Revision: the good, the bad, and the totally pointless:

5 top tips: What to avoid and what to do instead:

Top tip #1:

The totally pointless - AVOID:

Most kids want to 'make notes' or 'read through' notes when they revise. It's pointless, in fact worse than pointless, because it makes students THINK they know something because the content starts to feel familiar. Then students get into the exam and realise they have only the vaguest idea and panic sets in.

So discourage them from doing that, even if their teachers have told them to.

Top tip #2:

Teachers don't always know the best way to revise.

OK - lots of teachers DO have good ideas about how to revise, but not all of them. We've discovered a good deal recently about how the brain works and it's not always intuitive. So many teachers continue to suggest that you revise the way they did. Thing is, lots of them got through their own exams with massive amounts of work - not necessarily efficiently. So if your teachers are telling you to revise in a particular way that is not backed up by evidence, take it with a pinch of salt.

Trust the evidence, not your teacher.

Top tip #3:

Practice past papers

In fact, this is the most efficient way to improve your grade.

Why?

A lot of the trick of doing well at exams is learning the 'technique' - or rather, learning how to think like an examiner and understand what part of the topic they're testing. This is tricky for everyone and seems to be particularly difficult for neuro-divergent students. If you fail to see what the examiner is looking for, your answer may be perfectly true, but it does not get the marks because it's not what they're seeking. And it takes time to get inside the head of an examiner. Honestly, most people wouldn't want to - but you have to if you want to succeed.

If you only have time to do one thing, do past papers.

Top tip #4:

Learn the key words:

In many cases the marks will only be awarded if you use the correct key word - so it's essential. If a question includes a key word, you're not going to answer well if you don't know it. In certain subjects (science, geography), the key word really IS the content - you know the key words, you mostly know the 'stuff'. It's also something that neuro-divergent - and especially dyslexic learners find really tricky - they know the content, they understand the content, but they find it hard to remember the precise words that allow them to display that knowledge.

Time spent on key words - knowing what they mean AND practising using them in answers is time very well spent.

Top tip #5:

Write your own exams

Again, with the getting you into the mind of an examiner. More than that - you can then answer the questions you have set and this is a GREAT way to learn. Testing yourself on your knowledge is a brilliant method of getting content to stick in your head. Writing your own questions forces you to actually engage with the material. Answering them forces you to recall it. It's all very efficient. And if your subject is very essay/long question based (English, history), then writing essay questions and then the plans to answer it is the most efficient method of tackling those types of exams.

Add in a few timed essays/timed exams to make sure you can do the questions within the time you are given. Lots of people forget to do this and then are amazed that they 'run out of time'. Practise working within the time from the start...even if that means you don't write essays that are up to your normal/desired standard.

In future posts I'll look at logistics - timings, how to learn when your brain is at its best. For now, try out the suggestions above and see how it goes.

And remember, if it's difficult - then it's working. If it's easy, it's not challenging you enough during the revision and that means is that the exam itself will be much, much harder.