Revision

Yawn. Even the word revision is boring! I really don't see how people can sit for hours in a quiet, darkened room to revise constantly for one subject. I'll be honest, when I was doing my GCSEs I did little to no revision for my exams and my results came out as seven As, four Bs and three Cs. These results got me into sixth form but no way was I prepared for the huge jump GCSE to A-level is. I'm not going to sit here and blog about why people shouldn't do A-level's but I think year eleven's need to be warned about the gigantic work load and the amount of stress you are under all the time before they choose their subjects.
Throughout school I'd managed to get high grades and succeed so going into sixth form, I had high hope of potentially pursuing a career in medicine either being a doctor or orthoptist. If you know me, you'll know I have now applied to university to study Primary Education and if your thinking that I've had to resort to plan B because of failing exams, that would be a fair point to say but I've always enjoyed working with children and when visiting universities I decided teaching was a better course for me to pursue due to little or no exams. You might think I've taken the easy route by choosing a course without exams, but through all my school life I have always excelled in coursework so therefore Primary Education is the perfect course for me (but I am afraid that in three years, I potentially could be in charge of a classroom of thirty children).
I have a variety of revision strategies that get me through the exam period but the one that proves the most successful for me is making A3 posters. It may sound pointless having posters stuck up all over the house but it does help. When the posters are up in my room I can refer to them before I go to sleep, when I wake up or just when I'm in my room tidying, like today. On the other hand, you may not want school work plastered all over your bedroom walls as it can be relatively depressing; but even when I don't put the posters up, the act of rewriting information helps me remember. I myself am a visual learner and understand a lot more when I have colour-coded diagrams and "stories" to just learn word for word so making posters help.
Since being in sixth form, I have realised I am a very particular student and like things neat, colour-coded and tidy. This is why all my folders in sixth form contain dividers, different coloured pens for the more important points and coloured diagrams although I really dislike drawing. Being organised in sixth form really does get you through and during A2 I have found my grades have improved a lot since AS. After AS results day, teachers tell you it is usual to retain the grade you received or go down a grade, well this really dampened my mood when I had Ds at AS. However, I have managed to go up two grades in Biology now which has made me determined to drag the rest of my grades up. Proud of myself!

Summer 2012 Exam Timetable

A selection of revision posters for English Language

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