How Best to Approach Your Exam Revision

Ah exams, the most important tests that we ever take, the opportunity to show off our knowledge and what we have learned during our studies, my friend JD Dukes was studying for his law degree, he was one of those strange people who loved exams and he told me that knowledge isn’t power, revision is power. I guess what he meant was that the only way you could amass knowledge and keep it stuck in your brain was through revision and I guess he was right. The point is that even though many of us hate exams and studying for them, revision is absolutely key to your performance in exams and here are some tips to help you get the best results possible.

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Make a Great Plan

The best way to go about your revision is to make a timetable that you can follow, don’t be overly optimistic, plan 4-6 hours of revision each day and ramp it up to 6-8 hours the closer you are to your exams. You are always given enough time to revise and it is important that you use all of this time to revise gradually, don’t put it off until the end where you will end up cramming it all in the last few nights. That is not the best way to get great results.

Ensure That You Are Prepared

It is important to remember that during your revision time, your brain will naturally be looking to procrastinate, everything will look more exciting than doing revision and you need to avoid becoming distracted at all costs. One great way to avoid this is to ensure that you are fully prepared before you begin your revision with everything that you are gong to need, don’t give yourself an excuse to leave your desk, ensure you have pens, pencils, paper, calculators or whatever else you are going to need for your revision. Doing this will keep you at the desk and keep you focused on your revision.

Take Regular Breaks

People think that taking breaks during their revision is some kind of crime and that they should be dedicated to their revision for 12 hours straight, the truth is that this kind of revision is not going to help you. If you concentrate for long periods of time then your brain is going to stop absorbing information which will work directly against what you are trying to do. Taking a break every hour and a half for around 10 minutes will be great for your concentration, it gives you an opportunity to go to the bathroom or for a quick walk to refresh yourself. Ensure that you do only take 10 minutes, any more and your body will start to rest too much or you may find other, more exciting things to do than revision, and let’s be honest, there are a million things that you could find that will be more interesting than revision. Take breaks and stay focussed.

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