Start serious revision at Easter of Year 11, roughly eight to ten weeks before exams begin in May. Start lighter topic review from February half term, especially for content-heavy subjects like History, Biology and RS. If you left it later, focus ruthlessly on past papers and high-mark topics rather than trying to cover everything. Consistent one-hour sessions over two months beat frantic cramming in the final fortnight every single time.

Aim for two to four hours a day on weekdays during the Easter holidays and study leave, plus school lessons. On weekends, three to five hours is realistic if you take proper breaks. Quality beats quantity: forty-five minutes of active recall and past papers is worth more than three hours of re-reading. Build in rest days, exercise and sleep. Burning out in April helps nobody when exams start in mid-May.

Yes, and the research is unambiguous. Active recall forces your brain to retrieve information, which strengthens memory far more than passively re-reading. Close the textbook, write down everything you remember about a topic, then check what you missed. Flashcards (paper or Anki), blurting, and self-quizzing all count. Re-reading and highlighting feel productive because they are easy, but they produce very little long-term recall under exam pressure.

List every subject and topic, then rate each out of five for confidence. Give weaker topics more slots. Block revision into forty-five minute sessions with ten-minute breaks, no more than three back to back. Rotate subjects daily so nothing goes stale. Leave the final week before each exam for past papers only. Keep one evening a week completely free. A timetable you actually stick to beats a perfect one you abandon by week two.

Aim for at least five to eight past papers per subject, working back from the most recent. Do the first couple open-book to learn the structure, then sit the rest under proper timed conditions. Mark them honestly against the official AQA, Edexcel or OCR mark scheme and write down every topic you lost marks on. That error list becomes your revision priority list. Past papers teach you the examiner's language better than any textbook.

Maths and Physics: worked examples, then similar questions from memory, then past papers. Biology, Chemistry and RS: flashcards for key terms, quotes and definitions, backed by topic blurts. English Literature: quote banks, essay plans and practising analytical paragraphs. History and Geography: mind maps for causation and case studies, plus timed exam questions. Languages: spaced repetition for vocab and daily listening practice. Never use one technique for everything — match the tool to the job.

Prioritise by weight and weakness. English and Maths matter for every sixth form and apprenticeship, so protect them. Next, target your lowest mocks grades — those have the biggest improvement potential. Strong subjects need topping up, not re-covering from scratch. Rotate three to four subjects per day rather than spending a whole day on one. Use half-hour micro-sessions on smaller subjects like RS or Citizenship so they never get dropped entirely.

Break everything into small, finishable tasks. 'Revise Biology' is overwhelming. 'Make flashcards for cell biology section 1.1' is done in thirty minutes and gives you a win. Keep a tick list you can see filling up. Protect sleep, eat properly and get outside daily — tired brains revise badly. Talk to a parent, tutor or teacher if stress is affecting sleep or appetite. A grade 9 is not worth a mental health crisis.