Our second revision tip for students preparing for their SATs and GCSE exams…….
Revision must be active, so how do you ‘actively revise’?
Well, an example of how NOT to revise would be to simply sit and read a textbook or revision notes (unless you have a photographic memory which very few people do!); that’s NOT active revision. It’s far too easy for your brain to wander off and think about something else even while you’re reading. You can read a page and then at the end of it not really know what you’ve read.
So what should you do to learn all those facts? First, read the page through in the revision guide/your notes etc and then CLOSE THE BOOK! Then jot down revision notes from MEMORY to summarise the key points. They don’t have to be neat or colourful, just scribble them down and then reopen the book and check you’ve got them all. This way you are forcing your brain to think, ‘what have I just read’? And if you read a page knowing you’re then going to jot down key points from memory you’re much more likely to think about what you’re reading! So give it a try and see how much more you learn that way, that’s active revision, making yourself really think about what you’re reading and revising!
