‘Help! I’ve Given Up on My New Year’s Resolutions!’ How to Stick to Your Study Goals in 2024

In our previous post, we told you about how you get into the correct mind-set to revise in for the New Year and plan for your studies. Most people tend to do this with their other resolutions but they often give up after a few weeks. Students can’t afford to do this and the only way to be able to continue through with your revision plan is to know how to and what to revise.

   1. The First Step – Notes and Quotes

Now that you’ve got your revision timetable, you are ready to go! First, you need to try and get your revision notes done. This could be notes out of a textbook, finding quotes from the texts you’re studying for English, and for subjects like Maths, you might do specific topic questions. Either way, you should focus on revising the information first. If you are a visual learner, coloured notes are always a great way of remembering the information and it also makes revision slightly more bearable. You could make A3 posters and stick them all around your bedroom walls to ensure that you are continuously exposed to the information that you need to know.  Once you’ve got all your notes down, focus on learning them. This is paramount to your studies as a colourful pack of revision cards with your Biology notes won’t help you in the exam unless you have all the information in your head! As crazy as it may sound, recite your notes or quotes out loud to yourself repeatedly as this is often the best way to memorize information. If you are an auditory learner, record your notes on your phone and listen to them when you can. Get someone to test you to ensure that you know the information, and if this isn’t possible, then test yourself by writing down all the things you remember on a blank piece of paper and then compare these with your own notes to see the things you forgot. A useful way of exposing yourself to the information continuously is to stick up your revision posters around your room so you can see them every day and read them whenever you look at them. In your exam, you can even visualise where the specific pieces of information were situated in your room and this is particularly helpful if you are a visual learner. A friend of mine once told me that she laminates her notes and sticks them up in the shower so even when she’s washing, she can go over her notes! Even though this is quite an extreme example, sticking up post-its or posters around your bedroom should suffice. Once you’ve done all this, you can move onto the next step…

  2. The Next Step – Past Papers

Teachers always seem to go on about them but, in all honesty, they are vital for revision. They put your knowledge to the test, you get an idea of how you will perform in the exam as well and you can easily identify any areas you need to work on. Once you are confident that you know all the necessary information, start doing practice papers. Past papers for Science and Maths are generally quite straightforward as you can mark them yourself straight away. However, for subjects like English, self-marking is quite difficult and that’s why it’s always best to get a tutor or teacher to mark your work. When I was studying for my GCSEs and A-Levels, I would tell my English teacher that I would bring in a few essays for her to mark after the holidays. This way I couldn’t leave practice papers on the backburner; it was something that I had to do, just like homework. Keep doing past papers until your exams as this will be the perfect way to prepare for them.

Good luck with all your revision and use this new year to start off afresh! Remember, all your hard work will pay off eventually!