If you’re a GCSE student before you can get into the holiday spirit and start thinking about spending the summer on the beach with your friends and family you need to get through your exams.

As soon as you return to school after the Easter holidays you are officially in the business end of the school year and its time to start preparing for those all-important GCSE exams.

Developing an effective revision strategy is key, just by putting in those extra hours during the revision period you’ll find yourself in a much stronger position when it comes to sitting exams and trying to get the grades that you hope to achieve.

Create a revision timetable

The most effective revision tool that you can use is a revision timetable. By having a concrete schedule you’ll be able to plan your time appropriately and ensure that you have enough time to cover all the topics that you need to know inside out.

Without a comprehensive timetable it is easy to neglect certain topics and if those are the ones that come up on the exams you’ll be kicking yourself.

Don’t overdo it with you timetable. Be realistic. You can’t revise for 10 hours a day without a break, it just isn’t healthy and after a few hours you’ll find that your brain doesn’t absorb the information. Make time for regular breaks and give yourself the weekends off. You’ll be in a much better frame of mind if you have had time away from the books to do things that you enjoy – just remember that getting the right balance is key.

Develop revision cards

Revision cards are a fantastic way of learning certain facts and formulas that you need to know for exams. All you need to do is purchase a set of cards from a stationary shop and then start crafting diagrams and writing other important information that you need to retain.

If you are bit more of techy person, you could consider creating your revision cards online and then refer to them using your phone, tablet or computer.

Your brain will retain a lot of the information as you write but it is important to regularly refer back to these to ensure that you gain a comprehensive understanding in time for your exams.

Many people tend to just stick revision cards around their home but they neglect to test themselves. Getting a member of your family to quiz you on certain topics is a fantastic way of being able to identify your strengths and weaknesses. It may seem like you have enough exams coming your way but by being able to highlight your weaknesses you’ll be able to work on them in time for the exams.

Start early

Don’t wait until your school allows you to officially start study leave before you open a book. The last thing you want is to leave your revision until the last minute.

You have countless subjects to revise and they’ll all include extremely in-depth examinations, so cramming everything into your brain I such a small space of time is near enough impossible.

It makes much more sense to start early so that you don’t have the added stress of worrying about not having time to cover all the topics that you need. Many students find that the perfect way to get a meaningful head start on their revision is to attend an Easter revision course. You’ll be working in a classroom environment with a teacher who will be able to help you with certain topics that you may be struggling with. Ultimately you should complete the course feeling a lot more confident about your abilities in particular topics and often it can help to push you up to that next grade boundary.

	Created by James Timpson about 9 years ago

Preparing for any exam requires a huge amount of revision time. Follow these steps to conquer your subjects.

Business End of the School Year for GCSE Students