Getting Ready

Revising With Other People

Is it a good idea to revise with other people? Yes, it is. It reduces the bad effects of stress, and it can even be fun. And it can reassure you that everybody else isn't being absolutely brilliant.
But there is a downside. Getting together with other people to revise can turn into a moan-and-witter session. If all you do is complain to each other about how stressed you are and how hard life is, then you're wasting revision time. Here are some ways to make revising with other people really useful, and cut down on moan-and-witter.

1. Use the Other Person for Testing that You've Remembered Things

It's easy to ask someone else to check that you've memorised facts and references that you need. They can be a fair but friendly test for you.

2. Compare Choices

Do this with a past exam paper. Give yourselves five minutes to decide which questions you're going to answer. And think about why you choose the ones you do, and why you skip the others. Then compare your choices, and the reasons for them. This helps you think in a focused way about choosing the right questions for you.

3. Compare Answers

Give yourselves five minutes to plan your answers to the same question. Then compare your plans. Why did you do it your way? And why did they do it their way? Again, this helps you to think in a focused way about your answer. And you can pinch ideas from each other, of course.

4. Finding Out What You Need

Two or more people can use each other as researchers. Break a topic down into component parts, then each take one part to go and read up about. Then compare what you've found.

Working in any of these ways will make your revision session more focused and more effective. And you can always moan and witter when the exam's over.