Getting ahead on revision

If there's one thing that's misnamed at the University of Edinburgh, it's 'Revision Week', as leaving your revision until then is not advised! We may be in Week 8, but now is a good time to begin revising what you’ve covered since September, and to plan your strategy for your Semester One exams.

students reading in library

Latest research on revision techniques

A recent overview of research into effective learning techniques (Dunlovsky et al., 2013) found that the two most widely effective techniques were:

Students who cram may pass the exam but they don't retain the material.

Prof John Dunlovksy
Kent State University
  • Self-testing
  • Spreading your learning over time (reviewing material again after a gap)

They also found that two of the techniques that are very popular with students were two of the least effective:

  • Highlighting
  • Re-reading notes

You can read the full Dunlovsky article here:

Revision tips from fellow students

I would say start your revision well in advance and then plan it very well; structure it so that it’s not like kind of just something you’re going to do extra but something you have really planned well and in advance.

Marcin

Watch video clips of more students' top revision tips on 'Talking Eds':

Online revision resources

For more advice on effective revision strategies, visit the revision and exams section of LearnBetter:

Revision workshops at the Institute for Academic Development

The IAD is also running revision workshops this month. For a full timetable, please see the IAD website.