OK, so nothing is 100%, least of all the guarantee that you can revise in such a way that you can cope with every eventuality in your exams. However over my years of exam-taking I have developed this method of revising and I believe it to be one of the best ways of making sure that your understanding and knowledge of a particular subject is as good as it can possibly be. Give it a try and see what you think. The method relies on having access to a number of past examination papers as well as any questions you were set as part of the course – the more you can get hold of, the better this method works. In scientific or mathematical exams it is also useful to have correct or ‘model’ answers to the questions, or at the very least to know the correct answers. Your lecturer or tutor should be able to help if you have any difficulty in getting hold of anything.
The ‘100% Revision Method’ works by condensing your course-work into a few concise pages of revision notes. Using only these notes to help you, you attempt answering some relevant questions on the subject. Every time you get stuck you make a note of the problem. As your problem list grows you ask your lecturer or tutor to help sort out the problems. Eventually you should be able to answer all available questions on the subject using only your concise revision notes. If you now commit the notes to memory then you should be in a pretty good position to answer the questions that come up in the exam. Sounds complicated? In fact it’s very simple.
Let me guide you through step by step:-
For each subject you will need two pieces of paper – one headed ‘Revision Notes’ and the other headed ‘Problems’.
Divide each subject into different topics. For example Physics topics could be Newton’s laws of motion or electrical circuits whilst topics in geography could be weather systems or market gardening etc.
Choose a particular topic to revise. Write an appropriate sub-heading on your two sheets. Now read through your course-work and textbooks relevant to the topic that you’ve chosen making ‘Revision Notes’ of the vital points. Also make a note of anything you don’t understand on the ‘Problems’ sheet.
Now attempt answering some questions related to the topic without looking anything up, i.e. under exam conditions. These may be questions you did as part of your course or they could be from past exam papers – preferably you should use a combination of both.
If you get stuck at any point then refer to the ‘Revision Notes’ for help. If you are still stuck having looked at the ‘Revision Notes’ then refer to your course-work or textbooks for help. If these help you then make a note of the points you found useful on your ‘Revision Notes’. However if you remain stuck and unable to complete the question then make a note of how far you’ve got on your ‘Problems’ sheet. Also note down the points you are having difficulty in understanding.
When you’ve finished a particular subject you will be left with two sets of notes. Take your ‘Problems’ sheet along to your lecturer, tutor or anyone else who could help you and go through the problem areas one by one until you understand them. Once you’ve sorted out the problems you can make another attempt at the questions, again making revision and problem notes where appropriate. Keep repeating this cycle until you have sorted out all your problems with the subject.
You should now be able to answer all the questions using only your ‘Revision Notes’ for assistance. All that you need to do now is to memorise these notes and you should hopefully be in a position to answer all the exam questions.
I personally have found this method of revision to be one of the most efficient and effective. Try it for yourself and hopefully you will find that it works well for you too.
Summary
Divide each subject into topics
Make ‘Revision Notes’ and note down any problems
Attempt to answer questions on the subject
When you get completely stuck make a note of the problem
Get someone to help you make sense of your problem areas
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