Suggestions to help you pass with flying colours:
- Start early and make a realistic revision timetable based on the time available.
- Choose a quiet comfortable area to study in. If you can’t work at home, go to your local library or a nearby relative.
- Concentrate on your weakest subject areas first.
- Revise in blocks of 45 minutes and then have a break for 10 minutes. It is not good to revise continuously without stopping.
- Simply reading your notes or textbooks does not help you to remember. As you read, create your own set of revision postcards. They can be used for brief notes, spider diagrams, pictures, lists of key words and your acronyms for key ideas (an acronym is made from the first letter of each word for example NATO = North Atlantic Treaty Organisation).
- Practise writing to time by using questions from past exam papers. This is a great confidence builder and helps you practise planning an answer. Try to think like an examiner and make up questions.
- Revision aids can help, but just buying the book does not mean you have done the revision!
- For subjects like history you do not need to remember every single date. Concentrate on the important ones and why they are significant.
- Sometimes work with a friend/member of your family. Go through a difficult topic and test each other.
- Avoid people who might be panicking and don’t believe those who say: ‘I haven’t done any revision!’
- Have a good night’s sleep before the exam and don’t stay up late cramming. Read through your revision cards and then relax at home.
- Keep your energy levels up and eat breakfast on the day of the exam.
Good luck!