Revision Tips - Last Post of 2018!

Anyone who knows me can tell you that I am one of those students who loves making their revision materials look visually appealing. Whether I am making mind maps (my favourite for contract law) or annotating past papers or anything in between, if it doesn’t look good it’s going in the bin. This might sound like I’m being highly unproductive, and sometimes that is definitely the case, but the attention to detail that I attempt to put into my work whilst I create these materials ultimately helps to cement the information that I am decorating into my brain.

However, I am very aware that this method absolutely doesn’t work for some people, and others find it too much of a distraction or procrastination tool and that’s okay because everyone revises differently! (for more tips see our recent Guardian Students Blog Post about Law Exams!!!!) Why am I telling you all of this? Because, in this post, I’m going to go through some of the most popular revision techniques, examining the pros, cons and my top tips for having the best chances of success using each method!

1. Mind Maps - ahh, the trusty mind maps, a family-friendly favourite employed from pretty much the first time you can hold a pen. Mind maps tend to suit subjects that have a lot of content that connects together but can also be broken down into its own categories. For example, I’m studying International Commercial Arbitration so I can separate the different countries in case studies, but they link together when providing comparative analysis etc.

Pros: Simple concept; can make large amounts of info seem less intimidating; can be transported/copied and made accessible when you need them.

Cons: Potential to become too obsessed with the visuals rather than the content (Guilty); repetitive; can get confusing if there are a lot of links that can be made in various ways.

Tips: Make sure you utilise the space on a page as best as you can, I recommend A3 paper, but if you have a beefy topic that’s starting to fill the page too much, post it notes can help you to keep the information organised within their categories even if it’s stuck over the top!

       

2. Note cards - another exam season classic, note cards tend to work best for fact and concept learning rather than analysis or application based topics. I use notecards specifically for learning case law and statutes, a technique given to me by my A-Level law teacher that has become a staple of how I revise for exams.

Pros: Easy to transport if you’re revising on the go; great for use with other people; plenty of different ways to use them.

Cons: Can stack up; easy to lose track of what you have and haven’t made cards on; potential to over-simplify.

Tips: Make sure you’re not trying to put an entire module onto note cards, use them effectively with other revision methods to ensure you aren’t over-simplifying things or missing sections out.

3. Working with others - A personal favourite of mine, working with friends and coursemates can not only make revision a lot less painful, but you can also help each other out and keep each other motivated which is always difficult during exam season. This works especially well when there are a few of you on the same or similar courses who can help each other out, for example, everyone in my study group does Foundations of International Law, so we are all familiar with the course content!

Pros: Can help fill each other’s knowledge gaps; makes revision more fun; keep each other on track.

Cons: Potential to distract each other; if you have conflicting knowledge it can cause issues; stress doesn’t often make you the best friend.

Tips: Don’t overdo it, don’t spend all of your revision time with your friends as you might not produce the best quality of work especially when panic/hysteria sets in closer to exam season. You don’t wanna end up driving each other mental by spending too much stressful time together. Make sure you choose friends you know you will work well with!

4. Decorate! - Putting posters, post-it notes and your mind maps up on the walls in your house/room/flat can make sure you take in the information whilst you go about your daily activities by having it in an accessible place all the time!

Pros: Can look nice if your notes are well done; reminders to revise; will be easy to find your notes.

Cons: Can fall down; becomes a bit monotonous if left up for a long time; makes it a bit ‘everyday’ so you may not notice it as much and not study it so hard.

Tips: Only try this with key information, don’t attempt to hang reams and reams of notes from your walls because there’s no way you’ll be able to remember absolutely everything from your modules just by using this method.

5. Record yourself reading your notes - The last method is super simple and can be done on pretty much any phone or tablet. Record yourself reading key information from your notes, and play it back to yourself whenever you can such as when you’re walking, at the gym or in the car - the amount of information you’ll retain from this method might surprise you!

Pros: Nice and simple; doesn’t require a lot of equipment; perfect for busy students!

Cons: Not many people love listening to the sound of their own voice; may get monotonous after a while.

Tips: Make sure you have plenty of water when you’re recording your voice notes;

If you really don’t want to record yourself saying your notes, get a friend to read them out whilst you record and listen to them saying it instead!

Hopefully, these tips will help your revision/exam season run smoothly! If you have anything you’d like to add, or different methods that work for you then please leave a comment, email us thealmostlawyers@gmail.com or tweet us @almostlawyers!

In case you haven't seen, we wrote another piece for The Guardian which can be read here!!

This will (probably) be our last post of 2018, so we just want to thank you all for your continued support! We started this blog in February this year, with the aim of writing about our experiences to maybe help one or two people out, and we are so thrilled that by the 22nd of December - not one year later - we have over 1,000 of you following our content and motivating us to continue doing all of this! We can’t thank you enough and look forward to bringing you more posts and updates as we continue with our journey through university! Have an amazing holiday season and we will be back in the new year!