Study Skills &
Revision Guide
for Year 11 Students
Use the information in this
Study Skills Revision Guide
to plan for success
in your examinations.
The First Step Is To Motivate Yourself
Ways to get motivated:
Do you ever look at a task and think: ‘There’s just too much to do.
I don’t even know how to get started.’
One simple way to make a task easier is to break it into chunks.
How to chunk:
The best way to get through big or complex tasks or projects is to:
 break them down into
manageable chunks
 write down what might make each chunk
difficult to achieve (problems/challenges
you might face)
 decide what your reward for achieving each
chunk will be.
Procrastination
It can sometimes be really hard to get going with a project.
Procrastination means using distractions to avoid doing something.
It is a big drain on motivation, but this page provides a
procrastinator-breaker.
All you need to do to beat procrastination is just
do TWO MINUTES of the task you are putting off.
That’s all – just two minutes. You can use an egg
time or a stopwatch if you like.
Why does it work?
The reason why the two minute rule often helps beat procrastination is
that your mind hates incomplete tasks.
So once you start something for two minutes, you’ll often find yourself
happy continuing with it till it’s done.
Finding What You Need – Organisation
If you can find what you need when you need it, then you can get tasks
done more quickly and efficiently. This will save you time and effort.
Keep what you need . . .
Go through all your study stuff and
get rid of anything you don’t need.
That makes it easier to find what
you do need.
Organise your work . . .
Get a folder and some dividers.
You need a divider for each
subject/class. Always put all your
notes and handouts into their
proper section. Everything needs a
home.
Sort out your bag . . .
Empty your bag at the end of each
day. Dump the stuff you don’t
need. Sort everything you do need
into its proper home. Pack your
bag for the next day.
Organise your computer . . .
If you use a computer or tablet at
home, organise your files and
folders the same way they are
organised at school.
Study area . . .
Sort out a study area at home.
Make sure this has the things you
need right there so you don’t have
to hunt for them – pens, paper,
stapler, hole punch, calculator,
dictionary.
Bookmarks . . .
Organise your computer’s
bookmarks into subject areas to
keep track of useful websites.
The Time Management Challenge
Here are the time management challenges for your progress tracker . . .
 Grab the
 Use the productive
opportunity to use
three separate spare
moments for some
productive study,
e.g. when you’re in
the car.
chunking technique for a
minimum of
1 hour’s study (4 x 15
minute chunks)
 Calculate how
15 minutes
15 minutes
Use this space to say how
much time you will spend
studying on each day of the
week:
Monday: _______
Tuesday: _______
Wednesday: _______
Thursday: _______
Friday: _______
Saturday: _______
Sunday: _______
much study time you
have and decide how
you are going to
allocate it throughout
a school week.
 Agree times with friends that you will be available on line or on your phone.
During study time leave your phone in another room!
Revision Strategies
Here are some student recommendations on revision strategies that worked for them:
It worked best for
me to do three 15
minute chunks of
revision on one
subject, have a
break and then do
my next block of
revision on a new
subject.
I turned my notes
into flashcards and
also wrote key
words on Post-Its
and stuck them up
all over the house.
I made summary
notes in the buildup to the exams.
Right before the
exams I didn’t try to
learn anything new
– I made summary
notes of my notes!
I recorded study
notes and played
them on the bus to
college. It was an
idea I got from
finding out about
auditory learning
style.
It really helped to
revise with someone
so we could test each
other. And being
able to compare
notes really helped
us to understand
topics.
I used past exam
papers and wrote
the answers to the
questions. Writing
down what I knew,
using it to answer
exam questions –
that really worked
for me.
Setting Learning Goals
The first step of really effective learning is to decide what your goals are
for this topic – what is it that you want to know about it?
To set a goal for your new topic:
 Identify what you already know about a topic.
 Decide what you want to learn about the new topic.
 Make that learning happen.
Be 100% clear about what you have to do for a topic and how you are
going to tackle it.
KWL: Know – Want to know – Learned
This example is for GCSE Geography but you
could use this strategy for any subject.
KWL stands for ‘Know, Want to know, Learned’. This
strategy helps you identify what you already know
about a topic, what you want to know and then to
record what you have learned:



K
Most volcanoes

occur along plate
boundaries.
Lava and ash from 
volcanoes can
cause major
disasters.
There are
different types of 
volcanoes.
W

Why do people
still live near
volcanoes?
What is a
supervolcano and
what would
happen if one
erupted now?
Can you predict
when a volcano is
going to erupt?
In the K column you write
down what you know already.
Linking new topics to old ones
is a powerful way to active
effective learning.
L
Volcanic soil is
very fertile so
that’s why people
still live near
them.
In the L column
you record what
you’ve learned –
answer your
questions in the W
column. Your aim
could be to record
answers to all
your questions.
In the W column you put what
you would like to know. You
can keep adding to this as you
go through the topic.
In research, this method helped students to focus their reading, looking for particular
information and linking it to what they already knew. Try out the KWL strategy for a
new topic in one of your subjects. Don’t forget to make those links to older topics –
and maybe different subjects – as your first step.
SQ3R
SQ3R is a popular reading method that will supercharge the
effectiveness of your reading and research. S stands for Survey,
Q stands for Questions and the three Rs are Read, Recall, Review.
Survey
Survey means take an overview of what
you are about to read.
 Skim through any headings to get a quick
idea of what is covered.
 Read the first paragraph of the chapter or
section.
 Read headings for any charts or
diagrams, read picture captions.
 Read the last paragraph.
Spend about five minutes on your survey.
It will make reading faster and more
productive because you will already know a
lot about what is coming up.
Read, Recall, Review
As you read, search for answers to
your questions. Don’t stop to make
notes as you read.
Recall: once you’ve finished
reading a section, pause. Ask
yourself your questions and say out
loud the answers that you’ve found
in that section, putting them into
your own words. This is a good
point to make notes.
Review: cover your notes and in
your head go back over what you
read and the answers you got for
your questions. This helps you to
really understand and remember
the information.
Questions
As you are surveying,
ask yourself questions:
 Why is this
important?
 What questions is the
author trying to
answer?
 How does the
information here help
me achieve my
research goal?
 What is interesting or
unusual about this?
If you get to a section of text that
is hard to understand, slow right
down and take it bit by bit.
It’s very important to put
answers into your own words.
This gets your brain fully
engaged with its favourite task,
which is looking for meanings.
Reading with your questions in
mind (or written down on a list
beside you) helps you keep your
focus. It is also motivating
because you are reading with a
purpose.
SQ3R And Taking Notes
Here’s how you adapt this method of taking notes to work with SQ3R:
 Source
details (name of
book, web
address of web
page)
 Your
questions
 Your notes.
These should
be done in the
recall stage,
not while you
are reading.
Use your own
words.
 Write a
summary of
what you’ve
learned here.
 Once you have written notes, you can fold the page over at this line
to do the review stage of SQ3R:
Remember: keep your notes safe because this way of taking notes
produces very useful revision resources too. Fold back the notes so you
can just see your questions, and see how much of your answers you can
remember.
Leave plenty of space between the points you make in your notes.
Chunks of information are much easier to process than masses of text.
It’s true!
SQ3R was invented by an American professor during World War II to
help soldiers get to grips with lots of very technical information.
Why Memory Skills Are Important
When it is possible to search up any information online, why do we still
need to memorise information? One good reason is that you need to
remember a lot of information for your exams. Here are three
memorable things about the way your brain remembers things:
Did you know . . .?
Your brain loves
stories. One way
to help your brain
remember things is
to connect them to
a narrative – make
a story out of them.
Your brain loves
things to be organised
into groups and
categories because
that helps it attach
meanings to things.
Your brain looks for
differences, things that
look out of place –
especially odd
combinations of things.
They are much more
memorable.
It’s true!
In the classroom, scientists have found that the more ways
something is introduced to the brain and reviewed, the
more regions of the brain will store that information. This
will form connections and these multiple stimulations to the
brain will mean better memory.
Mnemonics
People use a lot of different techniques to remember things. Sometimes
these are called mnemonics (pronounced ‘nu-monics’). This page
summarises some different approaches.
First letter
mnemonics:
Using pictures
Connecting words with an
image often helps to make the
words easier to remember –
your brain uses the image
memory to prompt the word
memory.
This technique uses a
phrase to help you
remember the first
letters of a sequence
of key words:
Richard
Of
York
Gave
Battle
In
Vain
for the
colours of
spectrum
in the
correct
order,
namely:
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Indigo
Violet
This technique is often used
with flashcards, for example
when learning words in
another language.
It’s true!
Researchers found that many students using mnemonics substantially
out-performed those who did not. Try them out – they may work for you!
Meaningful Memories
Making Connections
Research shows that it is a lot
easier to remember things that
are meaningful to you, that you
find interesting or relevant.
Setting learning goals, asking
questions, putting things into
your own words and reflecting
on your learning can help to
make studying more memorable.
Research also shows that
making connections between
what you are learning now and
what you have learned before
makes memories stronger. The
more you make these
connections, the easier it
should become to recall the
information you need in a test
or an exam.
Condensing Your Notes And Handouts
Your notes and handouts are a very important revision resource because
they link you directly to what you learned in class.
Condensing these notes make revision more manageable.
 Organise
The first step is to get all your notes and handouts together and
organised into subject and topics.
Check for any gaps in your notes – the easiest way to do this is to
compare what you have for each subject with a friend doing the same
subject.
 Summarise
For each page of notes, write a summary of the main points onto a piece
of A4 paper.
If you check your notes against a textbook and there seems like a lot you
haven’t covered, check with your teacher before you start trying to learn
a lot of new material.
 Condense
Now condense each summary down to the main ideas, key terms and
key points.
Write your condensed notes onto index cards, leaving plenty of space
between points.
Condensed notes are easier to revise from and the process of
condensing your notes also helps you remember your topics.
How To Do Effective Revision + Learning Styles
Tip: combine the learning styles strategies
Revision strategies for the visual learner
• Make use of colour coding when studying new information in your notes.
• Use highlighter pens and highlight different kinds of information in contrasting colours.
• Trace each word in the air.
• Write out key information obtained from your notes.
• Draw a mind map.
• Make flash cards (3 by 5 inches) of words and ideas that need to be learned.
• Use highlighter pens to emphasise the key points.
• Limit the information per card so that your mind can take a mental ‘picture’ of the
information
• Write out explanations for diagrams or illustrations or draw diagrams from facts.
• When learning technical or mathematical information, write out in sentences and key
phrases your understanding of the material. When learning sequences, write out in detail
how to do each step.
• Experiment with diagrams:
• A funny mental picture will certainly help you to remember facts and patterns:
• Use chronological lists of events.
• Flow charts use the consequences of each action to jog your memory about the next
stage.
• Use split lists to compare and contrast the similarities and differences between things.
• Make use of computer word processing.
• Copy key information from your notes and textbooks on to a computer.
• Use the print outs to re-read your notes.
• Make visual reminders of information that must be learned. Use post-it notes in highly
visible places – on your mirror, notebook, bedroom door etc.
Revision strategies for the auditory learner
• Reading aloud.
• Underlining interesting points and quotations.
• Make up word games and mnemonics to help you. Persuading someone to test
and re-test you on what you have learned.
The order of planets in average distance from the Sun:
(Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto)
My Very Easy Method: Just Set Up Nine Planets.
• Work with others to revise, but you have to be very disciplined about this (don’t
just chat! Do revision!). This works best with other auditory learners. Talk your
way through a learned topic or ask each other to explain difficult areas.
• Read texts aloud, paying close attention to the way it sounds. Now try reading it
under your breath.
• Make up questions to ask about the text and then question someone about it.
• Talk aloud to recall what you have just learned.
• Go somewhere where you won’t bother anyone and read your notes and text book
out loud.
• Impersonate someone while learning different subjects, for example Peter Kay
does Science or Victor Meldrew does History. Decide on keywords/concepts you
will need to learn.
• Experiment with different ways of saying the keywords out loud (emphasise
different parts of the word, use different voices).
• Record your revision, pause and re-record when you have made a mistake.
• Listen to your notes on an iPod when exercising, doing the washing up, on the
way to school, and so on.
• When learning technical or mathematical information, talk your way through it.
State what you have learned to yourself or a study partner.
• Reason through solutions/thoughts by talking out loud or to a study partner.
• When learning sequences, write out in sentence form and then read them aloud.
• Make up a funny rhyme to remember important facts/concepts.
Revision strategies for the practical learner
• Walk backwards and forwards with your textbook, notes or flash cards and read
the information out loud.
• Learn different subjects by walking and reading in different places.
• Jot down keywords, draw pictures or make charts to help you remember your
notes.
• Make flash cards (3 by 5 inches) for every step of a sequence you have to learn.
• Put words, symbols or pictures on your flash cards – anything that helps you
remember.
• Use highlighter pens in contrasting colours to emphasise the important points but
limit the amount of detail so you do not have too much to remember.
• Practise putting out the cards in the right order until it becomes automatic.
• Copy key points on to a large piece of paper. Make up actions to go with the
keywords.
• Write down the main points on post-it notes. Assemble the post-its on the wall to
see how the different areas relate to one another.
• Use the computer to reinforce learning by touch. Copy out information that must
be learned into a word processing package on the computer.
• Use graphics, clip art, tables and databases to organise material that must be
learned.
• Listen to your notes of topics when exercising, doing the washing up, walking to
school, and so on.
Revising With Past Papers
Past papers are exam papers from previous years. Most revision
experts would agree that practising exam questions is the very best way
to revise for GCSE exams, because it means you have to apply what
you’ve learned in different scenarios.
There are two parts to past papers and you need both:
 The question paper – this will be just like your
real exam paper in style and layout.
 The mark scheme – this is the answer sheet for
the question paper. Examiners use mark schemes
to decide how many marks to give answers.
How To Revise With Past Papers
 Work through past papers
under timed conditions.
 Do ever question as in your real
exam.
 Do not stop to look something
up in a textbook or your notes.
Past papers can’t help you
predict what questions will
come up for your exam, so
don’t just revise the topics
you see on one or two old
exam papers.
 When you have finished, check
your answers with the mark
scheme.
 Use your results to diagnose
areas where you need more
revision.
 Go back to your notes and
textbook to improve each answer.
If you see questions that just
don’t make any sense to you,
don’t just skip them and look for
something easier. Use past
papers to identify gaps in your
understanding – then plug those
gaps with revision.
Practising Exam Questions
The key thing to remember whenever you answer exam questions is
keep everything relevant to the question. This applies as much as when
you are practising your answers in revision as when you are answering
them for real in your exams.
Keep your answer relevant:
When you recognise a topic in an exam
question, and you can remember something
about it, it is really tempting to write down
everything you can remember.
Hi, I’m the
examiner: I can
only reward you
for points that
are relevant to
the exam
question.
However, this is the wrong approach. You
need to take a moment and think about the
question. What is it asking you to do?
What information do you have that is
relevant.
How Do You Know What’s Relevant?
It helps to know that exam questions for a subject are closely related to
the exam specification for that subject.
If your revision can make the same connections within topics as the
specification does, then it is easier to decide what is relevant to the
questions and what is not.
How Much To Write?
Find out how much to include by
seeing how many marks are
available. Every point you make
should be geared towards
answering the question. If a point
isn’t helping, it is not relevant.
When looking at an exam specification:
a) be aware that each section is about
something specific
b) look for command terms
c) notice that it includes specialist
terms.
Command Terms
Command terms are the words in a question that tell you how to write
about the topic. For example, describing something is different from
comparing it with something else.
Knowledge and understanding:
If a question just wants to check
you know about something, it will
use command terms such as:
 describe
 explain
 list
 outline
 name
 what is meant by . . . ?
Application
Questions that ask you to show you
know how to make your knowledge
work for you will use command
terms such as:
 calculate
 examine
 show how . . .
 using an example
 using you knowledge of . . .
 explain
Analysis and
Analysis
evaluation
Analysis means breaking
often involve
things down so you can
comparing
see how something all
advantages and
works together.
disadvantages
Command terms include:
or similarities
and differences.
 analyse
Keep your
 compare/contrast
answer
 discuss
balanced. That
 examine
means that you
cover a similar
 explain
number of
 identify
points for the
two aspects.
Evaluation
Evaluation means ‘find
out the value of
something’.
Command terms
include:
 assess
 consider
 evaluate
 explain why
 to what extent . . .
 how far do you
agree that . . .?
Evaluation questions usually have
the highest number of marks
because they are the most difficult.
Golden Rules For Writing
 Extended writing questions can sometimes combine different types,
e.g. ‘Define and explain . . .’ or ‘Using examples, evaluate . . .’
 If a question asks for an example, it needs to be one that is relevant to
the question.
 Adding detail to develop your points is a great way to add marks for all
these different types of questions.
 One point per paragraph is a useful rule for writing. This makes it
easier for your reader to understand your arguments.
 Use ‘lead in’ sentences to start paragraphs too. These can flag up to
the reader what you are doing. For example: ‘Another disadvantage
of . . . ‘
Revision Planning
Planning your revision will help you to use your time productively, ensure
you cover what you need to and help you identify where you need to put
in the most effort.
 Find out when your exams are
 Work out how much time there
for each subject. Your teachers will is between the date you plan to
tell you these dates – and any
start revising and when your exams
others you need to know.
start. Start revising as early as you
can.
Put these dates in your
There are usually
 Block out times when
planner. Closer to the different exam papers
you know you are busy
actual exams, double
doing something else.
for different units
check the date, time
 Decide how many
of your course,
and location of each
hours a day you can
so you will have
exam so you are 100%
revise for. Be realistic
more than one
certain where you
– you need a balance of
exam paper
need to be and at what
revision, leisure and
per subject.
time.
rest.
Once you’ve got a rough idea of how much revision time you have in
total (your time bank), divide it by the number of exams you have.
 Prioritise your exam list in terms of
 Now work out your revision blocks.
revision time required.
 Which subject and paper is the most
important?
 Which needs the most revision?
 Often subjects you find harder need a
bit more revision time that subjects
you find easier.

 Allocate each exam paper its own
revision time allowance from your total
time bank.

You will want to be revising for each
paper the day before you take that
exam, so put your first revision block
for that paper on that day.
Do the same for all your exams.
Then work backwards in time, giving
each exam a block here and a block
there until you’ve spent all the time
allocations for each exam paper.
Following Your Plan
Stick to your plan as much as you
can. It might be tempting to stay
with one subject if you get into it,
but your brain will appreciate a
break and a change of scene.
Don’t get distracted by creating a
beautiful revision plan or
researching different apps to
help you plan. Make it quickly
and simply get revising!
On The Day Exam Tips:

Get a good night’s sleep.

Have a nourishing breakfast and drink water – dehydration and lack of food to
start the day damages concentration.

Get to school early. You’ll be in a state if you arrive late. Remember panic is
pointless.

Make sure you have a watch so that you can time your writing, and all the
equipment you will need for each exam, such as colouring pencils, calculator,
anthology, texts etc.

While you are waiting for everyone to settle, read the front of the exam booklet
and check how many questions you have to answer. How many from each
section?

How long does this allow for each question?

Underline important information.

Read the question paper carefully all the way through at least twice.

Choose carefully which questions to answer. If you haven’t studied it, don’t
attempt to write about it!

Underline keywords in the questions, this tells you which points the examiner
wants you to write about.

Don’t panic if your mind goes blank. Once you start jotting down ideas, it will all
come back to you.

Decide which question you can do best and do it first; this will boost your
confidence.

Start first with the questions that carry the most marks.

Jot relevant ideas in the answer book – you can cross these notes out later.
Examiners like planning!

Sort these ideas into a logical order. Put a number by each point to indicate the
order.

State the obvious! The examiner won’t assume you know something that is not
written down.

If there are four lines in the answer book, try to fill the space with your answer.

Try to write legibly – if the examiners can’t read it they can’t give you marks!

Make sure you leave at least five minutes at the end of the exam to go over what
you have written. You can save marks by correcting mistakes.

Don’t bother with post mortems outside the exam hall. You’ve done your best
physically and mentally, pack up your revision notes for that subject and move
on to the next subject.
Revision Websites
English
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/subjects/zr9d7ty
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/dramainspectorcalls/
http://www.gradesaver.com/an-inspector-calls/
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/micemen/
http://www.cliffnotes.com/literature/o/of-mice-and-men/of-mice-and-men-at-a-glance
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/proseheroes/
Maths
http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/gcse.htm
www.corbettmaths.com
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/maths
Science
http://gradegorilla.com/introductionGP.php
https://www.cgpbooks.co.uk/interactive_gcse_science
http://www.s-cool.co.uk/gcse
http://www.educationquizzes.com/
http://revisionworld.com/gcse-revision/biology
http://www.docbrown.info/page20/AQAscibio1.htm
http://www.my-gcsescience.com/
http://www.gcsescience.com/index.html
History
www.schoolshistory.co.uk
French
www.bbctalkfrench.co.uk
www.linguascope.co.uk
www.gcsebitesize/french
www.babbel.com
www.aqa.co.uk
German
www.bbctalkgerman.co.uk
www.linguascope.co.uk
www.gcsebitesize/german
www.babbel.com
www.aqa.co.uk
Spanish
http:///quizlet.com/join/QkW9xhuR6
(lots of vocabulary lists will be uploaded to the class pages)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/spanish
for Listening and Reading practice
http://www.languagesonline.org.uk/Hotpotatoes/Index.htm
for lots of activities
http://oye.languageskills.co.uk/intermediate/year10html
activities on all subjects free after 4.00pm
Business Studies
www.businessstudiesonline.co.uk
www.tutor2u.net
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/subjects/zpsvr82
Food And Nutrition
http://www.s-cool.co.uk/gcse/food-technology/ingredients-and-nutrition
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/design/foodtech/
www.nutrition.org.uk
www.foodafactoflife.org.uk
Art
www.art2day.co.uk