Items11The creator’s order
  1. 1Color-Coded Topic Checklist From the SyllabusColor-Coded Topic Checklist From the SyllabusStart with the official syllabus or specification, not your class notes, because it lists everything the paper is allowed to ask. Turn every line into a checklist and color each one red, yellow or green based on whether you could answer a question on it right now without notes. The value is in…0
  2. 2Distributed practiceDistributed practiceA spaced study schedule, planned backward from the exam date Write the exam date at the end of a calendar and work backward, giving each topic several short returns instead of one long session. Research on spacing found that recall was best when the gap between sessions was about 10 to 20 percent…0
  3. 3Past paperPast paperFull past papers under timed exam conditions Nothing else rehearses the real thing: the time limit, the mix of question styles, the stamina of a full paper and the decisions about which question to leave. Sit at a clear desk, set a timer for the official duration, put your phone in another room…0
  4. 4Past paperPast paperMarking past papers with the official mark scheme and examiners' reports A past paper is only half used until you mark it the way an examiner would. The mark scheme or scoring guidelines show which points earn credit and which wording does not, and that is often where points are lost, not in…0
  5. 5Mistake Log From Every Paper You MarkMistake Log From Every Paper You MarkKeep one running page per subject where every lost point gets a line: the question, what you wrote, what the mark scheme wanted and the reason you missed it. Sort the reasons into a few honest groups, such as did not know it, misread the question, ran out of time or knew it but did not say it the…0
  6. 6Testing effectTesting effectBlurting: writing down everything you remember about a topic Look over a topic briefly, hide your notes and write down everything you can recall on a blank sheet. Then open the notes, add what you missed in a different color and go again later with the notes and the first attempt hidden. A round…0
  7. 7Leitner systemLeitner systemQuestion-and-answer flashcards sorted into boxes Write a question on the front and the answer on the back, then test yourself and move each card. Cards you get right advance to a box you check less often; cards you get wrong go back to the first box, which you check every day. The science…0
  8. 8Varied practiceVaried practiceMixed practice sets that shuffle question types Textbook exercises usually give twenty questions on the same method in a row, so you never have to decide which method a question needs. The exam will make you decide. Build your own sets that mix problems from different topics, especially in math…0
  9. 9Self-Explanation of Worked SolutionsSelf-Explanation of Worked SolutionsTake a worked solution or a model answer and explain each step out loud, or in the margin: why this step, why now, and how it connects to something you already know. When you cannot say why a line follows, you have found a gap that silent reading would have hidden. It suits subjects where marks…0
  10. 10Timed Essay Plans for Long-Answer QuestionsTimed Essay Plans for Long-Answer QuestionsFor essay subjects such as English, history and religious studies, writing a full essay every night is too slow. Instead, take past questions and give yourself five to ten minutes to plan each one: a clear line of argument, three or four points in order, and the evidence or quotations you would use…0