When you’re preparing for your GCSE exam, you’ll no doubt hear the term revision what seems like endlessly. It can feel as though you should be spending every waking hour revising for your upcoming exams. But doing too much can leave you feeling stressed and feeling as though you’re unable to retain any more information.

So, how much revision should you be doing?

It’s a difficult question to answer. If you’ve put in the work over the last two years in the lead up to exams, revision should simply be to refresh your memory, get you used to exam conditions, and spend some extra time on those topics that your= struggled with the first time. For most students, doing a couple of hours a week on each topic outside of school in the month beforehand should be enough to get you to were you want to be.

With excellent revision techniques, it’s possible to focus your revision sessions to get the most out of them. Remember, working in short burst is often better for being able to recall memory rather than slaving away over books for hours on end. As a result, starting early and planning out what you’ll cover when can really help both in terms of what you achieve in revision and for your sanity.

If you’re trying to make the most of your revision without having to commit what feels like hundreds of hours to get the results you’re predicted, be sure to follow these steps:

  • Attend all the revision sessions that your school plans. To provide support, schools will usually offer sessions that you can voluntary attend. It gives you an opportunity to find out where you’re going wrong and what you should be focusing on.
  • Create a plan and stick to it. If you want to spend less time revising, planning out what you’ll do and the resources you need is essential. Make sure you spend your planned revision time actually revising, don’t make excuses or create distractions.
  • Hone your exams skills. You can lose vital marks that could mean the difference between grades if you’re exam skills haven’t been practiced. Trying building a weekly practice paper into your plans so you’re ready for the day.
  • Create easy to follow notes. As part of each exam session, create notes that you find easy to follow, whether that’s bullet points or a mind map, allowing you to go back and jog your memory with just a glance.