Exam Tips

How to Revise Effectively for Exams?

How to Revise for Exams Effectively

There’s one secret to exam success and first division. Revision! Revising for exams can be tricky. It can be easy if the revisions are correctly strategized. There are a lot of benefits to revision. When we look at the syllabus, we wish there was an easy way to revise for your exams. We often wish we could download all the answers inside our brains.

How to revise effectively before exams? Having short study sessions followed by short breaks is considered one of the best ways to learn. You read that right – it’s beneficial to take breaks. The brain processes information while sleeping so a well-revised topic will be easier to recall if you sleep on it. 

In this blog, we will read about more such interesting hacks and facts about revision before exams. The blog will tell the students how to revise for exams.

How to Revise for Exams Effectively?

1. Always be clear about your Grades & Goals

If you want to know how to revise for exams effectively, you should set clear goals for your studies. According to research, we should have clear goals set for our grades. 

It is a good indicator of improving grades by a great percentage. 

For students, setting goals has a clear advantage. However, some students question the necessity of it. We may believe that in order to pass with a high score, we need to work extremely hard and sacrifice sleep and recreational activities. 

If we will not have a clear goal we will not be able to put in the required hard work for revision.

You will have the following benefits by being clear about your grades and goals:

  • Having clear goals will make it easier to create a revision schedule 
  • Having clear goals on the grades you want to achieve, will help you to decide if you want to revise in granularity or skim through a chapter
  • Having clear goals keeps us accountable. When we set a goal, we’re committing ourselves. 

2. Choose a Quiet Place to Study

Preparing for exams and revising the concepts will work if we put in the time to learn and study effectively. While every student has a different method of learning and studying, a lot of us study and revise better with fewer distractions. Before sitting for revision ask yourself, “How can I find a quiet place to study near me?” If you are figuring out how to revise effectively before exams, ensure that you find a quiet place to study.

how to revise for exams

A few tips on how we can find and finalize a quiet place to study:

  • Firstly, ask what kind of student are you. Some of us like to have a little bit of white noise in the background while others prefer complete silence. 

Before deciding on what kind of place we want to study, we should ask ourselves: Do I want background noise? How long will I be studying? 

  • Comfort is essential. While setting up to study, regardless of the amount of time. When selecting the ideal place for peaceful study, in addition to being free from distractions, we should take the following things into account: A tidy workspace, sufficient illumination, and a comfy chair. 

3. Create a Separate Folder for each Subject

One of the revision tips to revise for exams is being organized!

Being organized is another way if you’re wondering how to revise for exams effectively. We should have separate folders for each subject. That folder should contain a subject’s study material, assignments, syllabus, etc. Having notes neatly stacked is one of the common exam tips for students.

We can decide if we want the folder to be digital or physical. 

We can purchase physical folders of different colors and put the subject label. A transportable accordion folder is also an option. These have a huge variety of styles, from those with just a flap that can be closed to those with a zip-up closure and label tabs built in.

We can also use apps to store our notes on different subjects. There are many apps that we can use to create different folders and templates to store our subjects’ respective material.

The best apps to digitize our notes are:

  • Notion
  • Apple Notes 
  • Google Keep

4. Prepare a Plan Based on How Long you Have

One of the revision techniques for students is planning and following it. Our revision plan will depend on how much time we have left for the exams. If you want to know how to revise effectively before exams, be clear on the timeline that you have.

Do we have a month, a week, or a day? 

If we have one month, a few days, or a night for exams to commence, we can plan to use the following tips to revise:

  • Time Management

Manage the remaining time for subject preparation and review. Do not repeat the same chapters over and over again; instead, skim through what you have revised.

  • Prepare Revision Notes

It is challenging to revise every subject before exams due to the extensive syllabus. Prepare brief and concise notes for the key points that you may quickly review in preparation for the exam.

  • Stay Calm 

We should not let stress overwhelm us.

We shouldn’t panic while revising for the exams. Yes, we might have a vast syllabus to cover up, and also there is a lot of burden of expectations. But, stress will make the revision difficult.

5. Determine the Gaps for each Subject before you Begin

We need to determine the weak subjects. We need to accept that there are certain chapters that we have not yet revised properly. There’s a lot of revision work required for exams.

Once we “accept” our current situation and the challenges that lie ahead, we will stop whining and begin trying to succeed in our weak areas. Focusing on weak subjects is how to revise effectively before exams and succeed.

A few ways how we can fill the gap in different subjects: 

  • Give weak subjects attention early in the day in your timetable or when their productivity is at its highest
  • Accept challenges along the way to excellence and keep going
  • We must create goals and move forward with the necessary actions. We will create a proper timetable that will help us achieve our goals 

6. Revise all Topics, One at a Time

Exam revision can be tricky. If you’re constantly searching for how to revise effectively before exams and are stressed by overthinking, you need to strategize. We have a lot of concepts and topics that need revision. A few complex topics need revision at a granular level. It can be a bit overwhelming and stressful. However, there are a few ways that can help us revise for multiple subjects easily.

  • Prioritize 

– List out all the concepts subject wise

– Write down the date of each subject’s exam

– Identify how important each topic is for our final grade. Find out the topic’s weighting compared to other topics

– Start revision of topics with the highest weightage to the lowest weightage

  • Start Early 

How to revise for exam? Start your day early. Effective exam preparation involves going over each topic several times, which takes time. Time management is crucial if you wish to revise well for several topics.

You strengthen and renew the neural connections in your brain each time you revise a topic (active learning). The more times you go over a concept, the more probable it is that you will remember it when the time comes to take the test.

7. Use Mind Maps

revision tips how to revise effectively

Study revision are the two common things that a student’s life revolves around during exams, Using smart strategies like mind mapping is how to revise effectively before exams without any stress. Exam schedules pose a typical problem for students all around the world. Deadlines seem to be hanging over everyone’s heads constantly. This problem can be solved by using mind maps.

Mind mapping tool is used when we are trying to study for tests. There are a number of issues that can be resolved using mind mapping. It contributes to making the process more positive and enjoyable.

Mind mapping includes the following practices: 

  • Improving memory

Mind mapping helps us store a tonne of informational tidbits and opens us to an entire realm of visual thinking. Using just a few terms, photos, and different stickers is a terrific approach to start studying for our impending tests. To make sure we can remember crucial knowledge during exams, we can divide down facts.

  • Organizing our Ideas 

One of the important study tips for exams is organization. Making a revision process by segmenting the tasks that need to be completed for each subject is an excellent mind-mapping technique. The secret is to break our work up into small pieces and connect them.

8. Use Sample Papers

The most common piece of advice our professors and coaches give us is to solve sample papers and question papers from prior years. Using sample papers is one of the best revision techniques. It is the solution to how to study a lot in a short time and how to study effectively for exams in a short time.

Using sample papers is a sure-shot answer to every student’s question- how to revise for exams effectively. People often claim that the more practice we put into anything, the better we can get at it. This guideline can be used to prepare for exams because it generally holds true for everything. Make sure to solve at least one sample paper if we really want to improve our exam-taking skills. This method will increase our confidence in achieving excellent marks.

A few advantages of using sample papers to revise and prepare for exams are: 

  • Helps to recognize the marking system

It helps us to quickly understand the marking system thanks to the sample papers’ adherence to the actual test format and marking scheme.

  • Smooth procedure of revision

It is crucial to analyze each chapter after finishing the course. It is possible only if we are aware of sample papers and their significance.

  • Increases the speed of writing

When we concentrate on sample papers, we form the habit of completing each question in a decent amount of time. As a result, our writing becomes faster, and have more time to concentrate on each question while also revising.

9. Track your Response Time

When we are practicing sample paper we should put a timer on. We should stipulate the standard exam time while we complete our sample papers. For example, if your exam duration will be 2 hours, solve the sample paper within 2 hours. Stop writing when the time runs out. Tracking your response time to each question is how to revise effectively before exams. 

We should analyze our pattern, in what concepts did we take more time than required. We can then go back and strengthen our concepts, revise and attempt the questions of that concept again.

10. Be well-rested before the Exam

Taking breaks is also a common answer to how to revise for exams in a short time. Constantly googling how to revise effectively before exams or mugging up the answers will not be as helpful as you think. If we have a big exam, the worry and tension leading up to the big day could affect more than just our minds. It may also have a physical effect on us. Common symptoms include sweating, nausea, and a pounding heart. Another stress-related negative effect that can lower your test score is poor sleep.

exam revision how to revise effectively

Unfortunately, getting enough sleep the night before an exam is one of those frequently ignored factors for many test-takers.

A few practices that we can follow to ensure that we are well-rested before the exams are:

  • Give yourself adequate time to rest.
  • Even on weekends, go to bed and get up at the same hours.
  • One hour before bed, stay away from noisy or stimulating activities.
  • At least two hours before going to bed, avoid heavy meals and beverages.
  • Avoid caffeine intake and junk food
  • Engage in physical activity every day, preferably outside.
  • Make your bedroom a distraction-free, calm space without any electronics.
  • Never take a snooze during the day for longer than 20 minutes.

Conclusion 

Too many people choose to study harder and skip sleep as their first line of defense against test anxiety. You won’t be able to study for an exam with this, and it might even work against you. According to studies, students who get more sleep perform better than those who remain up late to study.

A great exam score cannot be attained quickly. If you have a big test coming up, you need to keep in mind that you need to put just as much time and attention into taking care of your health and well-being as you do into learning the subject. Prepare a schedule, revise properly, and stay confident and positive!

FAQs on How to Revise for Exams Effectively

Q1. What is the best revision technique?

Ans. Revision techniques can differ from person to person. You can choose the best revision technique based on your learning aptitude and skills. Here is a list of revision techniques that have been practiced to achieve the best preparation:

1. Previous Year Question Papers
2. Mind Maps
3. Group Study
4. Flash Card
5. Active Recall
6. Summarizing Chapters
7. Revising Out Loud


Q2. What is the fastest way to revise?

Ans. The fastest way to revise is through active and focused studying. Organize your study material into smaller chunks, use mnemonic devices, and minimize distractions to maximize efficiency.


Q3. What is the blurting method for revision?

Ans. The blurting method involves recalling information without looking at your notes or resources. It helps reinforce memory by testing your knowledge and identifying areas that need more review.


Q4. What time is best for revision?

Ans. Some people are more alert in the morning, while others prefer studying in the afternoon or evening. Choose a time that suits your peak concentration.


Q5. How to start revising?

Ans. To start revising, organize your study materials, create a schedule, and set clear goals. Begin with a quick review, focus on challenging topics, and take short breaks to maintain productivity and motivation.

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