Making a Revision Plan
What is it?
How to do it
A revision plan or revision timetable is a plan of
how you will make sure you are ready in time for
the exam. Its all about time management.
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Why do it?
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When you cook a meal, its important that everything is
ready at the right time. This takes a lot of planning and
preparation. So it is for exams. It won’t just happen,
you need to …..
Work out how much time you have available
Divide your subjects into topics
Divide your topics into the time available and fill it in on the blank
timetable
Try and vary what you revise each session
Remember to build in time to revisit topics already revised
Handy Hint
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Good luck from Mr Goodbold
and Mrs Wilson !
Useful links:
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Help available:
B10 at lunch time or in the library from 3-4 pm every day until the end of the mock exams.
If you need help, you only have to ask.
Be realistic with your time available
Make sure you block out social time and time spent
doing other things
If it isn’t working, rewrite it
When it works, stick to it.
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Get revising.co.uk
Revision tips - getting organised website
www.examtime.com (need to sign up but its free)
Blank revision timetable to fill in
ILKLEY GRAMMAR SCHOOL – REVISION TIMETABLE
3-4
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
4-5
5-6
6-7
7-8
8-9
HOLIDAY REVISION TIMETABLE
Morning
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Afternoon
Evening
A handy guide to revision
Introduction
Techniques
Revision is a key part of success.
You learn things, but then unless
you use the information you have
learned, you will start to forget
again. If you have
a test or exam
which tests your
understanding of
the learning, you
will need to revise the work.
There are lots of techniques to use which will help you revise. A combination
is best as different techniques are best for different types of revision. To
store information you need to move it from short term to long term
memory. Scientists have found that there are 4 main ways of doing this.
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Chunking—taking small bits and learning these a bit at a
time before piecing it all together
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Repetition (speaks for itself really, speaks for itself really,
speaks …… !)
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Finding patterns—linking together ideas so you can re-
call it more easily
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Linking to Strong stimuli—using pictures, colour, stoDuring the next
ries, etc.
few weeks we
will introduce you to a range of Different revision techniques, are particularly good for each of these.
different techniques. Try each
technique and see if it works for you. At the end of the series, we’ll send you the whole pack so you can
save it as an ibook.
1. Concept maps (or Mind maps)
What to do?
When might you use it?
Write important keywords and link
them together with a sentence to
explain their relationship along an
arrow.
When you need to summarise
and review a topic.
Use images and as much colour as
possible on your maps.
Storage method used.
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Patterns
Strong stimuli
Handy hint:
Scan your map into your iPad, phone, computer etc
and set it as the desktop background for a while.
More information at:
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How to mind map (youtube)
How to make a mindmap 12 steps
Mind mapping slide show
Mind mapping techniques (youtube)
2. Key words
What to do?
Identify key words in subject texts. Highlight/underline these key words.
Transfer these words to a summary shape.
Make a glossary of keywords with their
definitions.
Handy hint:
Write onto cue cards
Use lots of colour
Try using a summary shape (see above)
Storage method used.
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Strong stimuli
More information at:
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When might you use it?
For most revision
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Using keywords when revision physics (you tube clip)
Using keywords to prepare for English exam
3. Mnemonics
Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain
What is it?
Handy hint:
A way to turn information into
an easier to remember format.
Don’t overdo the
use of mnemonics.
They are very useful
on a few occasions.
What to do?
Use a type of mnemonic that suits
you:
Acronym—create a word with the first
letter of what you need to remember
Acrostics—ordered list
Rhymes and Songs—can be cheesy,
but very easy to remember
Storage method used.
More information at:
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Mnemonics for different subjects
The Electromagnetic spectrum song
Mathamia
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Strong stimuli
4. Active Learning
What to do?
What is it?
Handy hint:
You have listed keywords, made
mnemonics, constructed mind
maps. Now you must consider
how the information can be used
to answer exam questions. Eg a
Sankey diagram shows relative
proportions of energy transfers.
Thinking, understanding and connecting
the things you are trying to learn to your
existing ideas and knowledge.
Ask yourself …. “what have I
just learned?”, “how could I
use it to answer an exam
question.”
Storage method used.
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Finding patterns
Chunking
More information at:
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Active Learning—Some ideas for teachers
About active learning—useful article from Education
Scotland
A youtube video with some ideas to try
A video aimed at teachers but with some good ideas
to try
Reading University study advice to students
Active Reading—an article about making reading an
active process
5. Testing yourself
What to do?
Test yourself again and again on work that you
have learned with increasing gaps between tests.
Eg spend 10 minutes at the start of a revision
session testing yourself on what you revised
yesterday. Spend 5 minutes a couple of days later,
2 minutes a week later. You will be amazed at how
much more you remember.
Handy hints:
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If you can’t remember the information at any
point in the cycle, then re-learn it and go back to
start.
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Get your friends /family to test you
Storage method used.
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Repetition
More information at:
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A short video about the curve of forgetting
An entertaining clip from someone with a funny haircut
An article about curve of forgetting from flashcard Learner
The Ebbinghaus Forgetting curve - and how to overcome it
What is it?
A test for checking if your revision is
EFFECTIVE.
6. Auditory Learning
What is it?
Using listening skills to revise topics
Storage method used.
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Strong stimuli
Repetition
Handy hints:
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Your most valuable auditory resource is YOUR TEACHERS
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Talk about your work with friends
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Buy a music pillow and listen to your podcasts as you go to
sleep
How to do it
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Download podcasts to your iPhone or iPad.
Record your own notes to playback.
Use videos for audio learning.
More information at:
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A website looking at strategies for auditory learners
A useful clip looking at a number of strategies to try
Website looking at learning through auditory learning
A video clip looking at the theory of auditory learning and things to try
Another short clip discussing auditory learning techniques
7. Revision websites
What are they?
Many and varied sites exist to help with revision
in many subjects.
How to do it
Revision Guides can be bought from subject teachers or
from Amazon. You can not use websites alone to revise.
It is really important to check that Websites and revision
guides are compatible with the syllabus/exam board you
are learning.
Examples:
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Bitesize
My GCSE Science
Free Science lessons.co.uk
Maths Watch
My Maths
Khan Academy
Languages online
BBC History
S-Cool
GCSE PE Revision slide share
Our exam boards
OCR
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Edexcel
Drama
History
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AQA
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Everything else
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Business &Ecomomics
Citizenship
Health & Social Care (BTec)
ICT
Mathematics
Physical education
Storage method used.
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Strong stimuli
Chunking
Finding patterns
Repetition
Handy Hint
It is recommended not to use websites
too late at night—it disturbs sleep
patterns