Exam season can be an incredibly stressful time for students, a time that can leave parents feeling somewhat helpless. Whether your child is studying for their SATs, GCSEs, A-Levels or university exams, revision is a key part of their academic journey. So, how can you help your child to revise effectively? We've got four great revision techniques to help your kid fight revision fatigue and exam stress.

The Pomodoro Technique

If your child finds themselves struggling with lengthy revision sessions and prolonged concentration, the Pomodoro technique could be a great solution. This method involves 25 minutes of solid study followed by a 5-minute break. It gives your child an end goal to work towards and offers a structured approach to learning in manageable chunks. This can be especially helpful if your child is feeling overwhelmed or distracted, or if they’re struggling to motivate themselves.

Flashcards

Tried and tested, revision cards are a great way to test your child and promote active recall - which is particularly pertinent to remembering information. Flashcards are good for shorter pieces of information like facts, quotes, or definitions. Your child can test themselves or even better, get a friend or parent to test them.

Repetition with the 2357 Technique

Space repetition requires your child to review the information at close intervals which is intended to solidify it in their memory and prevent forgetting it. The 2357 method is how best to structure these revision sessions. Start from the date of your child's exam and plan a revision session the day before. Then, two days before this last session, plan another one. Three days before that, plan another session, then five days before that, and finally seven days before that for your first study session.

Blurting

Blurting is an excellent method for promoting active recall. Your child should write down everything they need to know about the topic they’re revising without looking at their materials. They can then check this against their study materials and include anything they may have forgotten. This process of ‘blurting’ all this information out onto a page can be repeated closer to the exam date.

All these methods are great, but remember that successful revision comes down to three core principles: recall, repetition, and organisation. Active recall is by far the most important element of remembering information. Test your child to recall information repeatedly to ensure that it’s embedded in their memory. Repetition, doing it again and again, and organisation, both of themselves, their study materials, and organising their information into chunks, are also crucial.

But more important than revision techniques, ensuring that your child feels loved and supported no matter the outcome of their exams is the most important part of your child’s preparation for their exams.