How to revise for science exams without burning out

Science rewards doing over reading. You can read a chapter on kinematics three times and still freeze on a question, because recognising a method is not the same as being able to use it. The plan below is built around that fact.

1. Start from the specification

Print the list of topics your exam board says could appear. Mark each one red, amber or green. Be honest. Revision time belongs mostly to the reds and ambers, however pleasant it is to re-do a green topic you already know.

2. Questions before notes

For each topic, try a few past-paper questions cold. Wrong answers are useful: they show you the exact gap. Then read your notes with that gap in mind. This is far more efficient than reading first and testing later.

3. Keep an error log

Every time you lose a mark in practice, write one line: the question, what went wrong, and the fix. "Used grams not kilograms in F = ma." "Forgot the discriminant must be positive." Reread the log the day before the exam. Most people repeat the same handful of slips.

4. Make a one-page formula sheet

Writing it from memory is the revision. Then check against the real thing and fix what you got wrong. Include the units next to every symbol.

5. Use a calculator as a checker

Do the question by hand, then confirm it with a solver. If the two answers differ, read the working to find which line broke. Do not start with the calculator, or you will not learn the method you need when it is switched off.

6. Space it out

When	What
Day 1	Learn or relearn a topic, then do a few questions
Day 3	Redo the questions you got wrong
Day 10	Mixed questions from this topic and an older one
Week 4	One timed past paper, then mark it strictly

7. Look after the basics

Sleep, food and a short walk do more for recall than a fourth hour at the desk. Stopping on time is part of the plan.