Plan Ahead

Read through what you have done during the day (at school) that evening and/or before you go to your next lesson. Not many students do this, but research shows that it really helps you to remember better, and helps you to come to lessons more prepared and more able to link the new material to the old.

Make revision material (throughout the year) - but just in small chunks. For example, take one AS/A2 topic and put a question on one side and the answer on the other - such as, "Give 3 advantages of cotton over wool", or "Give brief details of 2 key inventions in spinning or weaving", or "Give 3 reasons why cotton was (or was not) a lead industry". These cards take very little time to do, help you to interact with the material and can form the basis of your final revision, thus saving you time in the future.

Try allocating one free period a week to do revision - you'll be surprised how much you can do.

Create Resources

Timelines

Timelines can be helpful - especially for History. They are invaluable for making sense of a series of events, because you can trace improvements, factors etc. Pin them up in your room or on the loo wall!

Alternatively, for English Lit or languages (for example), pick a key character and do a series of cards with evidence of their characters action or a useful quotation. Put these chronologically so you can trace development.

Draw key theme cards, style cards etc. with evidence. You could draw a timeline for each book or play that you're studying and superimpose a tension graph where lines rise for more dramatic events.

Annotations

For poems, you can blow up the poem (photocopy and stick them on large paper) and annotate it in different colours for content, and various stylistic ideas. For books and plays, chapter or scene synopses can be useful (4 points will do).

This can also be useful if you own your textbooks- you can highlight key points and ignore the waffle if you're struggling and write down helpful notes on how to remember things.

Cue Cards

Note/cue cards are always handy for when you're out and about. List definitions and rules you need to know. Or write key words from which you can fill in the gaps to tell the whole story.

These are also (very!) handy for learning language vocabulary. You can buy index cards in any good newsagent that will be a convenient size once cut in half, or buy ready made ones. Business cards are also good. Once filled in, these cards will allow you to reclaim time that would otherwise be wasted - on the bus, in the queue at the supermarket - there's no limit.

Mind Maps

Mind maps (I'll use philosophy as an example) Plato ----> arguments/analogies (e.g. forms/cave) ----> draw links ----> work things out ----> show criticisms etc.

Get an A3 piece of paper - divide into four parts. Then, for example, make four headings e.g. Hume, theory, good things, bad things; Aristotle, theory, good things, bad things etc. For the latter you could have under theory his four causes: material, efficient, formal and final (MEFF) etc.

Mini Revision Booklet

Take the topic heading for your subject and a few pieces of paper and then attempt to write concise summarys containing key information under each. This is a useful way to see what you know and create a resource that is easy to underdstand.

It is important that this is done completely from memory towards the end of your revision. Points you miss out can be put in an appendix section called 'points to remember'. Don't forget you're not writing a book - this should use up no more than 10 A4 sheets (both sides)

Past Papers and Questions

Practice Essay Writing

Perfect your essay technique. Good spelling and grammar helps too.

When attempting past papers, always answer the question! It might sound fairly obvious but many people just narrate the story. Examiners are assessing your ability to show historical reasoning. Always reread the question at the start of every new paragraph. Make a brainstorm/mindmap of the major points you want/need to cover in your essay. Make sure your points are relevant. Try not to waffle.

Never say 'I think' (unless you're studying something like Philosophy where personal evalutaion is paramount) - they don't care about your opinion! Use phrases such as 'the evidence suggests' or 'this implies that...'

Don't assert - demonstrate.

Be analytical and evaluative.

Structure your essays - e.g. intro, 4/5 paragraphs, conclusion. Start and finish every paragraph with a topic sentence relating to the question. Make links.

Key sentences - an interesting intro - a clever conclusion (with a twist?) - use historical hindsight. Use evidence well. Don't be afraid to criticise.

Listen to the points your teachers/friends/parents make - write them down so that you have a really comprehensive range of notes to revise from.