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Top tips for how to revise:
Make a plan. Decide on the times you will be able to study for all your subjects, up until the exam dates and ensure you are able to cover all of the course evenly. How much time you spend depends on many factors, but you should aim to spend between 6 and 10 hours revising for Chemistry over the weeks running up the exam. Learn how to study less, study smart.
Keep to the plan! Keep a record of when you revise and make a note of problem areas you still need to ask about. Check what has been covered over the year with this department plan.
Ensure you have a good place to study. It is best to work at a desk or table without distractions. Switch off your phone and screens when you are revising. If you listen to music try to avoid songs with lyrics. Take regular short breaks to keep your concentration level up.
Good revision is an active process. Rather than just reading notes you should 'reprocess your notes' by making up flashcards, draw mind maps, make up a set of quiz questions for a friend etc. The "learning pyramid", developed by the National Training Laboratory, suggests that most students only remember about 10% of what they read from textbooks, but retain nearly 90% of what they learn through teaching others. Click here for more ideas on how to revise.
Ask when you are stuck. You can consult websites, ask others in your year group, some pupils even ask their teacher for help! There are drop-in supported study sessions for Chemistry on Tuesday and Thursday lunchtimes in room 227 for learners from all classes.
What to use:
Notes jotters. You are revising, not learning from scratch. Using your notes jotters should remind you of the original activity you carried out. Just reading notes is not enough, it is best to use your time on practice questions.
Course specification (check the SQA pages for the most up to date content)
BBC Bitesize The BBC regularly update their popular online revision facility.
Scholar This is useful 'extension' for those chasing A and B grades.
Achieve This is a new website that has lots of detailed information for the whole course.
Links for Other school's and teacher's websites.
Textbooks. There are lots of books specific to Chemistry that are commercially available and we have a stock of older books which cover the same content for short term loan.
Practice questions. Practice, practice, practice! The more questions you try and get feedback on the more likely you are to get a grade that reflects your ability in Chemistry.
Sources of questions are:
Questions you have not finished from consolidation folders or slides in class
Google form quizzes issued as revision
Questions or quizzes on other school websites
Past paper questions. To succeed in Chemistry you need to have a very good understanding of concepts and be able to apply skills but you also need to know how the SQA are likely to ask questions. As well as participating fully in original classroom activities answering practice questions is the best way to improve performance in Chemistry. All recent past papers are available to download from the SQA website. Always check your answers with the 'marking instructions' also available on the SQA site.
Exam format Make sure you know what length and format the exam is. Bitesize has some useful pages. Use the course report on the SQA website to find out what were the tricky questions and common mistakes in previous years.
Understand how questions are marked so you don't lose marks due to units or using incorrect terms.
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