Physics Study Support

What to do to revise:

1. Make a plan. Decide on the times you will be able to study for all your subjects over the time up until the exam and ensure you are able to cover all the course evenly. How much time depends on many factors but you should aim to spend between 6 and 10 hours revising for Physics over the weeks running up the exam.

2. Keep to the plan! Keep a record of when you revise and make a note of problem areas you still need to ask about.

3. Ensure you have a good place to study. 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.

4. Good revision is an active process. Rather than reading notes etc 'reprocess your notes' by making up flashcards, draw mind maps, make up a set of quiz questions for a friend etc.

5. 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 physics most lunchtimes and after school 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 to help jog your memory. Copying out notes can sometimes help but often just reading them is enough, best to use the time on practice questions.

• Study guide (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.

• Other school's and teacher's websites.

• Textbooks. There are coursework books specific to national 5 commercially available and we have older books which cover the same content for over night loan.

• Practice questions. Practice, practice, practice! The more questions you try and get feedback on the more liley you are to get a grade that reflects your ability in Physics! Sources of questions are

  • questions you did not finished from question folders in class

  • Homework booklets - try them again

  • Google form quizzes issued as revision

  • Questions or quizzes on other school websites

• Past paper questions. There is not so much content to learn in Physics but you need to have a very good understanding of concepts and be able to apply skills. As well as participating fully in original classroom activities answering practice questions is the best way to improve performance in Physics. All recent past papers and a 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 significant figures.

• Learn the meanings of the "command words" used in SQA Physics exam questions (for N5)