How to revise effectively
There is no way about it, revision is boring. Hours sat at a desk trying to cram information in is enough to make anyone crazy. No one wants to spend their evenings and weekends revising. More importantly, no one wants to spend all their free time trying to revise but not getting anywhere. Here are our top five tips to help make your revision effective and efficient so you can get some of that time back and pass your exams first time.
1. Create a revision plan
The most important thing when revising is to work out when you are going to revise and what you are going to revise during each revision session. This not only ensures that you cover all the information you need to in the time you have, but also helps to keep each session as productive as possible. Once you have blocked out time in your diary for revision, you can split these times into chunks which you can assign to each topic. One great trick is to add in a slot of ‘general’ revision time at least once a week to give you a chance to go back over those trickier topics.
2. Plan in downtime
Planning downtime into your diary is just (if not more) important as scheduling in revision. Breaks give your brain the chance to rest and subconsciously sort out all the information in your head. Knowing that you have a break will help you to focus when you are working. Depending on how you work best, you can either schedule in regular breaks to make sure that you have time to be social and keep healthy, or use breaks as an incentive to complete a certain block of work.
3. Understand your mark scheme
A big part of exam success is knowing what you need to know. It’s all fine and well knowing every single tax rule ever invented, but if you are not asked about this in your exam it won’t translate into marks and you may end up hitting the re-sits. Don’t get bogged down in the detail. Make sure that you properly understand the key parts of the syllabus and where you can get those ‘easy’ marks. These are the bits that will give you your pass. The ‘prize winner’ marks can be added later on once you have the basics fully under your belt.
4. Ask for help
It sounds really obvious, but if you don’t understand something, ask! Sometimes it can be really hard to ask a question, and sometimes you may have so many questions that there isn’t one question that sums everything up. Just remember that no question is stupid. If you are uncertain about asking, find a way that suits you – ask via email, ask at the end of a lecture or ask a more senior member of your team that you trust. When you have limited time to learn everything, don’t waste that time trying to work something out when you can get a quick and easy answer by making the effort to connect with someone.
5. Change it up
Keep your brain engaged in what you are learning by shaking things up: go on a revision walk – taking notes to talk through with yourself of someone else; read through notes or listen to a accounting podcast whilst you commute; try to explain something that you have learned to a family member or flat mate. The more different ways that you engage your brain, the more likely you are to remember that nugget of information for when you need it in your exam, not to mention that it is nice to learn and not be sat at your desk.
The most important thing about learning to revise effectively is working out what works for you. Don't worry about how other people learn. If something doesn't work for you, don't try to make it work for you. If you need to be alone, find a quiet space to work. If you like to chat about a new topic, find a study buddy. At the end of the day, you have control of your learning, so give yourself the best chance to succeed by working hard, reaching out for help when you need it, and most importantly giving your brain and body a chance to recharge between revision sessions.