Re-reading notes and highlighting textbooks feel productive, but they're some of the least effective ways to actually retain information under exam pressure. These five methods are backed by how memory really works — active recall and spaced repetition in particular have decades of cognitive science behind them, summarised in a 2022 review in Nature Reviews Psychology — and they're realistic to fit into a matric timetable.
1. Active recall over re-reading
Instead of reading a topic over again, close the book and try to write down everything you remember about it, then check what you missed. The effort of retrieving information — not just seeing it again — is what actually builds long-term memory.
2. Spaced repetition instead of cramming
Reviewing a topic once, twice, then leaving longer gaps before each following review builds retention far better than one long cram session. Revisit a topic a day later, then a few days later, then a week later, instead of trying to lock it in during a single sitting the night before.
3. Past papers under real time pressure
Past papers do two jobs at once: they show you exactly how a topic gets asked, and they train you to work at exam pace. Time yourself properly rather than working through questions at a leisurely pace — the pressure is part of what you're practising.
4. Teach it to someone else
If you can explain a topic clearly to a friend, a sibling, or even out loud to an empty room, you genuinely understand it. If you get stuck mid-explanation, that's exactly where the gap in your understanding is — go back and fix that specific spot.
5. Interleaving subjects and topics
Studying one subject for hours on end feels focused, but mixing related topics or subjects in a single session — a technique called interleaving — forces your brain to actively distinguish between them, which builds a stronger, more flexible understanding than blocking everything into long single-subject sessions.
Putting it into a weekly routine
You don't need all five running at once. A realistic weekly rhythm might be: active recall sessions on new content as you go, one timed past paper per subject per week, and short spaced review sessions slotted in for anything covered two or three weeks earlier. Consistency across weeks matters far more than the intensity of any single session.
Your results from these study sessions feed straight into your APS — here's exactly how to calculate it once your marks are in.