Revision hints and tips

Revision advice
The emphasis of the examinations is on demonstrating your ability to apply knowledge you have gained in the study of the course. The old fashioned idea of "swotting" or cramming the night before an examination, and forgetting it all the night after, has little to commend it. If revision has been properly planned it should not be necessary to cram at the last minute.

You should also carefully read the information contained in each workbook relating to the structure and content of the final examination. 

The majority of your preparation for an exam should be devoted to revision. Although revision literally means 'seeing' or 'looking again', you will find that some part of your revision is new learning. Revision, however, is not just about memorising information – it is a much more active task.

When revising, you should be repeatedly rehearsing your knowledge, examining, amending and 'seeing it again', from different angles and in different contexts. This process should lead you to a full understanding of the material and remembering the most important details on a long-term basis. This reviewing process is an essential component of learning.

Revision typically involves:

• Finding out what you know and understand, and what you don't
• Building on what you know and understand
• Finding out what has slipped your mind, and working on ways of keeping it in your long-term memory
• Preparing to show, such as in an exam, that you understand what you have learned.

Revision, therefore, is a valuable part of the process of actively studying and learning and it involves much more than scanning notes in the hope that you will remember some of the information. Consider using some of the following revision strategies to help you make the most effective use of the time you spend revising: 

Possible Revision Strategies

• Revise throughout your entire study period – do not wait until the last minute.
• Consider setting aside 15 minutes a day to revise new material – write a summary of what you are supposed to have learned.
• Revision sessions should be too short rather than too long – intense, long sessions are less effective for recall than shorter periods.
• Revise your weakest or most difficult topic first – completing this will be very satisfying and will motivate you to revise other topics.
• Make revision an active task – organise your material and summarise it in your own words and create your own summary notes and / or use mind-mapping techniques.
• Make revision a meaningful task – people tend to remember more if the information is meaningful or relevant to them.
• Consider making the material you need to learn more meaningful by associating with an image or a symbol.
• Consider using mnemonics.
• Learn general rules and principles rather than masses of facts – simply learning isolated bits of information is inefficient.
• Attempt to link your material, in as many different ways as you can, to what you know already – keep searching for more meaningful ways of structuring your material.
• Practice with past exam papers – go through old papers to familiarise yourself with the structure and format of previous exams.
• Prepare outline solutions to questions from past exam papers, and then use your notes to check how comprehensive your answers are.
• Occasionally write a full detailed answer to a sample question from a past paper – within a fixed time limit.
• Many students use index cards to aid revision – write a brief outline or summary immediately after completing work on a topic, using a minimum amount of detail, but ensuring that you understand what you have written.
• Revising with others can enable mutual support and encouragement when the going gets tough – you may find it helpful to revise with other students, which can be a very effective way of learning by testing each other on the revision material.
• Record your revision notes onto a voice recorder or 'burn' a CD so that you can revise whilst doing other activities, e.g. exercising, riding on a bus, or even taking a bath – this is a very effective way of saving time, as you can still learn while you are involved in other tasks.
• Students studying any of the Diploma / Certificate in Financial Services based subjects can try the Mock Exam questions available on this website.
• If available, buy a copy of the CIOBS Revision Notes for your subject. 

When doing some final revision, don't depress yourself by finding out all the things you don't know. Instead, concentrate on what you do know – it is too late to cram in new information. If you have followed a revision plan, you should have covered all the necessary material. 

Don't work too hard the night before the exam – this will only leave you feeling tired on the day of the exam. Take it easy if you can and get as much sleep as possible to give yourself a clear head the next morning. Make sure that you eat a well-balanced diet in the run up to the exam. Take care of yourself – too many late nights are not going to help you to perform to the best of your ability.