Exam Information for 2010 Candidates

Click here to see the exams timetable for 2010 & Early Lunch dates.

Tips for revising

Everyone feels nervous about taking exams. Here are some tips to help you make the most of your revision time and keep those nerves under control. Creating good conditions to study in can help you make the most of the time you spend revising. Here are some suggestions:

  • Find a quiet place to study and make sure you are sitting comfortably.
  • Make sure your desk is well lit.
  • Keep background noise to a minimum.
  • Avoid studying in an area where there will be distractions (like television!)
  • Have everything you need to do your revision to hand before you start.
  • Make sure that you are hydrated.

Different ways to revise

MNEMONICS - ROYGBIV - Red,Orange,Yellow,Green,Blue,Indigo,violet

Summarizing - By summarising a piece of text we should be able to reduce it to between 20-40% -a lot less to learn!

Teach a friend - Explain it to each other. Ask each other questions.

Mind Mapping - Our brain does not really work in a straight line, like reading sentences. It much prefers to see a lot of information at once.

Post-its around the house - Constant reminders will keep the correct information active in your brain.

Draw diagrams to represent text - Some people learn better by seeing things rather than reading things.

On-line revision - Visit sites such as SamLearning & BBC Bitesize to help you revise.

Time and memorising

If you try to memorise for 2 hours your brain can’t handle it. Four lots of 30 minutes with 5-minute breaks are ideal.

24 hours after you have memorised you will have forgotten about 80% of it. You need to revise the material 10 minutes after the memorising session, then 1 day later, then 1 week later and then 1 month later.

This means you need a revision programme - Don’t forget to include your relaxation time in your programme

The night before, on the morning and in the Exam.

  • Before the exam- good night’s sleep (stop working an hour before bed)
  • Eat something, and drink plenty of water!
  • Read instructions
  • Scan through paper
  • Answer hard questions first
  • Read each question twice
  • Read the whole question
  • Check each question as you go along- checking at the end rarely works!