How to study for exams
Most students revise by rereading and highlighting, the two techniques with the weakest evidence. Here is what works instead, in the order to do it.
What the research rates highest
In 2013 John Dunlosky, Katherine Rawson and colleagues published a review of ten common study techniques in Psychological Science in the Public Interest, rating each on how well it held up across learners, materials and tests. Their verdicts:
| Technique | Utility | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Practice testing | High | Self-quizzing, flashcards, past papers |
| Distributed practice | High | Spreading reviews over days |
| Interleaved practice | Moderate | Mixing topics or problem types in one session |
| Elaborative interrogation | Moderate | Asking "why is this true?" |
| Self-explanation | Moderate | Explaining how a new fact fits what you know |
| Summarisation | Low | Writing summaries of text |
| Highlighting | Low | Marking important passages |
| Rereading | Low | Reading notes or the text again |
Two further techniques in the review, keyword mnemonics and imagery for text, were also rated low.
A seven-step exam plan
- Map the exam. Get the syllabus, the learning objectives and past papers. Note the format: multiple choice, short answer, essays.
- Schedule backwards. Put the exam date into the study planner. Aim for three spaced reviews per topic.
- Make one study guide per topic. Reorganise your notes by topic with key terms and questions. The study guide maker builds a first draft; check it against your slides.
- Test, don’t reread. Every review session starts with retrieval: blurt the topic, answer your guide’s questions, drill flashcards.
- Interleave. Once topics are learned, mix them in one session. Exams do not tell you which chapter a question is from.
- Explain the why. For concepts, use the Feynman technique. Knowing why something is true makes it easier to recall and to apply.
- Rehearse the real thing. In the last days, do timed practice tests or past papers, then sleep properly the night before.
How to make a study guide that helps
A good study guide is shorter than your notes and organised for recall, not reading. Include a one-paragraph summary per topic, an outline of the main ideas, key terms defined in your own words, and questions at the end of each section. Leave the answers on a separate page or column so you can cover them. Four printable layouts are on the study guide template page.
The night before and the morning of
- Light review of your guide’s questions only; no new material.
- Sleep. Sleep after learning helps consolidate memories, and all-nighters impair recall and reasoning the next day.
- In the exam, skim all questions first and start with one you can answer well.
Questions students ask
What is the most effective way to study for exams?
Test yourself and space it out. Dunlosky et al. (2013) reviewed ten popular techniques and rated only two as high utility: practice testing and distributed (spaced) practice. Rereading, highlighting and summarising were rated low to moderate.
How many days before an exam should I start studying?
Start early enough to review each topic at least three times with gaps of a few days between reviews, which for most exams means two to three weeks. The study planner on this site builds that schedule backwards from your exam date.
How do I make a study guide?
Organise your notes by topic rather than lecture order, write the key terms in your own words, and end each topic with questions you can answer from memory. The study guide maker on this site does the first draft from pasted notes.
Is it OK to cram the night before?
Cramming can raise a score the next morning, but most of it is forgotten within days, which hurts in cumulative finals and later courses. If you must, spend the time on practice questions rather than rereading, and still get some sleep: memory consolidation depends on it.
Should I study with music?
Evidence is mixed. Music with lyrics tends to interfere with reading and writing tasks; instrumental music has smaller effects and depends on the person. If you choose music, test yourself under exam-like silence at least once.