WORK HARD FROM THE START It’s a few months of your life for what may give you a better future. You won’t look back when you’re much older and regret not watching that TV programme and not going for that single day trip out with friends, however, you may regret not studying your hardest for your exams and subsequently missing out on the opportunity to do something you may love with your life.
UNDERSTAND THE LESSON CONTENT ON THE DAY/ LEARN ALONG THE WAY (DON’T FALL BEHIND) If you don’t understand in the lesson don’t be afraid to ask your teacher questions because once you understand it makes revision easier and quicker as you are not spending time re-learning content. So pay attention in class.
USE THE SPECIFICATION A lot of the time your teachers may go into more detail than what is needed which may end up confusing you. The spec is the content you’ll be asked about in the exam so use it to organise and aid your revision. Make sure you learn the entire syllabus for a subject, there is no use in cutting corners because a certain topic never comes up in the exam or it came up in the last exam. Knowing what an examiner wants is always beneficial and will help you loads!
CREATE A REVISION TIMETABLE Try not to neglect some subjects in favour of others which you prefer. Stick to your revision timetable and assign a suitable amount of hours to each subject and also make some parts of the timetable flexible to focus on subjects that need extra attention.
CREATE PERSONAL TARGET GRADES AND STICK THEM WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM Let this be your motivation. Knowing what you’re working towards can spur you on when the days are looking tough.
WHEN EXAMS ARE APPROACHING DO AS MANY PAST PAPERS AS POSSIBLE Do past exam papers for practice, and actually pay attention to what it says in the mark scheme. Doing the papers is always good for getting exam technique etc, but the mark scheme is important to make sure you’re hitting the marks because often it’s just a matter of phrasing that people lose marks on.Do every single past paper a minimum of 3 times.
GIVE ALL HOMEWORK IN ON TIME AND STAY MOTIVATED For homework, class tests, practice essays and practice exam papers always do your best. If you try your hardest throughout, you will succeed and improve and class assessments are a good way of measuring your performance throughout the year and evaluating your work and what you need to improve on
CULTIVATE YOUR REVISION TECHNIQUE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR Know the way you learn and make sure you use an organised revision system. Choosing your revision techniques makes it easier to revise closer to exam time and prevents you wasting your time. Whether your technique is watching YouTube videos, Revision Cards, Mind Maps or rewriting revision notes, pick and choose your favourite.
MAKE USE OF YOUR FREE PERIODS Use your frees to your advantage. This is your opportunity to complete your homework and coursework in school time as a result, which means you have time for work, college and also a social life. It also gives you time to make revision notes ready for exams before study leave.
MAKE REVISION NOTES THROUGHOUT THE YEAR This may not work for everyone but making revision notes is probably the most time-consuming part of revision. It takes a long time to make proper notes that have all the information on them and are in a good format. If you do these before you need to start hardcore revision you’ll be ahead of the game! Making them as well also drums some information into your head; they’re very worthwhile!
DON’T LEAVE THINGS TO THE LAST-MINUTE This will almost inevitably happen, but try to avoid it if you can. The relief that comes with it is so so good and you’ll feel much better for it. Being able to take your time over things as well is useful, and you can concentrate more on what you need and what you don’t!
DO HAVE A SOCIAL LIFE! Don’t just sit around studying all day. Studying is good and I’m certainly not telling you to not do it! But you need a balance of will just end up being drained and friendless. You need friends there to celebrate with you or commiserate with you at the end. Sixth form and going out with friends also made me develop a lot more as a person; confidence wise and with social skills.
PARTICIPATE IN THINGS WITHIN YOUR SCHOOL/COLLEGE. Don’t just sit on the side. Participating in activities, becoming a prefect, mentor, sports captain or anything like that will help you as a person, and will also improve your personal statement and reference!
Melanin Medic xo
If you’d like to know the resources I used to revise for my subjects (Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Psychology), then comment below and I’ll write a blog post on it.