1 Revision and exams

Everyone has different experiences of exams. You may never have taken an exam and are wondering how to prepare yourself. It may have been a long time since you took an exam, and you feel a need to refresh your technique. You may be looking for reassurance and advice because you may have had a bad exam experience in the past. Whatever your reason, we hope that this course will help.

This course is a practical one, and we will begin by helping you to identify your key concerns over revision and exams. We will then move on to look at techniques to help you to manage your revision and tackle the exam itself. We have included a section on handling revision and exam anxiety, and we end by giving you some suggestions for further sources of help. The course covers a range of topics and, although you may read the whole of the course, it is more likely that you will dip into it selectively, using the Identifying key concerns activity in Section 2 to identify the parts which relate to your own particular needs.

We encourage active learning and, as such, encourage you to work through the course with a pen and paper to hand so that you can do the activities as you go along. When you have worked through this course, you should have greater confidence in your ability to prepare for, take and pass exams. You will feel more in control of the situation, rather than allowing it to control you. However, remember that these things do not happen instantly. It often takes time to master any skill completely. If this course helps to put you on the road to greater success in your exams, then it will have achieved its aim.

Good luck!