What is Metacognition with Adam Robbins

Metacognition is a powerful tool for exam success – especially when preparing for multiple GCSE subjects. To learn how it can transform your revision, watch our video featuring Adam Robbins, expert author for Oxford Revise and experienced science teacher, as he explains how metacognition supports focused, effective exam preparation.

Metacognition – What it is and why it matters

Hi, my name is Adam. I’m an author for Oxford Revise and science teacher and I’m here to talk to you about something called metacognition.

Now, metacognition is a word that’s quite technical in some ways, but actually it’s an incredibly simple thing. Metacognition simply means thinking about your own thinking.

How metacognition supports effective revision

And what’s that really mean? Well, first of all, we’re going to need to look at the knowledge that you need. And when it comes to revision and improving our metacognition in our revision, what we need to do is we need to have knowledge.

We need to know what we need to know. We need to know if we know that or not. And that’s not just a reflection on oh I feel like I’m really good at this subject, so I must know it. Or I’m familiar with it or anything like that. It means I need to actually prove I know things, so quizzing and testing are really, really important.

And these are strategies and we can pick strategies that we use, and it’s our job to pick important strategies that work.

We don’t want to pick highlighting and things like this. We want to pick retrieval practice. We want to pick exam practice. We want to pick mind mapping. Things we know that have tangible benefits to improving our ability to recall and retrieve information when needed in an exam.

Becoming a metacognitive learner

Metacognitive learners are also highly effective at reflecting on their progress. After completing a task, they actively think back on what they’ve done and evaluate their learning – asking themselves: Do I know more now? Did that strategy work? Was it effective? Could I improve it? What should I do next?

Top 5 Metacognitive revision tips

So if I was going to give you 5 tips for being more metacognitively successful when you revise

Tip #1: Start with your specification – Before anything else, make sure you know exactly what you need to learn. Understanding the specification helps you focus your revision and avoid wasting time on irrelevant content. 

Tip #2 Don’t rely on your feelings, test it – Rather than replying on how confident you feel, quiz yourself regularly. Use flashcards, past papers, or online quizzes to prove what you actually know.

Tip #3 Get organised – Next, plan your time wisely. Know how long you have until the exam, what topics you need to cover, and how you’ll tackle each one. A clear plan keeps you on track.

Tip #4 Embrace the challenge – Learning isn’t always comfortable – and that’s okay. If it feels too easy, you’re probably not learning. Push through the awkwardness and stick with strategies that stretch your thinking.

Tip #5 Reflect and adapt – Finally, check in with yourself. Is your revision working? Are you improving? If not, talk to a teacher or parent and adjust your approach. Reflection is key to metacognitive growth.

Good luck!

Found this You Tube article useful? If so, keep exploring, watch more insightful content from Adam Robbins on the Oxford Revise YouTube Channel.