Academic Spotlight: Smart Study Strategies for Successful Revision

As our Year 11 to 13 students begin preparing for their mock examinations in January and as our younger students continue to build strong home-learning habits now is an ideal time to revisit what effective revision really looks like. Successful study is not about spending endless hours rereading notes. The most effective learners use strategies that help information stick, build confidence, and reduce stress.

Below are several evidence-informed revision techniques that students can start using straight away.

1. Retrieval Practice: Remember by Bringing It Back

One of the most powerful ways to learn is to actively pull information from memory.

• Close your notes and try writing down everything you remember about a topic.
• Use flashcards that force you to recall, not just reread.
• Quiz yourself or ask someone at home to quiz you.

This strengthens long-term memory and highlights what still needs work.

2. Spacing: Little and Often Beats Last-Minute Cramming

Learning is stronger when revision is spread out over time, rather than completed in one long session.

• Break revision into short, focused blocks.
• Revisit topics several times across days and weeks.
• Use a simple calendar or study timetable to schedule topics in advance.

Spacing builds long-term retention and reduces exam-season stress.

3. Interleaving: Mix Up Your Topics

Instead of studying one subject or topic for a whole evening, interleave them:

• Switch between different subjects
• Study different types of questions in one session
• Mix topics from the same subject.

Interleaving strengthens connections between ideas and helps students apply learning more flexibly in exams.

4. Dual Coding: Combine Words and Pictures

Students remember information more effectively when they pair text with visuals.

• Turn written notes into mind maps, timelines, diagrams, or flow charts.
• Use colour coding to highlight links between ideas.
• Explain a diagram in your own words to make sure you understand it.

Dual coding helps students recall complex ideas more clearly and quickly.

5. The Pomodoro Technique: Focus in Short Bursts

High-quality revision does not require long hours of staring at books.

• Work for 25 minutes
• Take a 5-minute break
• After four cycles, take a longer break

This method helps maintain focus and prevents tiredness and distraction.

6. Teach Someone Else

Explaining a topic to a friend, sibling or parent is one of the clearest signs that you truly understand it.

• Try explaining a topic in simple terms, then identify the gaps and revise again.

If you can teach it, you know it.

Revision is not about doing more. It’s about doing what works. By using small, consistent, high-impact strategies, our students can feel confident, prepared and in control as they approach their exams.