What are the five techniques?
Active recall
testing yourself from memory instead of re-reading notes
Spaced practice
revisiting a topic over several shorter sessions instead of one long one
Past and practice questions
working through real questions, not just reading worked examples
Explaining it out loud
teaching a topic to someone else (or an empty room) exposes the gaps
An error log
keeping a running note of mistakes made, and revisiting them specifically
Why do these work better than re-reading notes?
Re-reading feels productive because the material looks familiar, but recognising something is not the same as being able to produce it under exam conditions. All five techniques above force active retrieval, which is what an exam actually asks for.
Does this apply to every exam board?
Yes - these are general study techniques, not tied to any specific exam board's specification. Which exam board a particular course follows changes the detail of what's tested, not how revision itself works best.
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