Here at Cranleigh School, we challenge every student to aspire boldly and reach their full academic potential. As your son or daughter transitions into this crucial revision period, our goal is to empower them with the strategies for life-long learning, which are grounded in cognitive psychology.
The key to this ambition is a simple, evidence-based principle that guides our approach: as educational researcher Professor Rob Coe (2013) puts it, “learning happens when people have to think hard”. A common pitfall learners make is mistaking being busy and feeling familiar with the material for mastery, which creates an “illusion of competence” (Koriat & Bjork, 2006).
There has been extensive research into the effectiveness of different revision methods and study skills, which highlight the limitations of traditional, passive methods. We know that techniques like highlighting, re-reading notes, or simply summarising texts are amongst the least effective for long-term retention (Dunlosky, 2013; Stanton et al, 2021). While they feel comfortable and productive, they do not require the brain to work hard enough. Instead, the research points to three techniques proven to be highly effective: practice testing, interleaving and exam practice. We encourage every student to commit to these methods.
Practice Testing & Active Recall
Practice testing involves self-testing on the material to be learned. This technique is so powerful because the act of retrieving information from memory actively enhances long-term retention (McDermott, 2021). Methods in this categories include:
- Blurt: Write down everything you can remember about a topic without looking at your notes, then check for gaps and repeat the process.
- Flashcards and the Leitner System: Use flashcards (term on one side, definition/answer on the back) and the Leitner System to space out your practice, focusing review on cards you get incorrect.
- The Feynman Technique: Actively teach the content to someone else.
- Self-Quizzing: Use mini whiteboards, apps like Quizlet, or simply questions you generate yourself.
Interleaving
The second important evidence-based recommendation is interleaving, which is a form of distributed practice. Interleaved practice is a study technique where you mix up the order of different concepts or topics rather than completing them in large blocks, which is known as massed practice (Dunlosky, 2013). With this approach students retain knowledge for a longer period, even if the total time spent studying remains the same. Dunlosky (2013) found that those that used interleaving, as opposed to massed practice, performed three times better in the exam. This is because this method forces the brain to retrieve it effortfully over time – preventing students from relying on rote, short-term memory responses – ensuring the knowledge is secured in long-term memory. This scientific concept underpins the need for a sustained revision programme, as opposed to a cramming approach. For example, a morning session could see a student move from History (WW1) to Biology (Osmosis), back to History (China) to Maths (equations), and so forth. This method ensures effortful retrieval and allows the brain to make crucial links between different areas of study.
Exam practice
Practicing under conditions that resemble the final exam – in essence timed, silent and without notes – forces students to engage in the same type of effortful retrieval, time management, and mental endurance they will need on the real test. This falls under the theory of transfer-appropriate processing, which means that performance is improved if the learning processes match the evaluation processes. Practicing in this way ensures the transfer of learned knowledge is successful under the high-pressure conditions of the final examination (Veltre, Cho, & Neely, 2015).
Partnership with parents
To ensure our pupils are prepared for their revision, all UVI and UV have had an assembly explaining the efficacy of these techniques. We are committed to supporting our pupils and working in partnership with parents so we were delighted to recently host parents of these year groups for a lecture, exploring revision techniques and how parents can best support their children at this time. You can view an online version of that lecture here.
The primary role for parents during the revision period is to act as a facilitator, not a manager, recognizing that the student must own their revision for the purposes of building resilience and preparation for university. However, parental emotional and practical support is hugely valuable. Practical support involves creating a distraction-free environment for working, co-establishing expectations regarding phone and screen usage, setting clear boundaries, such as no work after eight in the evening, and encouraging rest time. Emotional support is provided through encouragement, celebrating small wins, and helping the child keep things in perspective. Parents can also provide direct revision support by testing their children to ensure effortful retrieval, allowing them to teach the content (The Feynman Technique), and timing their practice papers.
By committing to these effortful, evidence-based revision techniques, your child isn’t just preparing for a single set of exams; they are building robust, lifelong learning skills grounded in cognitive science that will serve them well through university and beyond.
| Mrs Madeleine Best |
| Assistant Head (Teaching and Learning) |
Parents only:
Follow the link below to see Mrs Best’s presentation on revision strategies for students in public exam years.
Check out Dr John Taylor’s blog on Cranleigh Curriculum Innovation below
Bibliography
Coe, R. 2013. Improving Education: A triumph of hope over experience. Durham University.
Dunlosky, J. (2013). Strengthening the student toolbox: Study strategies to boost learning. American Educator, 37(3), 12-21.
Konstantinou, Iro. (2021) ‘Successful Revision: What does the research say?’, The Tony Little Centre for Innovation and Research in Learning, p2
Koriat, A., & Bjork, R. A. (2006). Illusions of competence during study can be remedied by manipulations that enhance learners’ sensitivity to retrieval conditions at test. Memory & Cognition, 34(5), 959–972.
McDermott, K. B. (2021). Practicing retrieval facilitates learning. Annual Review of Psychology, 72(1), 1–25.
Stanton, J. D., Sebesta, A. J., & Dunlosky, J. (2021). Fostering metacognition to support student learning and performance. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 20(2), fe3. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.20-12-0289
Veltre, M. T., Cho, K. W., & Neely, J. H. (2015). Transfer-appropriate processing in the testing effect. Memory, 23(8), 1229–1237.
