Exams: Study Skills

Active revision

Revision is more effective when you engage with the material by making your techniques interactive. Active revision involves practising recalling information. This closely reflects the cognitive process you will do during exams.

Why? Passive revision techniques (e.g. rewatching lecture recordings or reading your notes) may help you to feel more familiar and recognise information; however, this does not ensure you can recall the information. Active revision will improve your ability to recall information. In your exam, you will need to be able to recall and apply the information to answer the questions.

Spaced repetition

This method of revising requires you to recall information with time intervals between study sessions. Spaced revision involves practising active recall. When you make a timetable or plan for your revision schedule, include spaces between study sessions on the same topic. You need to find a balance between having breaks between studying and not waiting too long to revisit the content. Different intervals will work for different people, so it can take some practice to find what suits you. 

Top tips for spaced repetition

• Divide your revision into smaller sessions focused on different areas.
• Revisit ideas, concepts or content in multiple revision sessions.
• Use a paper or digital calendar to plan your spaced revision sessions.

Why? Through allowing gaps between revising topics, you are increasing the challenge of recalling the information. By adding this challenge, you better the chances that the information will be encoded, allowing you to recall it during the exam.

Rest breaks

Make sure you have regular rest breaks when you are revising. Rests can help you recharge, relax and focus. Try to leave your study space for your break – take a look at our ideas for breaks below!

Why? When you let your mind rest or wander, your brain is often consolidating memories. A break keeps your brain healthy, helps your cognitive abilities and reduces stress.

Ideas for study breaks

• Try the Pomodoro Method.
• Leave your study space: you could get outside, go to a different room or move to a different part of campus.
• Try a short burst of exercise or a walk: even gentle physical movement can improve attention and memory.
• Take a short nap: 20 minutes tends to be a beneficial length.
• Rest your eyes: this is especially important if you have been staring at a laptop whilst revising.
• Have water and a snack.
• Read or listen to something fun and unrelated to what you are revising.
• Make a quick phone call: chatting to a friend or family can help you recharge.

Getting good quality sleep

Sleep is critical for your wellbeing, recovery, cognitive function, and memory.

The NHS provides helpful guidance on how to fall asleep faster and sleep better.

Making a revision plan

Planning and organising your revision can help exams feel less stressful! The first step is to make a revision plan.

Steps to take to make a revision plan

1. Make a list of all your exams.
2. List how much revision each exam needs.
3. Work out how much time you have until your exams.
4. Do some background reading about the exam topic.
5. Once you have this information, you can begin to break down your revision topics into manageable chunks.
6. Decide if you would prefer to plan weekly or longer term (i.e., on a monthly basis).
7. Create a planner! If you prefer to plan weekly, you might want to use our Weekly Planner Template. If you prefer to plan monthly, a Gantt chart could be helpful; this Gantt chart example charts the path to write a PhD thesis, but you can customise Gantt charts for any academic or work project.
8. Add your revision chunks to a Weekly Planner or Gantt Chart.

Top tips to make your revision plan successful

• Start revising early! Several study sessions with breaks over a longer period can enhance retention and long-term learning.
• Track your progress! Highlight and cross off what topics you have covered on your planner.
• Remember to be realistic in your planner! Include other assessments, breaks, sleep, relaxing and other commitments in your planner.
• Develop a strategy! Try draft skeleton essays for written exams. Work out planning and drafting time. Use the marking scheme to plan your strategy. 

Getting familiar with the exam

You may find it challenging to know what to focus on for your exam and what topics to cover in your revision. To get to know the exam, there are some things you can do to target your revision and feel more prepared.

Anticipating the exam's contents

• Find out what types of questions there will be in the exams (e.g. essay questions, multiple choice, open book, short answer).
• Take a look through the marking scheme (look on the Blackboard course page or talk to your lecturer).
• Look at clues from your course and what topics you covered throughout the modules.
• Look at the lecture materials, course reading and learning outcomes.
• Look at past papers via the Past Exams database.

Readying yourself for the logistics

Finding out the 'nuts and bolts' details will ease your mind and help prevent any bad surprises on the day. Determine the following information:

• Exact date and time of the exam.
  • Add this to the calendar you most use. If you add it on your phone, consider setting reminders/alerts for the week before, day before, and morning of the exam.
• Where the exam will be.
  • If the exam is in person, find out the location of the campus, building and room.
  • If the exam is online, find out if you need to access any software, and make sure this is downloaded in advance.
• How you will travel to the location (if in person).
  • Figure out where you will be before the exam, and factor in enough time to get from there to the exam location. Include ‘buffer time’ in case there are any delays, such as a late or cancelled bus.
  • Arriving early will give you time to relax, stretch, and breathe beforehand.
• What equipment you need.
  • Make sure any items you intend to bring into the exam, such as calculators or dictionaries, are approved in the university's Assessment Regulations.

Revision Techniques

There are a lot of different revision techniques to try. You may find you use a combination of techniques or a specific technique for different types of exams. Keep reading for more, or click a technique to jump immediately to that section.

Test yourself

When: This type of revision is often helpful for exams with written answers. This could be either with questions that require a sentence or a couple of paragraphs or for essay-based exams.

Why: This technique tests your time management for the exam. It enables you to practice expanding on bullet-pointed notes or other planning techniques to develop full sentences and paragraphs.

What:

• Use past papers: take a look at Past Examination Papers or examples on Blackboard.
• Write down questions that test your knowledge, and practice answering them.

How:

• Check you understand the ‘command’ words in the questions. Take a look at Understanding Command words in exams to familiarise yourself with the meanings of the different command words. 
• After completing, check for any mistakes – you could use examiners report. Use to identify areas with which you are less confident.
• Add to or clarify your practice paper. You could use a different colour font or pen in this process.
• Repeat these steps!

Teach someone else

When: This technique is useful when you need to understand complex concepts.

Why: Teaching them to someone else can help clarify your thoughts and identify gaps in your knowledge.

What:

• Explain to someone else about the topic or concept – this could be friends, family, or a pet.
• Pretend to explain it to someone else.
• Record yourself explaining it to someone else.

How:

• Explain the concept or process.
• Try to do this first with your notes and then without.
• Check how accurate you were and if there was any information you missed.
• When you rehearse this, you can continue to add detail.

Flashcards

When: This helps most when you are trying to remember subject-specific information for content-heavy exams (e.g. dates, historical figures, terms, processes, equations, definitions, formulas, theories).

Why: Flashcards are a useful way to test your knowledge or memory of facts and information.

What:

• You could create physical flashcards or digital flashcard with tools like Quizlet.
• Find key information from your notes, reading, or module guide.
• Break down the information – each flashcard could focus on a single bit of information or concept, to avoid overloading.
• On the front of the card, write a key word, term, or question. On the back, write the answer or definition.

How:

• Use the front of the card as a prompt and see if you can answer accurately without looking.
• Group by topic to organise your revision.
• Combine pictures and words – brains find it easier to recall visual inputs (pictures easier than words). For example, you could use a map for places, charts or graphs for figures or data, a timeline for dates and sequences of events, or a flowchart for processes/systems.
• Give yourself time to go over and review the flashcards.
• To help you prioritise what topics to focus on, organise your flashcards - Confident, Nearly there, Not sure at all.
• Use other revision techniques alongside flashcards.
• Ask friends or family to test you or pop into the Academic Skills Hub!

Mind maps

When: Mind maps are useful when you need to remember the links and connections between concepts and have a visual tool as a prompt for recall.

Why: This is a good technique to organise information visually, which can help retain information and improve recall.

What:

• Create your mind maps physically, with paper and marker pens.
• Use tools like Microsoft Whiteboard or Apple Freeform to build digital mind maps.

How:

• What is the central topic of your revision session? This is the centre of your mind map.
• Once you have the central topic, add primary themes or subtopics that relate to the main idea: these will branch away from the centre.
• Details, facts, or examples can be secondary branches from these subtopics or themes.
• Use keywords and symbols.
• Draw lines and arrows to show connections between ideas.
• Reflect on your map – are there are gaps? Do you need to reorganise your ideas?
• Review your mind maps to help recall. Use branches to test your memory – i.e., can you remember all the dates from one of the smaller branches?

How to prepare for the day

This final page will take you through recommendations for the night before, day of, and during your exam.

The night before

Avoid cramming: Cramming the night before can increase anxious feelings. Try to take time to relax: you could watch your favourite movie or TV show, spend time with friends, or engage in an activity you enjoy.

Do some gentle exercise: Light exercise can help to reduce anxiety and improve focus. You could go for a walk, try some yoga, or any activity you find relaxing and enjoyable.

Make a checklist of everything you need for the exam: For example, make a list of things like your ID, a bottle of water, information about the exam location, and necessary equipment. Pack your bag the night before to ensure you are ready to go the next day.

Try to get a good night sleep: Sleep can help with concentration, recall, and focus. If you are feeling nervous, check out resources to fall asleep faster and sleep better. Remember to set your alarm to give yourself plenty of time in the morning!

On the day

Check you have everything: Your ID, water bottle, information about the exam location, and any required equipment (e.g. pens, pencils, calculators). Double-check your list the night before and again in the morning.

Arrive early: Plan to arrive at the exam venue well ahead of time. This allows for unexpected delays (like a delayed bus!) by giving yourself extra travel time. Arriving early can help you to settle in and reduce stress.

Have a good meal before: Start your day with a nutritious breakfast. Whole grains, fruits, and protein can help you feel energised (and avoid hunger pains during the exam)!

Practice breathing techniques: If you feel nervous, take a few deep breaths. Trying out different meditation or breathing exercises in the run-up to the exam will give you a good sense of what will calm you on the day.

During the exam

Skim through the exam first: Read the Instructions carefully and read through all the questions to understand the structure and decide where to spend more or less time.

Plan your approach: Read all the questions before you begin so that you can work out which ones you can answer best and draw up a plan for the exam.Plan how to tackle each part to ensure you finish on time. Attempt the questions you feel most confident about first. Allow time to answer all the questions you are asked to do. Allocate time to questions proportional to the number of marks they carry.

Understand the questions: Read each question carefully a few times. Identify the action verb (e.g. assess, evaluate, explain) to understand what the exam questions asks you to do. Check out our Understanding the Assignment resource in advance to help decipher potential questions.

Create a 'brain dump': Write down all the ideas, facts, dates, or theories you recall. This helps you organise your thoughts and frees your mind to focus on crafting your answers.

Skip and return if you are not sure about a question: If you are stuck on a question, move on to the next. This ensures you answer as many questions as possible and might help jog your memory for the tougher ones.

Answering the question: Make sure you understand the question and address what it specifically asks. Plan your answer before writing it. Don’t be tempted to simply write down all you know on the topic, or replicate a prepared answer which does not match the question. For answers containing calculations, show all your workings – you can still get marks even if the final answer is wrong.

Monitor your time: Keep an eye on the clock to manage your time effectively, ensuring you have enough time to attempt all questions.

Check you have answered all the questions: Before submitting, ensure you have answered all the questions. Double-check for any you might have missed.

Check your work: Review your answers for any points you might have missed. Add any further thoughts or corrections. Look for grammar or spelling mistakes. Check the facts. Check numerical answers using dimensional analysis.

When you have finished: Make sure the answer books all have your correct name and candidate number. Check that all the answers are correctly numbered. Be sure to include all relevant workings and notes before you hand in your script.

Explore Skills for Study guidance on multiple choice question (MCQ) exams, including revision tips and how to make an action plan. Select 'University of Southampton' as your institutional log-in.