Brandon Learning Centre: British Education - process, preparation and practicalities

The exam content may differ but the basic premise is the same; you study for a period of time, assemble the facts and techniques and attempt to distill your learning into a few short hours. One of the common consequences of this situation is a month of blind panic during which you know that you should be revising and can't think where to start. So here is an idea: 1; Acquire a copy of your syllabus 2; Go through the above, dividing content into three columns marked "confident I know this," "need to go over it," "not the faintest clue" 3; At this point, you will need to seek help with anything that falls into the latter category 4; For the remaining topics, start allocating revision time. Clearly, your focus is on updating your knowledge of the familiar but consecrating more time to the unfamiliar 5; Break down your time into realistic blocks (seriously, are you going to cane through a topic a night?) Factor in time-cushions for unexpected del...

I can't revise until... I've tidied my desk, sharpened my pencils, made a cup of coffee, rearranged my notes (continue ad infinitum) As Easter revision panic looms, the excuses build up, creating a wall between you and exam success. To misquote The Art of War; know your enemy. Identify whatever you do instead of revising and build it into your revision timetable. In scheduling your prevarication, you avoid running behind time which creates additional panic. Admittedly, a twenty minute block marked "tidy desk" looks less impressive than one marked "advanced mathematics" but this is the reality so name your demons!