The 2020 summer exam season has been like no exam season yet. With many universities electing for open-book and online exams, the tactics normally used by students when approaching exams have been forced to change radically. Now, with the majority of UK universities deciding to move online for at least some of the 20/21 academic year, and some including Cambridge removing face-to-face lectures for the year as a whole, independent study and discipline is becoming a more important skill for university students than ever. Here are some of the study tips that I plan to put to use in the second year of my degree, and some of the lessons I have learned from this unprecedented exam season.
Revision isn't just for exam season - with GCSEs and A-Levels, it is so easy to sweep the majority of your revision under the rug until the Easter holidays. Even still, the regular tests and mock exams I and many others had during GCSEs and A-Levels encouraged some recapping of content throughout the year. When it comes to degree-level, the landscape is very different. As opposed to the monthly testing I experienced at A-Level, in the first year of my degree we only had one set of mock exams to put our knowledge to the test, and it was with these exams that I quickly learned that the amount of content taught in a degree is not something you can cram over a few weeks.
Making revision a regular part of your routine is therefore vital to keeping on top of the heavy content received with a Law degree, but this doesn't necessarily mean sitting a practice paper once a week. For our degree, we were very fortunate in that there was a seminar to cover almost every single topic. Therefore, going beyond just the mandatory reading for each seminar and putting what you learn into essay plans or flashcards is a great way to ensure all grounds are covered and consolidate your knowledge on each topic as you go. As tempting as they are to disregard, seminars and the work they demand are vital to your learning and revision.
Pomodoro Technique - developed by Francis Cirillo in the 1980s, the Pomodoro Technique is one of the most popular methods of maintaining focus during long periods of study. Typically, it consists of breaking down work into 25-minute segments, with 5-minute breaks in between to prevent becoming bored or burned-out. Whilst very simple, this is something I have used for years to make a full day of studying seem much less daunting. As someone who struggles to put down their phone and is very easily distracted by social media, using this in conjunction with the Forest app, which we discussed back in our first ever article, is a truly effective way to put aside any distractions and focus solely on work, with the reward of a break as an incentive. You can hear a more in-depth discussion of the Pomodoro Technique in this video below.
Silence is golden, but teamwork is vital - as someone who regards themselves as an independent worker, I always felt I worked best alone and in silence. And, whilst working alone is almost always more productive, the importance of working with others and sharing ideas is something that has become more apparent during the first year of my degree and something I hope to utilise more in the following years to come.
As mentioned earlier, the huge content of a Law degree can be difficult to cover and the extra reading one can choose to take on is almost infinite. When it came to my January mock examinations, studying alone for the morning and early afternoon, followed by a couple of hours with my classmates sharing ideas and essay plans was the final piece of the puzzle to my revision - there was almost always a useful case, quote or statistic that would be shared that I never came across in my hours of independent study. Furthermore, talking through your essay-plans and key topics in a teaching style is a great mode of revision as it allows you to consolidate your understanding of a topic and discuss it confidently, as you would in an exam.
The importance of recall - whilst this year's exams were open-book, focussing more on having an understanding of a subject rather than testing your memory of it, Law exams typically require a hefty amount of memorisation, for example remembering cases, academics' opinions and statistics off by heart. Being able to recall these quickly in an exam situation is a vital skill that I intend to practice regularly throughout second year.
Quizlet is the perfect way to test yourself on small pieces of information. Not only is it much quicker to type your notes onto Quizlet as opposed to hand-writing flashcards, you can access them from your phone any time, making it easy to revise wherever you go.
Don't be afraid to ask for help - often it is said that, in comparison to previous levels of study, a degree is far more independent and the one-to-one help you once received from your teachers will not be available. Whilst a degree is undoubtedly more focussed on independent study, it is important to note that individual help with your work is available at university and you are not alone with your studies.
Seminarists are likely to be the staff you develop the closest one-to-one relationship with in terms of your work. Therefore, making the most of seminars as previously mentioned and perhaps asking for feedback on your participation at the end of seminars is a great way to find improvements.
Making the most of staff office hours is also an often-ignored but very important source of advice. Examiners of your work can provide much more detailed feedback in person than on paper, so using this and getting the most out of each examined piece of work you do is key.
Universities like to recycle - if there is one major take-away I have got from this exam season, it is that my university in particular like to recycle when it comes to exam questions. As part of my exam prep I had gone through every past paper available for each module, and when it came to exams I found that a lot of questions were either extremely similar or even identical to those featured in past papers and seminars.
Whilst it is always important to prepare for the unexpected and never put all of your eggs in one basket in terms of question-spotting, looking at trends in past papers and seminars and at least completing essay plans for these can prepare you well if these come up on the day. Better still, taking your essay plans to teachers of your faculty for feedback can allow you to perfect these answers and could help you boost your grade further.
Studying isn't easy, and the academic year can seem long and daunting when you are confronted with 1000+ pages of reading, a million flashcards to learn and countless pieces of coursework. However, although this year may be the most unprecedented and challenging yet, by studying smartly, you can make it through.
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