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For final year IB Diploma students, there is no doubt that the beginning of year 2 is frantic with Internal Assessments, TOK and EE all happening at the same time. Whilst getting through all this is an achievement in itself, it’s really important that you remain focused and prepared for the next chapter in your IBDP journey – that's to say, revision.
Get the revision ball rolling – NOW!
Now would be a really good idea for you to begin drawing up some sort of revision plan, including the time you will need to be able to go over certain topic areas more than once before the exams in May. The danger is that if you start doing this in, for example, March, it will be too late to revise everything. As part of this revision plan, you should think carefully about the mock exams that you’ll be doing (for most IB students this is normally 2 months before the real thing), because the environment in which you take these mock exams will mirror the real exam. Consequently, they are vital in getting your head around how exams work, and crucially, how you approach them. In the build up to these mock exams, try and focus on the key concepts in your subjects and don’t worry if you do not have time to cover everything – this is sort of the point of mock exams: to raise your awareness of what you do and do not know,so that you have time to notice the gaps in your knowledge and focus on those areas.
Quality revision
The age-old saying, ‘it’s quality not quantity’ rings true when it comes to revision. Of course, there is no getting away from the fact that you will have to spend lots of time revising. However, it is really important that you move away from simply reading your notes for hours on end and that your revision is wide-ranging in terms of the activities and strategies you undertake to retain important information. You probably already know this, but there are many revision techniques that exist, with each one beneficial for different types of learners.These include: mind maps, mnemonics, posters, flashcards, quizzes, checklists, games and notes. By revising for your IB exams in this cognitive manner, that is to say, by filtering the information you know and do not know, you will be far more likely to understand, and able to remember key concepts. Another highly useful method for noticing gaps in your knowledge is to do practice essays, under the same time conditions you will have for the exam. Although this may seem quite daunting, it really does draw your awareness to what you do and do not know. This revision technique also gives you the chance to practice analyzing and answering questions.
Find the right balance
When putting together your revision schedule, make sure that you take into account all the co-curricular things you do in your life. What you do outside of school/class/revision is really important for your mental health and well-being and this should not be neglected, even when you are at the peak of your revision. Remember to find the right balance when you are scheduling your revision, and this means being realistic. You simply will not be able to revision 6 subjects every evening or at weekends. It’s far more realistic to focus on 1 or 2 subjects per evening. Clearly, you need to balance this with TOK and EE, so it might not be possible to do this every day, but the main goal of a revision schedule is to ensure that you are revising at a steady pace early on so that you are able to cover all the content in detail without too much cramming.
Top tip: make sure you do your homework! This may seem really simplistic, but it is a fantastic way to consolidate and build up your knowledge of each topic and therefore have a detailed understanding of the syllabus in each subject.
Your teachers are your allies!
It’s normal to be stronger in some IB subjects and weaker in others. What’s important is that you focus on those areas that need to be improved. Make sure that you talk to your teachers if you have struggled with something and ensure that you put into action the feedback they have given you. Your teachers will help you process things you do not understand and guide you so that you can improve. It would be worth asking them if you could look have a copy of the syllabus for each of your subjects as these clearly indicate the key concepts you need to have covered – you could even simply highlight the areas you need to focus on, this will give you direction.
Whitgifit’s IB Revision Course runs from Sunday 3 – 9 April 2022. Click here to find out more.