How much revision can you manage a day?

[Lethos]

Not sure about other countries, but it's exam season in the UK right now.

With my impending A2 exams in 1 week, I've kicked myself into revision mode. My first choice uni, Manchester, want me to get AAA, so to say I'm nervous would be an understatement.

I've been trying to get in 3-4 hours revision per day. Now to me, that seems like a reasonable amount. But according to the hordes of students on the internet, I'm either doing next to nothing or there is rampant lying on the internet (a shocker I know). According to the denizens of places such as 'The Student Room', the average amount of hours is between 6-7.

So now I create this thread to either reassure myself that I'm working a normal amount or convince myself that I need to work more.

How many hours of revision per day do you do Escapist? If you have finished your exams, how many hours did you do?

 

[bojackx]

I can tell you that that average is a big load of BS. Either that, or I'm a lazy ass, but since I don't know anyone who does that much I'd definitely say it's BS.

I should have started by now but I haven't which is pretty bad, and when I do I've never done more than 3 or 4 hours in a day, and I still got BBB. I actually need ABB to get onto my course, so revision is probably something I should be doing intensively.

 

[IndomitableSam]

The most studying I ever did at a stretch was probably 2, MAYBE 3 hours. Of different subjects. One one thing, probably under 2 hours. I was never really one to study for anything.

 

[Melon Hunter]

There is a great deal of bullshit when it comes to revision, and people lie all the time just to make themselves feel better. No-one really revises 8 solid hours a day. You should wait until you get to university; the amount of mind games people play with one another is just silly. Staying in the library till 2am, swigging Red Bull to see who can stay there the longest, walking in circles on the lawn repeating notes to themselves (of course, in front of as many passers-by as possible)

Yeah, I wouldn't listen to other people on their revision tactics at all.

 

[Jarek Mace]

7 hours of revision a day? Bullshit. Taking up half the day when I'm not sleeping and devoting it to revision? I sincerely doubt I, or many other students out there, can devote that much time or even want to.

Then again I never revise anyway. Huh.

 

[Lethos]

There is a great deal of bullshit when it comes to revision, and people lie all the time just to make themselves feel better. No-one really revises 8 solid hours a day. You should wait until you get to university; the amount of mind games people play with one another is just silly. Staying in the library till 2am, swigging Red Bull to see who can stay there the longest, walking in circles on the lawn repeating notes to themselves (of course, in front of as many passers-by as possible)

Yeah, I wouldn't listen to other people on their revision tactics at all.

Glad to hear this. I was worried that I had become so lazy that what other people consider normal, I consider impossible.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

Well you can do as much as you like. After roughly an hour the amount that is retained drops off sharply and keeps declining until you're barely seeing words on the page.

 

[Melon Hunter]

There is a great deal of bullshit when it comes to revision, and people lie all the time just to make themselves feel better. No-one really revises 8 solid hours a day. You should wait until you get to university; the amount of mind games people play with one another is just silly. Staying in the library till 2am, swigging Red Bull to see who can stay there the longest, walking in circles on the lawn repeating notes to themselves (of course, in front of as many passers-by as possible)

Yeah, I wouldn't listen to other people on their revision tactics at all.

Glad to hear this. I was worried that I had become so lazy that what other people consider normal, I consider impossible.

I get the feeling everyone has those insecurities, and some deal with it by massively exaggerating how much revision they really do. Problem is, everyone hears that and try to ramp up their revision tales, leading to a positive feedback cycle of total bollocks. Once other people believe you're doing 8 hours a day, it's very easy to fool yourself into thinking that's what you're doing, when you're really doing an hour and a half, while watching stuff on YouTube. Which may or may not be what I'm currently doing.

 

[Erana]

So, I take it they're including their class and homework time in with their general "study" time? I don't really know how it is for most fields; I went with art in my undergraduate and spending six hours or more in addition to the hours-long classes such a major entails wasn't a problem for me because it was my life anyway. paintpaintdrawpaintpaintpaint skype, skype-while-paint, hang out in room where friends are gaming while working on person-sized drawing, etc.

 

[Auron225]

I think thats a bit high to be the average - I did about 4 hours a day when I started (during Easter) for a couple of weeks and when it came to study leave, I kept at 4 hours a day for a little while longer. During the exams though, I kicked it up to 6-7 hours a day. A few days I did 8 hours and one day in particular I did 10 (I don't recommend that - I needed a break the next day so I may as well had done 5 each day).

If you're going for AAA then I might step it up a little if I were you - although it really depends on which A levels you're doing, how confident you feel for them, how much % you have already in terms of previous exams/coursework, and other stuff.

Try doing 6 hours tomorrow. Id usually start in the morning around 10 and revise til 12. Then take a break for an hour and go from 1-3, then again from 4-6 so by 6pm Id done 6 hours and could relax in the evening =)

 

[hclarke05]

Are you kidding me? You only do 3-4 hours a day? These are you A-LEVELS! That's such a tiny amount for such important exams! And all my friends do 6-9 hour days including me, and it is definitely manageable. What do you do for the rest of your day? I don't understand your madness. You should be doing more, people only pass long days of as BS to feel better about the lack of work they are doing!!

 

[Palademon]

I've had a virus for 6 weeks. Even if I revise for my last few exams I'm already fucked.
My last exams happen to be the ones I thought I would fail anyway, since no one thought they would do well at them. I've missed my chance to do well at the easy exams.

Hopefully I can still make it into university. Although, it's not like ones I chose had high requirements -_-

6-7 is way too much. The amount you're doing is way too much for me though, but probably a safe idea. Make sure to have plenty of breaks though. So, um...

[HEADING=3]IGNORE ME![/HEADING]

 

[necromanzer52]

A month ago when I was studying for my college exams, I did 4-6 hours a day. That was pretty crazy though, I couldn't imagine doing anymore.

 

[Gibboniser]

Ehh, an hour? Sometimes?

 

[marrrk]

We're talking university level entrance exams here right? I think by this point in your scholastic life you should know your study habits well enough.

In the end it comes down to the individual. I've got friends who can get away with a couple of hours of, albeit intense, studying. Others who work at a more leisurely pace of 8 easy-going hours, that sort of thing. Like I said, personal preference.

And given that you've only got another week to go? No point getting stressed and burnt out trying to match someone else's pace, especially not at this juncture in time. You've done most of the legwork already, so have some confidence in yourself! In for the final 100m sprint


Edit: Totally missed out the question. Oops.. I typically got away with say 4-5 hours? But like I said, I'm not you - so don't take that as an benchmark.
All the best for your upcoming exams!

 

[Alex Cowan]

I have my first A2 in a week and I'm averaging about an hour per day, unless I go into school and lock myself in the library, in which case I might manage 3. The problem is, I'm at the stage where I feel I know enough. Never a good sign...

 

[Esotera]

I managed to do 12 hour days for my first two semesters of university, but decided it's just not worth the burnout that you inevitably get with that. An average day of revision for me now would be on a time period of 9-6, with a very generous lunch break, coffee breaks, and early finishes. You should aim to get a load done, and work on the assumption that you'll achieve 80% of it.

 

[Retal19]

I'm slap bang in the middle of my GCSEs, and all I can ever manage is an hour or two. Any more and I start drifting into a Coma, my eyes start wandering off the page at the end of lines, my hands start to get restless again, and I start drawing all over the pages. My legs suddenly ache to stand, and eventually I just can't do it and I'm literally just staring at the page.

So, I've just made up for that by doing small amounts of revision constantly. Literally only 15 minutes a day, but spread out over the entire year. That's added up, I've breezed through all my exams and everyone's pissed at me because while they're cramming, I'm lounging in sunglasses complaining about how bright it is, and afterwards when they're fretting over questions, I'm estimating my percentages and complaining about how bright it is.

I'm like the most annoying person in school at the the minute.

WHOOPS, OFF TOPIC.

Our Principal says we should be doing Eight Hours of Revision a day. Suffice to say everyone hates her because that can mean we're giving up our entire waking day. And no one wants to do that, and no one IS doing it because it's a stupid idea and she obviously wants to turn us all into Robots. Our teachers on the other hand, all say to do just one or two hours a day, and switch subjects each day. Our teachers have a much better plan, but I think the plan I've used is better, and the reason I've taken it is actually because my Biology Teacher told us about it at the start of the year. She's a brilliant teacher, and because I've done everything she's said, all my exams are really easy now.

 

[Ironside]

At the moment I am probably revising 10+ hours a day for my impending Uni exams, but that is purely because i procrastinated for so long and now have to make up for lost time.