10 Tips for how to revise for exams for A/A* students

Here are ten revision tips you can apply when studying GCSEs, A-levels, IB or undergraduate exams.

For economics resources, check out the blue buttons below:

1. Understand the three steps in the memory process

It’s worth learning a little about the science of learning if you are not already familiar with it. For example the process of memory has three stages: encoding (new information enters your brain), consolidation (commit info to long-term memory) and retrieval (recall the info). This will help you to think about how best to revise. 

The process of learning or memory has three stages:

• Encoding = new information enters the brain.
• Consolidation = information enters long-term memory.
• Retrieval = recall information from long-term memory into working memory.

Remember this framework. We will use these stages below to discuss more revision tips. 

2. Learn to encode

One way to encode is to learn the content in steps. 

You should not use rote memorisation for concepts that you do not understand.

For example, just copying the textbook or reading the whole text over and over is a mistake – this can prove inefficient.

Let’s suppose you have a page of a textbook.

To make notes on this page, I suggest first reading the textbook, while skipping over and note any elements you do not understand.

Then keep repeating until you run out of content to skip over. Finally you can try to recall the content from memory and fill in any gaps. 

This is a much better process. Why?

• The partial reading of a page helps give a framework to your mind. You can then slot in extra concepts into this framework and form better connections between ideas.
• Reading a page multiple times over and copying means a lot of the content won’t sink into your long-term memory. 

In short you are trying to create your own understanding of the content.

This is better than the arbitrary way the textbook has laid out the content, as it allows you to understand the content in the way best for your own brain.

3. Create patterns

To create more links between content, you can create patterns and reorganise content.

Some examples of ways to do this include:

• Mind maps for notes or past paper questions.
• Notes in unique formats, for example in the form of a news article.

Creating patterns in the content we need to know makes it easier for the brain to remember, as the information becomes more meaningful and you can develop connections between things you already know. 

4. Chunking / scaffolding

Related to the above is the importance of chunking / scaffolding. By breaking down information into various chunks, this allows students to understand the most important information. It also helps to see how this information fits into the bigger picture.

These techniques help to prevent “information overload” for students and to home in on the key points.

5. Consolidation and retrieval – the forgetting curve

The forgetting curve hypothesis (a theory created by Ebbinghaus) is a graphical way of expressing the following:

“people tend to forget more of what they learnt, as time progresses”. 

To keep content in long-term memory and for longer, one needs to “interrupt” the forgetting process. 

Here are some strategies to do this:

• Active recall – practise the act of retrieving content from your long-term memory. For example write questions for yourself, get a friend to test you, write flashcards or do practice questions (see point 6.)
• Spaced repetition – revise content in spaced intervals. For example on day 1 you could cover one topic, then on day 8 (one week later), return to that same topic. 

By interrupting the forgetting curve, you can slow the rate at which you forget content according to the theory.

Note with spaced repetition, some time between revision can be optimal. Making your brain do some hard work to remember can strengthen the memory. Of course not too much time should be left in between intervals, as this may lead to complete forgetting.

6. Practice questions and tests, even testing yourself

Doing practice questions and tests helps students do better than those who do not do such tests, all else equal. 

For evidence on this, see for example Adesope, Trevisan and Sundarajan (2017) on practice tests.

This means you should use past papers, practice papers, practice questions or any questions you can get a hold of. 

What if there are no practice questions? I recommend either creating your own or getting a friend to ask each other questions.

7. Writing items out by hand

Writing at least some things out by hand can sometimes help encoding and to practise retrieval. This method is often better than typing out notes.

8. Use mnemomics / acronyms

Use of mnemonics or acronyms  (a sentence or word  to help remember a concept)  has been shown to help improve learning. See the link here for more information on this.

A classic example in economics is the “SPICED” acronym: a Stronger Pound makes Imports Cheaper and Exports Dearer. 

9. Good general habits

This includes the obvious but important things like exercise, eating healthily and sleeping well.

Also having a good group of peers who are working towards the same goal can help.

The ability to focus and undertake so-called “deep work” is also important. Eliminate distractions, which can include not just texts, social media and games but also many types of emails.

10. Avoid common techniques with low utility

Copying and highlighting are not very effective strategies on average, according to studies. 

Instead it is better to make notes from memory. Even if the notes are not perfect, it is much better than copying things you won’t remember. It will also highlight areas to return to later on, when you compare it to say a textbook.

Related Posts

For resources relating to A-level Economics (AQA / Edexcel) or Economics university applications, check out the links below:

References

CIRL 

Erevision UK 

NCL revision tips

Miscellaneous other sources.

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