frequently asked questions for key stage 3, GCSE and a level revision

This will depend on your age/stage of school, but you might be relieved to hear that experts say that the most impactful revision sessions are short chunks. This means that you can fit in multiple sessions in a day, but you shouldn’t be sitting alone in a room for hours without breaks. In fact, breaks are also really important!

We recommend that you revise as you go through each topic. This means that when you get closer to your exams, you have a lot of notes, flashcards, mind maps all ready to go and a place to start from.

You need to find a quiet space where you have access to everything you need, and where there is little to no distractions to help you focus.  

Revising with a friend or a group of friends can really help with motivation – as long as it doesn’t become a distraction! 

Working with someone and testing each other using flashcards or from knowledge organisers, helps you to practise retrieving information from your long-term memory.  

It can also be really beneficial to mark each others’ practice papers using the mark schemes, as this helps you to understand what each question is looking for.  

It could look something like this, which gives you 6 hours of revision with regular breaks.  

9-10.30: Go over notes – this could be rereading and then creating mindmaps or flashcards. This could be broken down further into different topics/subjects. 

10.30-11am: Have a break. Eat or drink something 

11-12.30: Test your knowledge of the notes you’ve made. This could be summarising them, flashcards or quick-retrieval practice.  

12.30-11.30. Take a break – have some lunch.  

1.30-2pm: Rest/nap (if you can) Sleep has been shown to be an amazing way to lock-in knowledge – giving the brain time to process what has been learned. Remember to set an alarm! 

2-3.30: Past paper, essay writing practice 

3.30-7.30: Do something completely different to revision – spend time with family, friends hobbies. Eat! 

7.30-9pm: Timed exam practice like a past paper or essay writing.  

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When it gets closer to exams, although we know it’s tempting and confidence-boosting to revise topics you already know and enjoy, you should concentrate on areas you find harder. This may have come out in mocks or have been suggested by your teachers.  

Work back from the exams and create weekly schedules – marking off when you’re at school, commitments that are already in your diary, time off for hobbies etc. This will help to identify the times when you can focus on revision. And remember, even with a limited amount of time available you can squeeze in some valuable revision, whether it’s a short burst of retrieval practice or completing a past paper – every bit helps! 

Yes, mind maps can be a useful revision tool. There are also other charts and diagrams that can help depending on what you’re trying to learn. You can find out more about them in this FREE Metacognition revision pack.

Children will experience formal assessments throughout secondary school, most likely starting with end-of-year assessments from Year 7. Therefore, it is never too early to start familiarising children with different types of revision techniques and strategies. It’s a skill that needs practice and a habit that can help with focus, anxiety and motivation. 

The Oxford Revise approach is backed by cognitive science research and has been developed by an experienced team of subject and revision experts.  

So, to break this down:  

Knowledge– this is learning all the knowledge and skills that they need for each topic per subject. Oxford Revise guides have knowledge organisers for every topic that is assessed in the exams. These can be used to make notes eg. mind maps, and flashcards.  

Retrieval – this step involves moving knowledge from their short-term memory and locking it into their long-term memory. A way to do this is by answering short retrieval questions. There is a method called look, cover, write and check which can be used with questions in the retrieval sections of the guides.  

Practice – this means answering lots of exam-style questions so that children become familiar with the format of the exams, what each type of question is asking, and honing their responses. Again, Oxford Revise guides have 100s of exam-style questions for each topic, so they have access to plenty of practice questions! They can also find past papers here. 

We’ve teamed up with From the Sidelines page to answer some of the common questions we hear from parents about revision. Go watch the videos. 

There are a few things to consider here, including the age/stage of the child and how much revision is being done at school, but the important thing to know is that shorter, concentrated chunks of revision are going to be more effective than very long sessions.  

Suggested revision chunks:  

• For ages 11-14/Years 7-9: 20-30 mins
• For ages 14+/Years 10-13: 30-60 mins 

The best place to revise is a quiet space where they have access to everything they need before they start, and where there is minimal distractions to allow them to really focus.  

The brain is a muscle and like any muscle needs a work out. The best type of revision is active – this is what helps lock knowledge into long-term memory! 

Children can do this by having short, revision sessions and by switching up the subjects and activities. If they stick to one subject or one topic for multiple sessions, then they are more likely to get distracted and stop focussing. 

We recommend starting a revision session with some quick-fire retrieval questions on topics they have previously studied, and then doing an activity that puts into practice the knowledge/skills they’ve been revising like exam-style questions

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Although we can’t guarantee fun for every child, the Oxford Revise approach encourages children to see the positive side of revision, and boost their confidence without overwhelming them.  

Revision should be active, and doesn’t always need to be done in isolation. Working with a friend or family member can really help to keep them focussed and motivated.  

Please read the article ‘When should I start revising‘ for hints and tips.

If you’re an English or Maths teacher then we have something extra for you! Find out more about our Revision Equity promise, which applies to all GCSE English Language and GCSE Maths revision guides.  

You can order directly from our schools’ website and the 50% schools’ price is automatically added at the online checkout.  

For English or Maths teachers, then you also get 20% of any GCSE English Language and GCSE Maths orders FREE. This is managed by our friendly team of partnership managers and you can email them here: [email protected].

We are proud to work with subject and cognitive science experts who have pooled their years’ of experience to develop the Oxford Revise approach across subjects. 

• English – Jennifer Webb, Lyndsay Bawden 
• Science –Primrose Kitten, Adam Robbins
• MFL – Sheena Newland, Heather Murphy, Tony Weston and José Antonio García Sánchez
• Geography – Tim Bayliss 
• History – Aaron Wilkes 
• RS – Dawn Cox  
• Psychology – Adelaide McLaughlin 
• Computer Science – Alison Page
• Business – Helen Coupland-Smith, Stefan Wytwyckyj

English Language (GCSE): AQA, Edexcel, Eduqas

English Literature (GCSE): AQA 

Maths (GCSE): AQA, Edexcel

Maths (A Level): Edexcel

Science (GCSE): AQA

Science (A Level): AQA and OCR A

MFL (GCSE): AQA

Geography (GCSE): AQA, Edexcel, OCR B

Geography (A Level): AQA, Edexcel

History (GCSE): AQA, Edexcel

RS (GCSE): AQA

Psychology (A Level): AQA

Computer Science (GCSE): OCR

Business Studies (GCSE): Edexce;

The Oxford Revise approach is backed by cognitive science research and has been developed by an experienced team of subject and revision experts.  

The Oxford Revise approach to revision is three-simple steps:  

• Knowledge
• Retrieval
• Practice.  

So, to break this down:  

Knowledge– this is learning all the knowledge and skills that they need for each topic per subject. Oxford Revise guides have knowledge organisers for every topic that is assessed in the exams. These can be used to make notes eg. mind maps, and flashcards.  

Retrieval – this step involves moving knowledge from their short-term memory and locking it into their long-term memory. A way to do this is by answering short retrieval questions. There is a method called look, cover, write and check which can be used with questions in the retrieval sections of the guides.  

Practice – this means answering lots of exam-style questions so that children become familiar with the format of the exams, what each type of question is asking, and honing their responses. Again, Oxford Revise guides have 100s of exam-style questions for each topic, so they have access to plenty of practice questions! They can also find past papers here.