Revision Tips and Techniques

As you may be aware, The Daily Telegraph isn’t my go-to source for Education (in either the tightest or loosest sense of the word), but I did happen upon this set of revision tips and techniques they published a few years back (roughly 5 or 6 years ago). Although they’re a bit of a mixed-bag, the articles are relatively brief and to-the-point, so it’s possible you might find something useful that could be applied in either the short or long term.

In no particular order of relevance, significance or usefulness, these are the articles:

Top 10 last-minute exam revision tips:
Exactly what it says in the title – and while there are no earth-shattering revelations here, just a load (well, 10, obviously) of simple tips to help you come to terms with last-minute revision, the advice seems solid enough.

5 top tips for managing revision time:
Again, does exactly what it says: 5 simple tips to help students manage their revision time to best effect.

Revision techniques: how to learn complex concepts:
Break big ideas down into their individual component parts. Simple.

Revision techniques: The secret to exam revision success:
A number of simple tips and techniques to help improve memory and recall through revision.

Spider diagrams: how and why they work:
Spider diagrams (or Mind Maps if you’re planning to construct something much grander that includes diagrams etc.) are an incredibly useful tool that aids recall and planning in an exam. This short article shows you how to create them. If you want some AS / A2 sociological examples, you can find a selection by following this link.

Revision techniques: how to build a memory palace:
This technique, as featured in Sherlock, is not really something you’re going to pick-up as a last-minute thing, but it is a hugely-effective tried-and-trusted memory technique that’s been around for a long time. In basic terms, you make connections between related ideas by constructing a narrative around them. It’s not difficult, but it does require time to master.

The real test of learning? Not forgetting:
If you’re looking for a short-term revision fix this may be a little late. However, in the longer-term it’s an algorithmic process that uses a variation of the “spaced revision” technique that will stand you in very good stead once you’ve mastered it.

Revision techniques: How to learn boring facts:
Spoiler Alert: create mnemonics. And if you don’t know what they are, this article will show you. While I’ve always sworn by them – for reasons much too dull to mention – they’re not everyone’s cup of tea. But, on the basis you shouldn’t knock something until you’ve tried it…

Revision: from GCSE to A-level it is all about the scheme:
In a nutshell. Plan your revision. And if you don’t know how, this article has some tips and techniques to help.

Try to rise to the exam challenge:
A few simple tips focused on how to approach and handle revision, exam preparation and the exam itself. Nothing too revelatory, but every little helps. And if you’re reading this when you should be revising, you may find you need every little bit of help you can get.

10 ways to survive the exam season:

Some Very Sensible (this is the Telegraph, remember) ways to manage pre-exam stress.

Without giving too much away, one of these is sleep.

It’s so important we even made a film about it.

5 Research-Backed Studying Techniques:
This short article isn’t from the Telegraph but I thought I’d tack it on the end anyway, because it contains some useful study techniques (well, 5) to help you “avoid ineffective studying habits in favour of ones that increase learning outcomes”.

And you can’t say fairer than that.