This document provides tips for effective revision. It recommends starting revision early with short sessions of 20-25 minutes each followed by breaks, rather than cramming. Revision should be done over an extended period with periodic review to best commit information to long-term memory. The optimal intervals for review are 10 minutes, 1 day, 1 week, and 1 month. Distractions should be avoided by revising in a quiet space. A variety of techniques beyond just reading should be used.

1. Why should I revise?
It’s BORING!

2. What’s the point of revision?
• You have obtained a great deal of knowledge this
lesson/topic/term/year etc
• Most people could not hope to remember every detail
of every lesson
• This is why we revise
• Revision is NOT about learning, its about remembering
• You should always make sure you understand
everything before you leave the lesson – otherwise
speak with your teacher!
• (if you miss a lesson you need to see them to ensure
you have covered the work)

3. Science specifics
• Everything you learn in KS3 you must know for
later years
• That means every minute spent revising this
year is a minute in preparation for your
GCSE’s/A Levels/Degrees!
• …As long as you remember the information in
the long term
• This is best done over a long period of time

4. KS3 SAT PAPER 2005

5. IGCSE PHYSICS MAY 2007

6. IB PHYSICS MAY 2006 PAPER 3

7. Don’t Cram: Start revising EARLY
• Cramming is where you try and revise a lot in
a short period of time and it does work in the
short term
• But you need all these details on the long
term so do a little revision more often is much
better
• It is much better to do 5 lots of 20 minutes
than 1 session of 100 minutes

8. When should you revise?
Start your revision early each evening,
before your brain gets tired.
DO NOT KEEP PUTTING IT OFF

9. How should you revise?
If you just sit down to revise,
without a definite finishing time,
then your learning efficiency
falls lower and lower,
like this:

10. How can you improve this?
If you decide at the beginning
how long you will work for, with a clock,
then as your brain knows the end is coming,
the graph rises towards the end

11. How can you improve this even more?
If you break up a 2-hour session,
into 4 shorter sessions,
each of about 25-minutes,
with a short planned break between them,
then it is even better.
Compare the next 2 graphs:

12. One solid session
4 shorter sessions
The yellow area shows the
improvement.

13. Suppose you start work at 6 pm.
You should decide, looking at your clock or watch, to
stop at 6.25 pm --and no later.
Then at 6.25 pm have a break for 5-10 minutes.
When you start again,
look at the clock and decide to
work until 7 pm exactly, and then
have another break.
This way, you are working more
efficiently, as the previous slide
showed.
For example,

14. How often should you revise?
Look at the graph below:
It shows how much your brain can recall later.
It rises for about 10 minutes …and then falls.

15. if you quickly re-revise after 10 minutes,
then it falls more slowly! This is good.
Analyse the new graph:
However,

16. if you quickly re-revise again, after 1 day,
then it falls even more slowly! Good !
Analyse the new graph:
Even better,

17. if you quickly re-revise again, after 1 week,
then it falls even more slowly! Great!
Analyse the new graph:
And even better still,

18.  10 minutes
 1 day
 1 week
 …and then 1 month.
So the best intervals for ‘topping-up’,
by reviewing or briefly re-revising
are:

19. Where should you revise?
What’s wrong with this?

20. Where should you revise?
What is better here?

21. Key points
• Start revising early
• Short sessions with plenty of breaks
• Quiet room with no distractions
• Try lots of different techniques – don’t just
read!
• Think about what you will achieve if you
complete all this revision