One of the biggest challenges of exam season is scheduling revision according to your exams timetable. Especially since it is entirely possible that you will have multiple subject exams in one day.
Start by having your exam timetable in front of you. This will be the base of your revision timetable. The timetable will allow you to visualise the space you have in between exams.
Now that you can see this, schedule your revision in those spaces and divide your time accordingly between subjects for upcoming exams. I have purposely not advised you to divide your time equally. This is because for you, some subjects might need more time than others.
The art of prioritising is the key to success when revising in between exams, or even trying to manage the revision of multiple subjects at the same time.
Here is the definition of ‘revision’ from the Collins Dictionary – “read things again and make notes”.
Note, it does not state that it involves learning new things.
So, when you are revising, focus on reinforcing topics that you already know. You may touch on new bits of information which you learn, which is fine. But you shouldn’t be aiming to learn entirely new topics.
This is where prioritising comes into play. You should be prioritising the hardest topic, or the one you feel the least confident on. It is tempting to avoid this because it doesn’t feel good to struggle. But to get the most out of your revision, this is the way to make something you find hard a little bit easier.
This goes hand-in-hand with prioritising. Look at your timetable and make a realistic judgement of how much you will be able to cover during the space in between.
If you overload your plan, and do not take relaxation into account, your revision won’t be effective. It will also affect your state of mind and lead to stress which in turn, will affect the quality of your revision and exam performance.
Hopefully, these tips will help you think strategically and make the task less overwhelming. Good luck!
As part of the government’s move to widen choice in education, International GCSEs are now being taught in state maintained schools as well as in the UK independent sector and internationally. IGCSEs have been included in the Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) list of approved qualifications since 2009.
Similar to GCSEs, IGCSEs are accepted by further educational institutions world-wide, and in the UK. Unlike GCSEs, however, coursework is not compulsory, and assessment is by written examination at the end of a course of study. Whereas GCSE examinations must be sat in the UK, IGCSEs can be taken around the world in approved test centres.
At Oxford Open Learning we have developed a suite of new courses according to Edexcel IGCSE specifications so that our distance learning students are not held back by GCSE controlled assessment requirements, and can opt to sit their exams wherever they may live across the world.
Edexcel have recently announced that their specifications for Edexcel Certificates in English Language A, English Literature, and Mathematics A have all been accredited by Ofqual, the government’s qualifications regulator. These now join their existing portfolio of IGCSEs. This means that these subjects are now eligible for state funding and school results in these subjects now count towards school league table points. Edexcel are currently awaiting accreditation of their science courses: biology, chemistry, physics and general science.
At Oxford Open Learning we currently offer the following IGCSE courses:
We are currently developing IGCSE courses in Physics and Science and expect these to become available by September 2012.
If you would like to study for IGCSEs by distance learning, please contact us to discuss your needs, and one of our student advisers will be pleased to help you.
If you need to find an exam centre to sit your IGCSE exams, please see our exams pages to find out what procedure you need to follow.
If you want to check out your nearest exam centre outside the UK, Edexcel International will show you where to find it.