Exam revision

What to revise

When revising, ask yourself two questions:

• How can I improve my knowledge and understanding of the topic?
• How can I improve my ability to demonstrate my knowledge in the exam?

Best results will be achieved if you aim to refine both your subject knowledge and your exam performance capabilities. It is unproductive, for example, to continually extend your subject knowledge if you have difficulty applying information to solving problems or expressing your understanding in essay form.

Revision sessions should thus involve:

• Identifying what you already know and understand, what you need to know, and how you can find out and/or remember additional information.
• Preparing to demonstrate in the exam that you understand what you have learned – for example, that you can apply principles or theories to new material and situations.

Make sure you allow time in your revision timetable for both kinds of work.

Improving subject knowledge for exams

Do something with the information when revising your notes; your understanding and recall of information will increase if you transform the material in some way. For example:

• Make summaries in your own words
• Draw a mind map or diagram of information you have in text form
• Draft some questions to test knowledge of the material you have just studied
• Cover sections of a list or formula and see if you can supply the missing information
• Explain the topic to a friend – if you can clearly express the concepts in your own words, you can be sure you understand the topic well
• Imagine a situation from a different point of view – for example, the client’s, the patient’s, the plaintiff’s – or imagine pictures, figures and physical structures from another perspective
• Annotate your notes as you read and develop a list of key terms and concepts
• Learn general rules and principles rather than masses of unrelated facts: it is easier to recall information that is connected and logically organised. Additionally, many exams test whether you can apply the rules or principles you have learned to new areas, so it is less likely that you will be asked to replicate or regurgitate examples you worked on during classes.

Match your learning strategy to the type of material: Learning by rote is good for remembering lists, items in order, formulae and vocabulary.

To learn by rote 

Try repetition, rhymes, melodies and peg words. Mnemonics are also useful and you can make up your own to suit the material. For example:

Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit (for the notes of the treble stave)

My Very Elderly Mother Just Saw Uncle Ned’s Parrot (for the planets in order from the sun)

To remember concepts and theories

Different strategies are needed. Understand the big picture, familiarise yourself with any specialised vocabulary and explain the ideas and processes to others. This will develop your understanding and recall.

Make revision meaningful

Ultimately, you will remember more of the information you revise if you can make it meaningful to yourself in some way. Give it purpose by thinking about where and how you will apply the information; or make it personally relevant by thinking about whether and how the concepts apply to you.

Practise answering questions to a time limit and reflect:

• Do I need to work faster in order to complete the paper or slow down and include more detail?
• Would my answers earn the allotted number of marks? E.g. if 5 marks are allocated to a question, a single word answer is not likely to be sufficient.

Put extra time into practising the exam tasks you least prefer: Some people like writing essays and dislike problem solving; some people excel at multiple choice and do poorly when asked to write extended responses. It is important that you identify and improve your performance in all exam tasks you will need to do.