also have a few other posts with advice that might be useful
Revision Techniques that Helped me
Tips on deadlines, motivation and time management - The Student Room
How to Prepare for Exam/Deadline Season - The Student Room
I hope this helps and good luck! Any questions feel free to ask and leave your tips below 😊
-Grace (Kingston Rep)

Some great advice here! In terms of digital flashcards I swear by Anki! It's highly personalised and ensures that you remember answers in the long-term not just short. You can make your own flashcards on it. Alternatively, quizlet is also great but rather limited in it's free version.
Good luck to everyone studying and wish you all the best.
Aura (Uni of Staffs)

Hi everyone,
As exams are soon approaching and many of you may be in the full swing of revision I thought I would share some tips on how to revise for essay-based exams. With studying English combined and government and politics at a-level all my exams where essay based.
Probably the most effective way to get better at essay writing is to do practice questions, especially timed practice questions to get use to writing at such a fast pace. You can do this by using past paper questions or even making up your own questions to make sure you cover all topics.
However, this can be really time consuming, so something I did was question plans. Instead of writing the whole essay I would just make essay question plans. This really helps you see where there are gaps in your knowledge and what key pieces of information are easy to remember. You can even do these timed to how long you would get in the exam to plan your answer.
Then I turned these question plans into digital flashcards, so I could memorise the key information I need for each topic/theme.
I also have a few other posts with advice that might be useful
Revision Techniques that Helped me
Tips on deadlines, motivation and time management - The Student Room
How to Prepare for Exam/Deadline Season - The Student Room
I hope this helps and good luck! Any questions feel free to ask and leave your tips below 😊
-Grace (Kingston Rep)