How to make the most of your revision time

Apr 3 2008 by Our Correspondent, Western Mail

LIGHTER evenings and the occasional bursts of sun between grey clouds are a reminder that the summer exams are not very far away.

If you have taken heed of the advice you have been given so far, you will be well on your way to making the most of your time in and outside the classroom.

If you haven’t yet begun this process of preparation, it’s probably about time you paid some attention to the following:

Go though your subject notes to find the gaps;

Highlight the topics you know less well;

Identify your priorities for learning;

Work out how best to attack your revision programme – not just when you revise, but how you revise.

In each of your subjects you will have covered the majority of the syllabus and practising past papers is probably a main feature of exam preparation. It is easy to assume that past papers are to be marked and forgotten about. 

However, you won’t be able to make good use of them unless you actively engage with their contents: from the way questions are phrased to how many marks are available.

Begin by looking closely at past papers for the exams you are taking. Scrutinise the instructions on the cover and take a good look at the questions themselves. You should work out:

How the paper matches up with the syllabus;

How it matches up to your notes and/or text book;

The time you have available for each section and each question;

The allocation of marks in each paper.

Think of the paper as a sequence of questions, rather than several hours’ worth of testing. This allows you to look at each question separately and relate it to your notes. It also puts you in a position to test yourself on a topic you have revised.

Choose a relevant question and write an answer without using your notes. Refer to your notes to help you identify what you didn’t know and write in what you couldn’t recall. Using a different colour is a simple way of distinguishing what you can recall and what you don’t remember. 

When it comes to papers your teachers have marked, avoid falling into the trap of looking only at the marks you achieved. You should also be thinking about whether you have lost marks because of lack of understanding about which topic the question referred to, lack of knowledge about the topic itself or lack of awareness about what you should have included in your answer. Working out the reasons for losing marks helps you pinpoint what you need to revise – whether that means revising factual knowledge more thoroughly or familiarising yourself with the way questions are worded. Above all, be aware that past papers are not just for the exam room. They provide a useful springboard for revision. Ignore them at your peril.

Felicity Kilpatrick, left, is Head of Learning Support at Christ College, Brecon