Tackle Your Exams with Confidence: Our Top Revision Tips

We know that the exam period can be a challenging time. For some students, revision can be a stressful and difficult task. That’s why the Academic Skills team has created a list of top tips for revising to help you beat procrastination and tackle exams with confidence.

Revision Plan

It can be useful to create a revision plan to organise your approach to studying. You can use planners and timetables to help you structure your time and keep track of your deadlines. It can also help to set small revision goals to help you prepare. Why not try to make a list of all the different tasks you need to do to revise for a certain exam or deadline? These could include reading lecture notes, conducting research, or making flashcards. Then, implement these into a revision plan to help you stay on track.

Methods

Do you know how you like to revise? Do the methods you like help you to develop your knowledge and remember key points? The kind of revision methods you use can massively impact the outcomes from any revision you do. Experiment with different methods such as using cue cards, recordings, or mind maps. Pick the method which works for you, which might be a combination of a few different types. If you hit a wall in your revision, and nothing seems to be working, try different methods. You never know what might work for you!

Take Breaks

It’s important to take regular breaks when you are revising to allow yourself the time to process what you are working on. You can use timers to remind you to take a break if you often forget. You can also decide to take a break after revising for so long. For example, you might want to revise for 30 minutes and take a 5-minute break. If you can work for longer, you might prefer to work for 1 hour and take a 15-minute break. Some students can find revising for such a long period of time a real challenge, so don’t worry if you need to work in short 10-minute bursts with 5-minute breaks. Find what works for you and remember to be kind to yourself.

Calming Techniques

The pressure of exams can make revision a stressful time for some students. Try adopting calming techniques such as breathing exercises and visualisation to manage your emotions around revising and exams. This can help you to become more relaxed when approaching your revision, so it is a more positive experience and a chance to review everything you have learned and worked hard on so far in your course. Remember to take time to do things you enjoy as well, such as stepping outside in nature for a walk or talking with a friend. Whatever makes you happy, or calms you, can be a useful calming technique, so make sure to find time for these things.

We hope these tips will help you with your revision. The Academic Skills team are here to support you and have created a podcast on revision and exam preparation. In this episode you can learn more about the University of Chester’s Academic Skills Team, as a group of us discuss our top revision tips.