Don't work more than you have to!

Don't have time for flash cards and mind maps? Not a visual learner? Try these fun and effective ways of revising for exams.

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The number of hours my friends put into making little coloured flashcards, illustrated mind-maps, and rewriting excruciating pages of notes at school always gave me some off-the-charts heebie-jeebies. Obviously this is all fine and dandy if you’re a visual learner, but if you’re looking to save yourself a huge amount of time and effort whilst still actively engaging with your revision, you might want to try something more mentally-orientated. Have your textbook/notes/documents open in front of you, but don’t look at them. Instead, split them up into categories and challenge yourself to give a little mental overview of each, ask (and answer!) questions, repeat key phrases, switch back and forth through different sections to refresh your knowledge as you go. It’s so much easier to embed stuff in your memory if you’re having a discussion with yourself – and don’t be afraid to speak out loud either! For my GCSEs, nothing worked better than repeating my notes back to myself in a Liverpool accent. A tad weird? Maybe. But it’s fun, it sticks, it works, and best of all, requires nothing more than a functioning brain and voicebox.

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