We’ve all had that one test that we forgot about, or just couldn’t be bothered to revise for. Maybe the teacher only told you about it wayyy too late (nice excuse). Nonetheless, you probably scored really, really low. If you want to learn how to study for a test the day or the week before it’s happening, then some of my advice could help you. Then again, the most productive thing for you to be doing right now is revising (it’s fine, I won’t tell anyone 🙂 ).
- Make a study schedule
- Prioritise the most difficult topics
- Check the subject specifications
- Dumb it down
- Study as you learn
- Forget about notes
Make a study schedule
If you have a week or a few days before your test, then it’ll be helpful to make a study schedule. This is because a study schedule will tell you what to revise, when to revise it, and it’ll make sure that you’re covering all the content you need to learn by the test. If you’re not sure how to make a study schedule, you can read my article here.
Prioritise the most difficult topics
If you don’t have as much time to revise – say the test is tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow. Make a list of all the content that’ll be covered on the exam. Then, put them in order from most difficult to least difficult. You’ll need to cover the most difficult topics first, since if you run out of time, at least you’ll have covered the most complicated aspects.
Check the subject specifications
Hopefully, your teacher will have made it clear to you exactly what you need to know for the test. If not, then you can easily find out: type into google your exam board and the subject. Then, find the units you’ll be tested on. Chances are, these will be the topics covered in the test. There are two reasons why you need to know what you’re getting tested on. Firstly, to make sure you’ve covered all the topics on the test. And two – to make sure you’re not studying irrelevant content. Why memorise the quadratic formula when your test is on the history of medicine?
Dumb it down
Right before you start studying, there is one thing you should do. Summarise all you have to know for your exam. Write down the key definitions, formulas, people, or concepts. This way, even if you fall asleep while revising (or fall down a rabbit hole of youtube videos), you’ll still have the basics down. You can even bring this with you to revise while doing other things. It’ll also be a form of active recall – you’re trying to concisely explain what you’ve learnt.
Study as you learn
Now, it might be a little too late for this, but hear me out. As you learn the topics in school, make flashcards, notes, or quizlet sets, so that you’ll have something to revise with later. Recently, I had an economics test that I didn’t have much time to revise for. However, I had previously created a quizlet set for the topic, so in the morning, I revised using that. Instead of spending an hour making the set, I made the flashcards earlier, so my revision was faster.
Forget about notes
As much as you might want to take notes, don’t. We like to take notes because it is easy and undemanding. Instead of helping you, taking notes as part of your revision might be detrimental – it wastes time and is terrible for your memory. Instead, do past papers, use flashcards, or do practice questions. Any active recall method is better than taking notes!
Although it’s never a smart decision, there will inevitably come a time when you haven’t revised for. Whether that be because you weren’t told about it, your forgot about it (same tho), or you couldn’t be bothered, you’ll still want a good grade. I hope some of these tips have helped you to cram for an exam and get the results you wanted :). If you have any questions, you can ask me here or here!!
