This article was first published on 29 January 2019.
Summarising information
If tackling your revision is making you feel slightly overwhelmed, here are a few pointers to get you on the right track:
Divide your revision into topics or themes
Write on index cards and use the limited space wisely, focusing on key information
Use different methods to present your data, like spider diagrams and mind maps
Sam explains how to turn a shelf crammed full of textbooks into a small pile of index cards
"But what I can't understand, Sam, is how in the world do you get THAT… "
"…into THAT"
"What do you mean?"
"It's impossible… There's so much to revise, I feel like… I’m climbing up a huge revision mountain…"
"Well, look - it's all about breaking it down into manageable chunks then, y'know, summarising it."
"Like for English Lit …Shakespeare… "
"Revise Leona, revise… And it’s Romeo and Juliet anyway!"
"Breaking it down to sections… plot, characters, themes. So here… the main themes of Romeo and Juliet… See, I’m already starting to make this more manageable. "
"Ok, but still, it's not as small as your flashcards."
"Right… From here I need to start boiling this down – or summarising… I like to read through my notes, highlight key sections or words as I go; underlining, circling – whatever works for you. As I start to break this down to the really important stuff I’m making notes on flashcards from my highlighted notes so I end up with these bullet points…"
"… on one flashcard that covers Romeo and Juliet’s themes."
"Oookaaay… that sounds… good… but still, doing that with all of our subjects is going to take ages (she gestures at the shelves) I've got a lot of revision to do!"
"Ah… but you see you’re already revising – you’re ordering information, writing down the key points – by doing all of this you're reminding yourself how it fits together and you're also starting to take the information in and memorise it."
"Hey, you said bullet points, this doesn't look like a bullet point, more like a… hmmm… squashed squid?"
"It’s a Spider Diagram, that's another way of breaking information down – you can make notes in loads of different ways – this one’s really useful."
"Woah – I hate spiders. Even looking at one makes me sick - eurgh."
"It's a good way to break up a large topic, see I've got the topic in the middle and I'm going through my notes and quickly putting things together and seeing how they are linked."
"I like cats. I think I'll draw a cat diagram."
"Urm… (back on track) Then there’s timelines…"
"… formulas and charts."
"These are all about making your notes easier to revise from."
"Hmmmm, yea Daria uses her phone to make notes. And Dan does that weird thing with the string."
"And there's that thing Zak does with the Toucans."
"Yes… I've never really got that."
"Me neither. Anyway it's important for you to find what works best for you. It’s all about getting it into a more manageable state – you want LESS, not MORE!"
"Less, not more. Come on then, let’s do this!"
Let's recap
Summarising information can be hard, especially when you don't want to miss anything important.
The key is breaking the information into bite-sized chunks. For example, in English Literature you could break down your revision into of set texts into character, plot, main themes and so on.
Try using these steps to get you started:
Identify key information
Highlight key sections and relevant points
Transfer to index cards. Convert the information you highlighted into bullet points, diagrams and mind maps
At each stage of the process you are trying to reduce the information, until you have just the essentials you need to learn.
Remember it might feel like a lot of work, but it's all part of your revision, and helping you work towards the grade you want to achieve.
Exam Essentials: 5 tips for checking online sources
We've asked our exam survivors for their advice when checking the validity of an online source when doing coursework.
Study-life balance
Guidance on how to find the right balance between work and play to reduce stress.
Exam essentials: 5-point-plan for structuring extended responses
Knowing how to structure an extended response can help you stay on track whilst writing an essay or longer answers in an exam. We've asked our exam veterans to talk us through some of their favourite methods for structuring extended responses.
