Revision Guide 2025

MAKE YOUR REVISION ACTIVE

Active revision Active revision involves doing something with the information you are learning – such as, making connections between concepts, creating diagrams, retrieving learnt information. Here are some examples.

Make passive revision active! Passive revision involves consuming information through reading or listening, such as reading notes, listening to lectures or highlighting important information in texts. These are not effective ways to retain and retrieve information in the long-term. Turn passive revision into active revision by, for example, using the Cornell note taking method while you read. Test yourself afterwards by covering up the notes and answering the questions or by writing an index card without reference to your notes – add any detail you missed afterwards.

MAKE FLASH CARDS PLAN EXAM ANSWERS CHU-NK-ING LISTS of information Create new revision material e.g. by converting notes to diagrams

Write exam ANSWERS then edit them using the mark scheme MAKE MNEMONICS Kingdom Kings Phylum Play Class Chess Order On Family Fine Genus Gold Species Sets

CORNELL METHOD EXAMPLE

Title

EXPLAIN A TOPIC to someone else or draw a mind map and fill in any extra detail afterwards

Main topics, questions or ideas

Notes & Key Thoughts

NB: But make sure these are worth the time and are not becoming displacement activities.

Active revision is more engaging and helps you: • Form strong memories of the information • Re-assess information you think you know • Save time and give you more time to relax

Summary

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