Making best use of revision materials before exams

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Sometimes we’re bombarded with revision materials, often with two or three weeks to go until the exams, we just don’t have time to make our own notes, go through past papers and examine each piece of revision material. So, what should we prioritise?

Firstly, in my opinion, making your own revision notes is the most important thing. The process of making the notes ensures that the content can be memorised in a way that makes sense to you. My tutors are always saying, “Don’t use premade notes” as the only resource you take into the exam. Although it may be annoying to hear, it carries a lot of truth. Try to only use premade notes as a basis to make your own notes, this is step one of organising your revision.

Secondly, I’d try and do as many past papers as you can in the last few days of revision, for example, this may be on Monday if your exam is on Thursday. It gives you time to get your own notes completed and to use them to practice the types of questions that you’ll be completing in the exam.

If you’re only given one or two papers then this is a practical way to get through them, however, if you’re given a plethora of papers, then perhaps starting earlier than this will be more useful! Either way, make sure you do them. If you do not have time to do them all, then at least attempt a fair chunk. they’re so valuable and in my opinion a golden nugget in revision materials.

What else needs to be prioritised?

For me, going through the questions we’ve answered in the workshop is also extremely valuable. For my course, the exam questions are likely to be similar to the scenarios we’ve been given in class. If you’re short of time then just make sure that the notes you made answering the questions are up to date and if you have a little longer, then answer the questions again using your own revision notes. You should also make sure to cross reference the notes you made in class with what you wrote. It’s like doing a broken-down exam paper.

The other thing to prioritise for me, as I’m doing the LPC, is multiple-choice questions. We have 10 at the start of our exams, and so I like to make sure I’ve gone through all the available multiple-choice questions and written down any answers that I got wrong. This means that if or when something similar comes up in the exam I’m not panicking about it. Multiple choice questions can be an easy way to pick up marks, so in an open-book exam, why not take the answers to old questions in?

If you have more time to revise, fire away and do as much as you can. This is just where I always start, time is of the essence and deciding to fit these revision tips in can help ease just some of the anxiety before exams.