10 Tips For How To Revise Effectively
Revising can be tough. Here’s how to revise effectively for your upcoming exams.
The term “revise” can easily send shivers down a student’s back. We get why though. Revising for your exams can be quite daunting, especially if you’ve got a ton of papers to sit and you’ve barely started your exam prep.
Fortunately, we’ve got your back and have tons of revising tips to get you studying efficiently. With our tips, you’ll feel more confident in tackling your exams head-on and getting your revision done. Bookmark this post for a later date when you come back to revise during your studies too!
Why is revision important?
Revising gives us time to reflect on what we’ve been studying. We can do this in our own way, such as writing it down, making flash cards, drawing diagrams and more. It’s about helping ourselves retain the information we need to be a master at the subject but also ace those oh-so-important exams to advance through a course.
And if you have no idea how to navigate proper revision, then you may want to read our top 10 tips for revising effectively.
10 tips for revising effectively
1. Use a study planner app
Ever used a study planner app to plan your revision? Now might be your chance to do so.
Sometimes having too many bits of paper and to-do-lists can be inefficient, that’s where an app can really help organise your studies and keep you on track to exam success. Plus, you can use them to organise all aspects of your life such as jobs, lectures, appointments and much more.
There are tons of study planner apps out there. We highly recommend the following:
- Chipper
- Todoist
- Focus To-Do: Pomodoro & Tasks
- My study life
- iStudiez Pro Legendary Planner
- Taskheat Visual To-Do List
- Everyday
- Trello
- myHomework Student Planner
- Egenda
2. Start early
This goes without saying, but getting in on your revision well before your exams means you’ll have plenty of time to prepare. If you’re approaching your first exam though, don’t worry. There’s no better time than to start right this second.
However, when next semester rolls around, be sure to get your prep in months early. Not days. No one likes to panic…
3. Break topics down into smaller chunks
We get you may want to master a module in a day but if it’s a toughie, then you’re simply not going to retain it. Focus on one concept at a time to fully get to grips with it. Divide your time up to the exam date(s) of what you’ll study each day so you aren’t overwhelmed with the entirety of the subject when you sit down to study.
This still applies even if you only have a couple of days until your exam. Still break things down as much as possible to increase your chance of retaining the info you need.
4. Set realistic study goals
It’s important to challenge yourself, but try not to give yourself unachievable aims for one study session. Set goals for when you should have studied a concept and test yourself upon review. Having mini tests in the lead-up to your full practice papers will help you set and achieve realistic study goals.
5. Get some sleep
Sleep helps with long-term memory, so get some Zzz’s for the future you sitting the exam. Plus, sleep helps you keep academic burnout at bay. Even if you have them in the form of naps, it’s better than nothing at all.
6. Sit lots of practice papers and questions
You’re going to need to practice those questions that’ll come up in your exam. By getting used to the style of questions and how you answer them, you’re more likely to recall this at the real thing.
Use your university library to print off those papers and get cracking. Just be sure to fill them out with a pencil or you’ll have a ton of printer costs. We don’t want that!
7. Make time for fun
You need a break in order to retain information and not get bored of revision. Make time for leisure to break up your routine. Set time limits for these so you don’t get too carried away binge-watching on Netflix though (we get the temptation).
8. Organise yourself before the exam
Before it’s time to sit your exam, have an idea of how long it is, how many questions there’ll be and how much time you think you will need per question on average.
Pack the right materials beforehand such as a black ballpoint pen (you’d be surprised how many people forget). Leave in good time for the exam and make sure you have a decent night’s sleep.
9. Manifest good results
Preparing is one thing, but really believing you’re going to do your best and get a good result does wonders for our mind. This can be tough if you’re feeling anxious about the exam, but worrying will only put you in a negative mindset. Manifest your best year yet by visualising yourself acing those exams!
10. Pull an all-nighter
Or you could just ignore everything we said and pull an all-nighter. Even though we advise on preparation, sometimes it’s just tempting to cram and we get it. Just read our guide on how to pull a revision all-nighter and what to eat for an all-nighter if you really must go down this route.
Don’t forget to take a look at our in-depth article on the best revision techniques, which includes advice on how to revise with flash cards and creating mind-maps.
So, how will you choose to prepare for your exams this upcoming season? We hope our tips for revising effectively help you achieve exam success!
