doing group studying for me is really ineffective, until it's half an hour before we need to go into the exam and everyone is just screaming random facts at each other, in which i actually learn quite a lot from lol
Omg the worst is when you do group work in class, yes it’s fun but nothing gets done 😂and its worse when we need to take notes from the other groups like that’s not enough to know about the actual topic 😂😂
It’s really good for things like English lit I think because it normally ends with everyone arguing about questions which is super useful to get different perspectives and quotes to use in essays. Things like biology not so much, maths is sometimes useful when you don’t know what’s going on and need to ask for help. I think it depends on what stage you are at and what sort of person or subject you have
1. Don’t do past papers too early if you haven’t revised enough 2. Don’t just passively read notes- actively test yourself 3. Group study doesn’t work 4. Wall posters don’t work 5. Don’t study it in blocks- study it repeatedly
If you've done Psychology A level you'd be familiar with what I'm saying: - Studies show that there are 2 types of memory "within" memory which is "context dependent" and "state dependent" memory. Context dependent is relevant to all students because the theory states that if you learn / memorise the information in 1 environment, you'll be able to recall it better if you need to recall it in the SAME environment. That's why revising with friends is not as effective on average, and people should ought to revise in a quiet, non-distracting environment, as it is similar to your exam condition, so you'd tend to recall it better.
Thank you!! I take biology A level and I’m currently in year 13 and I never understood how people just did past papers without knowing any of the content. Because one paper can only have so much topics in it. 🤷🏾♀️
Personally I think it does work if you do enough past years. I do accounting and economics, and all I did was past years from 1998 onwards to get those As. Nothing else.
huey en ooi but it’s not the same. With biology you need to remember and memorise processes. You won’t be able to memories all of them by just doing past papers. Also you have to go over the contents to make sure you fully understand them for you to be able to apply them. Once you know the content then do past papers
PLEASE can you do a timetabling video! I'm really struggling to keep everything fresh for my GCSEs, particularly for History (i find sciences easier to balance) so I for one would definitely find it useful ❤️
I use group study with my friend and we will sit and do maths papers and then if one of us gets a question wrong the other person can explain it. I find it really useful tbh
"I hope this video was infoRmative a little bit " EXCUSE ME, miss, you've literally just saved me from wasting my bloody precious time, valuable resources, stupidly reading my bio/chem notes and etc. generally saved my life! LOVE YOU!)) AND good luck on your exams, honestly, you're gonna smash them!)
Totally agree with posters!!! I think they scream ‘my dad is super strict and makes me revise’ usually they are just used to show off how much stuff you have revised. Only positive is that you are writing the stuff out so it’s kinda like taking notes but still more deception rather than revision!!
the only time I’ve found group study useful, was when we’d learnt revision on our own and I’d made flashcards with questions on one side and answers on the other so we took it in turns to be “quiz master” and do questions (while eating lunch). was very useful, but again was quite chill
Finally some non cliche advice! Thank you soo soo much Eve! Your making a significant difference to students a-levels! Mines in May, im so unprepared:/
so true every video is like: do flashcards, mindmaps etc. use CGP revision guides practice exam questions/past papers (duh) make a revision timetable (double duh)
Looking at the specification helps the most, it tells you exactly what you should know and what students could be asked. For sciences especially, this helped me a lot.
I would love seeing more study with mes, yours motivate me soo much. I’m rewatching all of your videos because I need more motivation and they really help XX
Such a great vid! I was unsure about the past papers because I feel like it’s useless to do them without having learnt the content in that paper so thank you for reassuring me that I’m doing the right thing !!!!
Don't stress I am sure you will be fine. I have uploaded some study videos, the quality isn't great as I am just starting out but hopefully the content helps. Would love it if you checked my stuff out?
The group studying is so true! I have my junior cert next week and all my friends have been going to the line set to “study” and it can make make feel a bit left out but I know it’s worth it in the long run to do it alone.
Please do a video on revision time tables and how to create time tables that fit revisiting topics as well so that everything is spaced out well before the exams come around 🙏 And thanks loads for this video, the tips are really useful☺️
I did multiple past papers (new spec) for my Y10 Maths Mocks in the past few weeks and I agree. I should have revised my weakest topics BEFORE doing papers. I’ve now realised that and I won’t make that mistake again ☺️
It's Saturday and my exams start on Monday (my birthday) and I am just watching loads of videos like this about how to revise, but not actually doing any revision... Whoops!!
Please do a video on why you think you got into oxford!! Like extracurriculars, volunteering, summer school etc (obvs you’re really smart haha) but like extra stuff you did which you think made your personal statement look better etc xxx
Also, if you’re on a new spec and don’t have many past papers, other specifications (exam boards) often have similar content and using them might be helpful!
You should definitely summarise your tips in the description as it is a lot of useful tips. At least the best tips. And with group studies I think it works with more written subjects like ethics and philosophy where you can gain "steal" ideas xD. Sciences and maths are more skill based tbh.
Yes I 100% agree with you about the past papers! I’m doing my GCSEs this year and my teachers have given me a bunch of past papers but I feel like I’m wasting them because I haven’t revised everything yet
probably doesnt count as proper group study, and this is definitely more for uni, but i found arranging to go to the library / study space with a group of friends really motivated me to get up and go because there were other people holding me accountable. also it means that you have people to take breaks with etc ! if youre with other people who are on a similar wavelength then it can be really helpful. sometimes me and my friend would go for breakfast together before working or food after and it was nice to have wee things to look forward to
I have my A-levels in a few weeks eeeek :// One thing I was worried about was forgetting content I’m revising now so if you could please do a timetable video that would be super helpful for me. Thank you!
I know what you mean about about doing the past paper before revision or understanding the content. I think make sure you understood most of the content first then revise. Then do past papers at the end
Doing past papers before revising the content can actually really help! You've learnt it once, you should be able to apply it to a question; doing those past papers before actively revising the content let's you know which areas need more revision focus. x
You have uploaded this video at the same time as Lydia 😂😘 Theses videos are always so helpful I am already scared about gcse and a level but I am in yera8 😂😩 Love you girlll xoxo
I know a lot of people who rely on group revision to solve difficult problems together (physics students at uni). It's a time when they can all put their heads together to complete something, however this only works after you have done the vast majority of your revision alone and are coming to the session well prepared. (Especially good if your school/college/uni doesn't have great workshops for past paper questions you're struggling with etc)
i set out my timetable as a day by day thing. so it was basically a to do list for each day that was very specific, like showing what topic i would do everyday
Wall posters are probably the sole reason I passed GCSE and then A Level Eng Lit. I understand that looking a them every night isn't popular but I had them around my desk and visualised them in colour codes. I definitely does take commitment
I don’t know whether this is too specific but could you potentially do a video on how to really push yourself in languages alevel/ what extra stuff to do to prefer for uni applications! Thank you :)
Personally I find writing notes and creating mind maps a waste of time. I also find class notes quite useless as teachers give us a lot of unnecessary information. My favourite thing to do is use revision guides to read over the notes and I find watching videos on topics very useful, as watching something makes you more likely to engage with the topic To sum it up, do not spend countless hours writing notes you will never use again! Use your time wisely :)
ABC I’m the complete opposite! Writing things out helps me remember it way better than a video- if I watch something I only remember it if I make notes
I do group study with one of my friends but we only do it for English nowadays because we found that doing anything else just didn’t really work. I think English lit revision in a pair is good because we can bounce ideas off each and have a chat about the ideas and techniques the writers use. We even made a song for a poem with quotes and analysis and I will literally never forget it because it was so bad 😂 only thing is it took ages to make so I would only recommend that if you have a lot of time only but we don’t have time to make songs for all the poems unfortunately
Group study definitely doesn’t work! When I was at school I would go to the library with some guys who had the same free periods as me but we weren’t really friends so we could sit together in silence and study! Now at university, me and my friends always sit completely separately in the library like different floors and only meet up for lunch or a snack break or pop over to each other if we have questions! 100% agree!!!
when I read my revision notes, I read them outloud. I don't use this to learn the general content, I use it to remind me of specific examples. For example, I know the basics of the US political system in a lot of detail, but re-reading my revision notes helps me remember specific details such as anomalies that would make my essay a bit stronger in my exam. I then test my knowledge by doing blurts and essays - you can't learn the content without testing yourself!
I get you with the wall posters because I love posters and they really help me but all of mine are in an A3 poster display book which I take with me and flick through like a book!
I have English Lit GCSE this year, but I’m struggling in all my sciences so I’m also revising those. Revising different topics like Macbeth for 15 minutes then poems for 15 minutes the A Christmas Carol is called interleaving.
I did my French speaking GCSE on the 3rd of April before the holidays. It’s not as bad as I thought it’d be! All I can say is don’t stress too much about it 😄 .
I think there's a huge difference between revising just sitting next to each other, but revising basically solo with others there...in which case you will get distracted and just talk to each other, and actually going over the information together. I found the latter really really helpful when I was doing GCSEs and A levels
in my opinion group studies can work if your friends get into the mindset of getting things done. I do this with my friends by setting a set of goals like discussing a paper or quizzing each other. And we also have something to look forward to at the end like a bike ride or a gaming session. If your intentions are right, it can be beneficial.
For my psychology transition exam (as to a-level) my teacher has told us which paper it is and to learn the mark scheme. My parents were so lost as to how that’s supposed to tell the college if we’re ready to move on or not. I definitely don’t recommend using mark schemes whilst doing an exam paper because you won’t have that during the exam. And don’t be kind on yourself when you mark it - you don’t know who’s going to mark your paper.
Thank you SO MUCH!! i'm trying to revise for a levels (first exam on the 21st of may) and i'm feeling so overwhelmed....theres so much to do and i don't know how to structure my revision and also revise the most effectively without wasting precious time!!
I have literally figured out that I am going to only have a week to memorise stuff for my paper 2 exam and a couple of days for my paper 3 exam in sociology. I have been making revision notes since February, yet I am so behind to the point where it’s 5 weeks before my first exam and I’ve only gotten through 1/3 of the content. I really don’t know how this has happened, I’ve been working solidly, but hwk and random mock exams have honestly ruined my whole schedule. I’m so scared🙃 with good reason
For the mind maps thing I had them above my bed and never read them then I moved them to places like my bathroom door, bedroom door, light switches etc so I had to read them every time I opened to door and it worked SO WELL
I think paired study can work as I’ve done it on three separate occasions HOWEVER, group study doesn’t work. Also, for paired study to work, you all have to be working on the same level and the good thing with paired study that I found was that, we could each write out a page about something for that subject and then we could each talk about what we found out and then make summary notes on what they found and summary notes are better to revise from than a page worth of content
i have y12 mocks at the start of june... agh I'm gonna fail, but this video gives me some hope. except for my entire wall is covered in mindmaps and posters and because i spend soooo much time staring at the wall it helps, i guess?
I like to be in an environment with other people when I study. Like I go to Starbucks where I can sit and do work with other people around me sitting and doing work. I don't find myself studying with other people or with a group of friends. I also like going to the library where their are other people around doing their own thing and studying which motivates me to get on with my work and studying.
I'm sorry I ask this question so many times but what is that incredible outro music?!!! I love your videos and the genuine enjoyment you have for helping people!!
Hiya Eve! Wonderful video- I think I disagree with you a little on two accounts so I just thought it would be interesting to point out😊- would just like to point out though that I do sciences subjects so maybe that could account for the difference I do papers before I’ve ‘finished’ revising. This is because you can often find topic specific past papers and I find it to be a good way of practicing active recall. When I’m done with the specification in terms of the year’s content (as opposed to just a chapter) I start full past papers working through new specification questions initially, and then progressing through older ones. Also I do these ones in exam conditions. For maths admittedly, the older ones are a bit rubbish but for bio and chem I still find them useful. As for no group studying- I think it depends on what you’re doing it for, although you made this point as well. For things like active recall it’s great. If you have flashcards and people go round in turns answering the questions it’s worked fine for me before. For some reason I remember things better this way (Plus teaching one another is great😊) I think that’s probably because with active recall you can only concentrate for half an hour at a time anyways, so people can’t get distracted. But if you just want to sit together and study individually, you end up wasting your time 😂 Loved this video and I’m in total agreement about the other stuff to do with posters, passive learning and revising in blocks- completely useless😂😂
PLEASE do a video on how to timetable your revision in chunks, that would be so so so helpful! 🙌🏼 Pleased to see you back to your normal self a bit more
We only had 1 set of unseen past papers left in Chemistry and my amazing teacher decided it would be a wonderful idea to see what we needed to learn still a week after our mock exams. We were meant to be doing it in class but me and my friend were revising other chemi stuff and she caught us and gave us a detention!!! Despite us protesting about what a waste of time it was
A History Timeline was one of the only History revision I did and I ended up with 109/120 so it definitely can work. With that being said, it was my last exam and I had a weekend to cram.
My top tip for uni exams it to look through the exam and see what come up most often and concentrate most on those topics because generally they just re work questions rather than writing all new ones hell in one exam I found a question reused from a past paper was using for revision the day before.
Personally for me, a revision tip for gcse is to get a chalk pen or something that can wash off then write maths formulaes or key dates/definitions on windows and mirrors. This did work for me.
