Revise for Your A Levels

Are A level exams looming ahead? Have you got the feeling that your future career lies on your success in these exams? Need a little help? Sit back, relax and glide your way through those exams.

Steps

Getting Revise-Wise

  1. Start at the beginning. If you feel you don't know where to begin revising, go through your previous work and text books about the subject. Skim through them and look for the areas in which you would feel least happy about popping up in your exam. Take a note of these because those are the ones you should revise for first!
  2. Find out the exam boards of the subjects you are taking. Then you can download the syllabi from their websites to revise from.
  3. Don't work anywhere near your computer if possible. You will only end up chatting on Facebook or MSN. If there are websites you want to revise from, print off the pages you need. Do not work in a busy environment, this will distract you and you won't concentrate on the page you are reading. Study groups are a dangerous area; only form one of these if you are sure you won't end up chatting about the weekend gossip, however they can be very helpful if you don't understand an answer to something. Ask a friend about something you don't understand, as they may be able to explain it to you in a way you do understand. Work in a clear space, believe it or not, this helps you relax. In a cluttered space with unnecessary items everywhere, it's easy to feel cramped and unable to work, so clean your area before you settle down to work.
  4. Contact your teacher. It is best to do this by e-mail. Organize a study group if you can handle it..or just ask one friend who is in the same boat as you, that's what friends are for.

Using the Cornell Method of Revision

  1. Set up your notebook. Take an A4 sized notebook and draw a wide margin on the left side of the page, using a ruler and pen.
    • Then use the ruler and pen to draw a horizontal line about 1/4 of the way from the bottom of the page.
  2. Make notes. Use the right hand side of the page to make notes on the topic you are studying, whether it's history, physics or languages.
    • Try to use clear, straight-forward language to keep your notes concise and easy-to-read.
  3. Come up with questions. On the left side of the page, write down some questions relating to the information on the right side of the page.
    • Coming up with your own questions will help to clarify the meaning of the notes, reveal the relationships between ideas and allow you to commit the information to memory.
    • The questions could be something like "In Hamlet, how does Shakespeare explore the theme of death?" or "In the War of the Roses, what significant events led to the Battle of Bosworth?"
  4. Cover the notes and test yourself. Cover up the right side of the page and try to answer the questions, in your own words, without looking at your notes.
    • You can either do this out loud, reciting the information to yourself, or you can write the information out quickly (using only key words) on a scrap piece of paper.
    • This part of the exercise is very important, as it will test your memory and help you to identify gaps in your knowledge.
  5. Review the notes. Uncover the notes and go through them again, checking for any information you might have missed.
    • Try to reflect on the significance of the information -- why do you need to learn it? How can you apply it to other things? Where does it fit in with the information you already know?
    • Repeat the covering up and reviewing process as many times as necessary, until you feel comfortable with the material.
  6. Write a summary. Once you are confident that you have learned the notes well, write a short, concise summary at the bottom of the page.
    • You can then use this summary for reference every time you review your notes.

Tips

  • Teach what you revise to someone else - you learn 95% of what you teach someone else.
  • Make yourself a revision timetable, that way, if you are studying more than one subject (usually 3), then you can split your time equally, and see where you should take a break.
  • Don't just read the page - you only learn 10% of what you read.
  • Do not take a break if it is not on your schedule, you will then muck up your whole schedule.
  • Work during your frees. This is so important; you'll get a lot of work done and frees are the best time to do this. If your always find yourself distracted by your friends, in the short term working in your frees is tedious, but in the long term you'll get much better grades.

Warnings

  • Facebook was designed to distract you, so do not give into it!
  • Television in the background is also not helpful, so if you have it on, turn it off.
  • Turn your mobile phone off, no matter how much you think your friends need you to text them or vice versa, turn it off!

Things You'll Need

  • Lots of paper
  • Highlighters
  • Water
  • Folders of previous work
  • A timer or stopwatch
  • Pens
  • Revision cards/flash cards
  • A study friend
  • Your teacher's email address

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