As I haven’t even had my first student, I will write a blog, reflecting what my opinion on study in general. Finishing school last year, I finally started to realise that doing well academically isn’t just about how much time I spend studying, but how I actually use that time.

I used to think that effective revision meant re-reading my notes highlighting parts of the textbook or memorising a lot of content. This felt like I was getting something done at the time. It did not always help me do better in assessments or exams. Over time I noticed that exams reward skills beyond remembering information. In subjects success depends on how well I can use what I know in new situations make my responses clear and logical and answer the question directly.

For example understanding what words like “describe” “analyse” and “evaluate” mean can completely change how I answer a question and how detailed my answer needs to be. My teachers would drill these into our heads in class, ensuring we knew how to attack the questions for each specific directive verb.

I found that practising with papers under timed conditions has been a lot more helpful than just re-reading my notes.It makes me think carefully about how I organise my ideas make my paragraphs clear and use my time well which are all important skills in an exam.

Looking at the marking criteria and thinking about the feedback from my teachers has also helped me see what I need to work on of just keeping on revising what I already know.

In the backend of the year I started making study plans that match the assessment schedules and the syllabus. Breaking down what I needed to study into parts made revision feel less scary and more useful.

Hopefully, I can pass these opinions on to future students that I tutor, to make their journey through high school a more enjoyable and less strenuous task.

Charlie