Study Tips and Tricks

As I am heading into my end of semester exams, I thought I would share with my study tips and tricks that I used all through Year 11 and 12 and still now at Uni! 

First and most importantly is organisation! You need to understand when your exams are, in order to allocate an appropriate amount of time to the subject to revise.

After creating an exam timetable, I also form a study timetable. A way that I have found is very productive for me, is to study for 30 minutes and have a break for 10. I focus mainly on the subjects that have a higher workload to study, as well as the exams that I have first.

For example, for MOJ I have to study 12 weeks worth of content compared to 6 weeks for LSR and PSYC, and it is also the first exam I have. Thus it is the subject I am mainly focused on studying during my study week, and the other two I will focus more on after I have completed my MOJ exam.

Below is an example of my study timetable, and although it may seem very robotic and specific, it is very good at keeping me on track with my study, and also keeps me motivated as I get to cross off the boxes as I complete the study.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
09:00 – 09:30	MOJ	LSR	PSYC	MOJ	MOJ
09:40 – 10:10	MOJ	MOJ	PSYC	PSYC	MOJ
10:20 – 10:50	LSR	MOJ	LSR	LSR	MOJ
11:00 – 11:30	PSYC	LSR	MOJ	PSYC	MOJ
11:40 – 12:10	MOJ	PSYC	MOJ	MOJ	PSYC
12:10 – 12:40	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
12:50 – 13:20	MOJ	MOJ	MOJ	MOJ	MOJ
13:30 – 14:00	LSR	MOJ	PSYC	LSR	LSR
14:10 – 14:40	PSYC	MOJ	LSR	MOJ	PSYC
14:50 – 15:20	PSYC	PSYC	MOJ	PSYC	LSR
15:30 – 16:00	MOJ	PSYC	MOJ	MOJ	MOJ
16:10 – 16:40	LSR	MOJ	MOJ	MOJ	MOJ
16:50 – 17:20	MOJ	MOJ	LSR	LSR	PSYC
17:30 – 18:00	MOJ	LSR	PSYC	PSYC	LSR
18:10 – 18:40	MOJ	LSR	PSYC	MOJ	MOJ
18:40 – 19:40	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner
19:50 – 20:20	MOJ	PSYC	LSR	LSR	PSYC
20:30 – 21:00	LSR	PSYC	MOJ	MOJ	MOJ
21:10 – 21:40	MOJ	MOJ	MOJ	MOJ	LSR
21:50 – 22:20	MOJ	PSYC	LSR	LSR	MOJ
22:30 – 23:00	PSYC	MOJ	LSR	MOJ	MOJ

So how exactly do I study for exams? I find that the most efficient way to study is by using study cards or system cards. On one side I write a question or an area / topic of study, and on the other side I write the answer. Each subject has their own coloured cards, and on the top right corner of each card, I write the week that the information was covered for reference.

Once all of the study cards are formed, I study them. The subject cards are shuffled and I attempt to answer each of them correctly. Once I have attempted to answer them, they are separated into three piles which follow:

1. Completely Know
2. Know Parts
3. Don’t Know At All

From here, I write the answers out for group 3 completely into a book, as well as the parts I don’t know for group 2. Once this is done, I study group 2 and 3 again as I did before. I continue this until the entirety of the study cards for the subject are in group 1.

I have found that this is a very productive and efficient way to study, and it is super easy to carry around (which is super handy for me as I am moving between three different houses in the next week) as all I need to do is put the study cards into snap lock bags and bring the notebook with me as well as the study timetable.

Also, if you are someone that has to be listening to something while you study, but you find that usual music is distracting due to the lyrics, I have the perfect song / YouTube clip for you!

Study Music Alpha Waves is a 3 hour clip of relaxing music that stimulates productive study – and I can confirm this!

Happy studying xx