Where are you now? Where would you like to be?

What can you do about it?

Think about the answers to some of these questions.

What are my current levels and position?

Can I improve them?

Which subjects do I find difficult?

Do I know how to revise?

Am I working hard to achieve my targets?

Everyone can improve. With a bit of planning and active revision, you can do better.

Planning your revision

  • List all your subjects
  • Make a conscious decision to begin revision about three weeks before the exams
  • Look on the planner opposite and write down two or three subjects for each day. Give yourself one day off! Put different types of subjects together. eg Maths & French not Physics & Chemistry
  • On the next planner colour in 3 separate times each day when you plan to revise. No longer than 20-30 minutes each time.
  • You also need some leisure time!

Active Learning is the most Effective Learning

Reading for a long time will just

make you tired.

You need to listen rather than just hear and look properly rather than just see. Stimulate your brain and learn effectively by:

  • Briefly writing down the important points
  • Drawing diagrams and charts several times
  • Reading things out loud
  • Testing yourself or ask a friend or family member to test you
  • Use colour to underline or highlight important points
  • Make up mnemonics to help you to remember eg My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas helps us to remember the planets
  • Make your notes into pictures, charts or mindmaps
  • Try to teach someone else what you know
  • Ask your teachers for advice about revising their subject

Scientific study of people with good

memories has shown that some things

are easier to remember:

  • Things we understand and already know something about
  • Things we can organise into groups, lists and tables
  • Things in colour
  • Things we find funny or unusual
  • Things that are repeated
  • Things we are interested in
  • Things we can link together
  • Things in small chunks

It’s up to you – UNLOCK YOUR POTENTIAL!

Revision Timetable

WEEK 1 /
MON
/ TUES / WED /
THUR
/ FRI / SAT / SUN
SUBJECT 1
SUBJECT 2
SUBJECT 3
WEEK 2 /
MON
/ TUES / WED /
THUR
/ FRI / SAT / SUN
SUBJECT 1
SUBJECT 2
SUBJECT 3

The Exams!

So you have spent some time revising and have lots of colourful notes and diagrams to jog your memory. The exams have arrived.

Don’t panic! Everyone wants you do well and the exams are to find out what you know, not what you don’t know.

  • Do not be late – get up in good time and have something to eat, your brain needs food and water!
  • Be prepared – have a couple of pens and sharpened pencils, a rubber and a ruler. You may need a protractor, a calculator and coloured pencils for some exams
  • Listen to instructions and read the front of the exam paper so you know exactly what to do
  • Read each question carefully so you don’t miss the point. Answer exactly what it is asking, don’t just repeat the question
  • Write just enough to fit the number of marks, not too much and not too little
  • Do not spend time struggling with a question, go on to the next one. At the end go back and try the questions you have left out.
  • Keep an eye on the time so that you can attempt all the questions
  • Check your answers, especially calculations, and make sure that they make sense!

St Cuthbert’s High School

SUN
SAT
Time / 10 00 / 11 00 / 12 00 / 13 00 / 14 00 / 15 00 / 16 00 / 17 00 / 18 00 / 19 00 / 20 00 / 21 00
FRI
THURS
WED
TUES
MON
Time / 16 00 / 16 30 / 17 00 / 17 30 / 18 00 / 18 30 / 19 00 / 19 30 / 20 00 / 20 30 / 21 00 / 21 30

Study Habits

Different things suit different people. You need to know what

helps YOU to concentrate for at least 20 minutes at a time.

In general:

  • Be comfortable but not so relaxed that you fall asleep!
  • Have everything to hand so that you don’t waste time searching for books or pens
  • You might like to have some music playing (not too loud) but NO television!
  • Try to stick to your plan but don’t give up if you miss a day. Just go back to the plan again the next day
  • Do NOT copy out chunks from books
  • Take breaks between topics, get up and move about
  • Vary the type of work that you do in one day. Eg some maths practice, a revision website, a mind map
  • Stick up cards with formulas or facts on so that you see them often
  • Drink water!
  • Believe in yourself. You CAN do it!