Ross Dickinson - How to Get Top Grades in Your Exams: Tips and Advice for Achieving Success

Appendix: 10 Great Revision Apps

Below is a list of ten great revision apps available for the revising student. Theyre not only useful, theyre also free, and anyone about to sit their exams would do well to have one or two of these on the screen of their phone, tablet or computer. So here they are, in alphabetical order:

Articles

This is basically Wikipedia in an app, although its much better designed and more user-friendly than the website. Its a very quick and handy way to look up information although remember what we said earlier: Wikipedia is not always correct.

English Literature Revision Games

This app is of course specific to a single subject, although it can be used by students of all ages. Filled with fun and informative games for a vast range of set texts from GCSE through to A Level, its a great way to revise whichever book will be coming up in your exam.

Exam Countdown

A great way to keep track of all your exam dates, this app helps keep you focused by providing you with a daily countdown to each of your exams.

GCSE Maths: Revision Questions

OK, so this app is clearly aimed at a specific age group and subject, so its irrelevant to anyone doing their A Levels. But if youve got your Maths GCSEs coming up, this is an absolutely brilliant resource, and highly recommended.

Gojimo

Covering every major subject from every major exam board, Gojimo contains a vast array of content and quizzes suitable for all students whether youre about to sit your GCSEs, AS Levels, A Levels, 11 plus or 13 plus Common Entrance. The apps content is even available offline.

iMindMap

Sometimes technology can just help make something like revision less of a chore and a bit more fun. iMindMap is a simple tool as youve probably guessed, its a way of creating a mind map on screen rather than paper but its beautifully designed and gives the process of mind-mapping a little extra appeal.

Quizlet

While this app allows you to create flashcards for each of your subjects, its real strength is that it also gives you access to the millions of flashcards already created by other Quizlet users.

Remember the Milk

Although this app is for anyone who needs to create a to-do list, many students have found it very helpful for organising their revision. Its key feature is that it can send you reminders via email, text message, IM or Twitter, so its perfect to ensure you never miss or forget a thing.

Reviser

Reviser is a handy way of condensing your revision notes on to your tablet or phone so that you can revise wherever you are, without needing to take your books and folders with you.

Revision App

It may be the least imaginatively named of all these apps, but its one of the best. Packed with content made by real teachers, Revision has loads of tutor videos and revision guides for most subjects at GCSE, A Level and 11 plus.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ross Dickinson has taught English at Key Stage 3, 4 and 5 in a number of schools across the UK. He currently lives in Cornwall and has worked with LendMeYourLiteracy , an organisation which nurtures and celebrates childrens writing.

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Chapter 1: You

The most important thing of all

Were going to start this book with perhaps the most important thing of all and that is YOU.

Never forget that the exams you are about to take are YOUR exams. They are not there to make your teachers feel that theyve done their jobs properly. They are not there to test your mum and dads parenting skills. They are not there to mark out your schools position in the league table. They are for YOU and YOU ALONE.

Now, this might sound a little scary at first. It might put a whole lot of responsibility on you that you dont necessarily feel you can handle at this stage in your life. But its really not that scary at all especially not when we add to it the second most important thing to remember:

Exams are not your enemy

All of your exams will ask you about things that you have learnt, things that you do know. They are not there to catch you out or make you look stupid. They are there simply to assess your knowledge on the subjects you have been studying, and then to reward you for your answers.

REMEMBER: Exams give marks for the things you get right. They never deduct marks for the things you get wrong.

So lets put those two points together. Exams are there to help YOU show the world what you can do, and not what you cant do. And, believe me, you can do and you know probably far more than youre even aware of. Think about it. If youre 14 then youve been at school for nine years! If youre 18 then youve been at school for 13 years!

Sure, youve been doing plenty of other stuff in that time youve been growing up, youve been making friends youll have for the rest of your life, youve been discovering the hobbies you enjoy and the things that you like to do and might like to do more of in the future but over all those years the thing youve been doing more of than anything else is learning.

REAL-LIFE EXAM TIPS

Some exams allow you to take books in with you, and some of these allow you to make notes in the books. If you have one of these exams, fill your book with as much information as you can to prompt you when you get into the exam hall.

MARCIE

You are amazing no really, you are! You are a learner, and youre a pretty incredible one, at that. Think about a job that a member of your family does. Maybe theyve been doing that job for nine years, maybe even for 13. Theyve been learning, too all that time theyve been doing the job, theyve been learning how to do it as well as they possibly can. But whether their job is being a mechanic or a doctor or a computer programmer or a teacher the fact is that theyve only been learning one thing. And you? Youve been learning ten, 12, maybe even 15 different things all at the same time!