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Compact Oxford English Dictionary for Students

Quick Revision Guide

Although some college and university courses may be assessed just on coursework, there are many in which you'll be assessed by a combination of exams and coursework or by exams only.

If you know you'll be sitting an exam, give yourself enough time to prepare and revise. It also helps if you develop your own revision strategies: you'll become confident about what you know and feel more in control of the situation, and increase your chances of exam success.

Here are some suggestions to help you tackle revision. There's more information about writing in exams in the centre section of the dictionary.

Try not to think of revision as something you only do when an exam's looming. If you approach it as part of the overall learning process, and prepare yourself by keeping up with lectures, seminars, recommended reading, and necessary coursework, you'll find it easier to cope when it comes to exams.

Plan your revision. Everyone studies in different ways: some people like to write a detailed revision timetable setting out what they're going to revise and when, while others prefer a less structured approach. No matter which way you revise, it's still best to:

• begin revising in good time before the exam: don't leave everything until the day or night before.

• target your revision: it's simply not possible to revise and remember everything, so focus on specific topics.

Find yourself a suitable place to revise. This could be in a library, at home, or anywhere you can concentrate for a significant period of time.

Make your revision as proactive as possible to keep your mind alert. This will depend on developing your own study styles, but you'll probably find learning easier if you don't sit for hours just reading pages of notes over and over again. Here are some strategies and suggestions to help you to keep focused.

• Read through your coursework and handouts and identify and note key facts. You could photocopy essays or other coursework you've written and use a highlighter to mark important facts or short citations to support your arguments, or you could write brief notes summarizing key facts.

• Read through your lecture or study group and reading notes. Again, highlight or summarize key points, then collate these with the notes you've made from your coursework.

• Organize your information. Once you've collated these notes, you could summarize them on index cards, colour-code or list them according to likely exam topics, or make 'pattern notes' or 'mind maps' by writing a key word or phrase on a sheet of paper, and then jotting down more key words or phrases around this, with lines linking related topics.

• Look at past question papers. You could get these from your tutor, your college or university website, or ask in your library. Then:
• identify likely topics;
• familiarize yourself with the way questions are worded;
• find out what type of exam it will be and how long it will last: it might consist of multiple-choice questions, it might require short answers rather than essays, or it may be an open-book exam;
• practise answering questions under timed conditions: you could try answering one or two questions, or sitting a complete paper.

• Familiarize yourself with any books that you're allowed to take into an open-book exam. Do this in conjunction with thinking about core topics, key points, and likely exam questions, so you know in advance where to find the right material in the book to back up your arguments in the exam.

• Attend revision or other exam preparation sessions organized by your tutors. These are a useful chance to clarify key points about your course and pick up revision and exam strategies.

• Discuss your subject with other students. You probably do this anyway during your course, but it can be helpful to have a few sessions on particular topics in the run-up to the exam. You could also swap revision tips or compare notes about likely exam questions and how you could answer them.

• Make tapes or sound files. Some people find that reading their notes aloud and recording them, then playing them back is a useful way of learning. You could also try recording summaries of key points rather than all your notes.

• Invent mnemonics. These can be helpful if you need to remember key facts. Mnemonics usually involve making up brief easy-to-remember sentences in which each word or part of a word acts as a memory prompt: for instance, Richard of York gained battles in vain is a standard mnemonic for remembering the colours of the spectrum (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet). If you invent your own mnemonics, they'll be even more memorable.

Don't try to learn new information or do additional reading. Focus on understanding and remembering material that you've already encountered. If you've kept up with recommended reading you shouldn't need to do any more now.

Give yourself a break. Whether or not you write a revision timetable, factor in some free time. Most people find it suits them better to study in short bursts rather than revising continuously throughout the day.

Finally: try to get enough sleep; don't forget to eat; and try not to panic. If you've prepared yourself in the ways suggested here, you should be able to do yourself justice when you sit the exam.