Year 11 GCSE Revision

Don’t… try to revise without a plan

Don’t…just highlight everything!

Don’t… just re-read your book/textbook

Do…test yourself

Do…use flashcards

Do…use graphic organisers

Do…get active Double underline key points from a topic in your prep book THEN Create a mind-map of key points Create flashcards using your mind-map Test yourself

9 Best Study Techniques…

When should you revise? There is conflicting evidence about what time of day is best to revise. Teenagers do have a body clock which means that they need longer sleep to perform at their best. Yet, our best ideas most often occur when we are fresh in the morning, before our will power is drained by making decisions all day. Effectively, it doesn’t matter when in the day that you do it, it is the quality and quantity of the revision.

How much should I revise? Like a good diet, the recommendation is to revise little and often. Our typical concentration span for tricky revision will be no more than 30 minutes at a time. Time yourself using your phone for two 15 minute bursts with a short break in between. TAKE A BREAK It is ok to take a break. It freshens you up to mentally begin revising once more. After 30 mins revision give yourself a 5 minute break and then go again.

How much should I revise? It is important the you leave gaps between revising different subjects on a weekly basis. You might revise French on Monday. So therefore it would be easier to revisit it Tuesday when it fresh in your mind, but revisiting it on a Friday will be harder; yet, ultimately that extra difficulty will mean your brain will remember it better. This is called the spacing effect.

In what order should I revise? Your memory works best when it is forced to mix up different subject. This is called interleaving. You need to get organised to do it, and it can feel a bit annoying, but it works far better than simply working on one subject all day or night. History Chemistry English Monday English ICT French Tuesday

Where should I revise? You need a nicely organised work space to revise. Working in clutter can prove both distracting and it can even sap your will power. Do you really need technology to revise? What about just using paper, flash cards and post it notes? We all struggle with the technology addiction. A quick email here, a quick check of Facebook there! Consider putting yourself on a ‘technology blackout’. The most successful 6th formers do it every year.

Do…use flashcards

Do…use flashcards

Do…use graphic organisers Task: Use one of the memory techniques/revision strategies to learn this piece of Physics revision or select revision for another subject.

Do…use graphic organisers