25 tips to get ready for January Exams!

Christmas holidays aren't always the funniest as it means it is the exam season soon. You will want to get started on revising and preparing. 

We are going to look at some tips and tricks for you.

1 Do not revise on an empty stomach, you will be distracted with thoughts of food

2 Record yourself saying important facts, quotes, or figures that you need to remember, surprisingly you seem to remember them better when played back in your own voice

3 Record these facts in different voices and accent, you will enjoy learning them more if they make you giggle and laugh

4 Set up a game of trivial pursuit with your fellow course students but change the questions to subject ones

5 Place post-it notes everywhere! All around your apartment, then each time you see one, read and move on. Again, it is surprising what you will retain

6 Wear a scent when you sit to revise, then wear the same scent to the exam. Your brain associates smell with memory and this might just give you the edge when needing to recall what you revised

7 Try getting a fellow student, who is studying a completely different course to sit with you. Then teach each other your respective course material. Teaching others is a great way of learning. Having a healthy social balance can help.

8 See if you can get some past papers to practice on

9 Read our previous blog on Revision tips

10 Take regular breaks, get out clear your head and get some fresh air. 

11 Stay healthy, try our winter tips blog

12 Switch your phone off, the pings of incoming messages can drive you to constantly pick it up and not get on with studying. If you want to put a post on your social media saying ‘sorry everyone, got to revise’

13 Try not to revise in bed, not only will you nod off, but when it does come to bedtime, your brain has now associated your bed with revision and you will be wide awake trying to recall stuff!

14 Find the best place to revise, all Sheffield property to let rooms have a desk and chair, however, you may find a coffee shop might be a better environment for you. Try our recommended coffee shops blog

15 Pop a beer mat in your pocket………if you get a wobbly table at the café, you can fix it! It will drive you mad otherwise, and you will not get any revision done. P.S. might be useful during exam too!

16 Try not to hang out with nervous people, it can play on your own fears. Try getting in with the students who have completed your year and maybe you can get some tips from them.

17 Music can be your friend, read our music blog for more on this

18 Use colour coding to link important facts together, a pack of stickers with one end that sticks out of your paper stack of notes means you can easily identify which paper you need

19 See if you can get a copy of the syllabus of the course units, then you can tick them off as you revise

20 If you like graphs and you need to compare data, then draw some!

21 If you are making notes on your computer, then back them up!

22 Do not beat yourself up, everyone struggles at times with the stress of revision and exams, so if you are feeling the pressure then stop. Come back to it when you are feeling better.

23 Play your recorded notes while you are travelling on the bus or walking, especially if you made them as tips no. 2 and 3

24 Try our study tips blog for even more tips

25 Start revising for the January exams in September! Oops, not started yet? Do not worry, cramming apparently does work, so get cracking!

We do hope this tip prove useful for you, and if you have any to add please let us know and we will update the blog with credit to you.

Other articles that might be of interest: How to yoyo socialising and studying at university?