Active recall for revision

Struggling to remember what you’ve revised for your exams? Ditch the endless rereading and highlighting! Active recall, a technique where you actively retrieve information from memory, is a game-changer for revision and exam success.

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What is active recall? 

The key to active recall is that you’re pulling information out of your memory, without any prompts. The magic of active recall for revision is that instead of passively absorbing or recognising information, you're forcing your brain to dig it out, strengthening neural connections for long-term memory

Why is it so effective for revision and studying? 

Passive revision techniques, like re-reading, don’t teach your brain how to find the information you’ve learned. Ever felt like you're sure you know something, then drawing a complete blank in your mocks or on past papers? Active recall solves this problem as it's a workout for your memory. It will help your revision stick and prepare you for the real challenge: the exam! By repeatedly remembering the topics and facts you’ve revised, you’re making it easier to remember during the exam and practising the skills you’ll need to get a good grade.

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How to use active recall to revise for exams and revision

Here are some great revision methods that use active recall:

Flashcards

Write key points on one side, the answer on the other. Test yourself regularly!

Practice questions 

Find past papers or create your own questions to mimic the exam format. Be sure to pick the right exam board.

Explain it to someone

Teach a friend or family member the topic, or plan a lesson. This forces you to truly understand it. ‍

Summarise in your own words

Condense key points into a shorter text or bullet points. This tests your grasp of the material.

Blurting 

Rapidly write down everything you recall about a topic. It's messy, but effective!

Active recall and spaced repetition

Combining active recall techniques with spaced repetition is key. Review your revision topics at increasing intervals to solidify memories. The earlier you start, the better!  

Active recall isn't just for exams! Use it for lifelong learning and boost your knowledge retention in any subject. 

Now you're armed with this powerful technique you can use it to plan your revision, actively recall information, and improve your grades. 

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0:00
today I'm going to be talking about active recall and if you don't really know what
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that is I'll explain it to you a little bit now you can learn this in any sort of situation so
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it's really important to know about it whilst exam season is here basically active recall
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is a really effective revision technique that people use to learn and recall information so
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that it sticks in your memory you're probably wondering how does active recall work and I'm
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here to show you in just a few little steps so the first step is actually taking in information
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so that means you know reading a book looking into textbooks reading online um listening
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to an audiobook or even just listening to your lecturer talk uh any of those can be taking in
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information now you actually need to do something with the information that you've just absorbed so
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I find the best way is through repetition um it's just a personal thing you know um but I
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feel like it's really really effective you know you could be writing things down multiple times
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or you could be reading out loud multiple times whatever you do as long as you repeat it it will
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definitely definitely work once you looked over the information enough times then it's time for
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the active recall this is basically where you put every source of information that you have
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away all phones laptops you know textbooks audio books the lot put it all away then what you have
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to do is actively pull out all of the information that you've just learned and try and present it in
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the best way possible for you it really depends on what you're recalling and what it needs to be
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presented as in the real world what I mean by this is if you're learning a speech you know
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for example you're learning some some lines then the best way to recall this would be verbally cuz
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that's how you're going to say it in the real world and then if you are writing an essay for
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your exam then the best way to recall this would be by writing so you're practicing how you're
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going to do it in real life this just makes it more concrete within your memory once you believe
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that all information that you've learned has been splurged back onto the page or out loud then
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that's time to grab your sources of information back and have a little look over it see what
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you've done correct see what you've done okay in or see what you forgotten completely and then what
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you do is anything you have forgotten completely just go over and re- revise that and then do
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another active recall session there are lots of different ways in which you can do active recall
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flashcards you know re-saying the information out loud to your family or your friends explaining it
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to them or even just blurting out anything that you know anything you can remember about the topic
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onto a piece of paper or out loud my personal favourite is flashcards because you can write
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down little prompts or you can start chunking your information which is another good memory technique
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with spaced repetition you can actually train your brain to learn and recall information for
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a prolonged amount of time so for example if you learn some fresh information you go over it again
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that day and then you go over it every 2 or 3 days you are way more likely to keep that in your
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memory than if you went over it once every 2 weeks one great benefit about active recall is you can
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also take this into your actual day-to-day life so for example if you're going into uni or you're
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taking a walk you can just quiz yourself write down whatever you know on to a piece of paper
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or say it out loud or write it into your phone and you know you can take it with you wherever
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you go you don't have to be in an environment where you need to be studying to do this my
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advice would be to try this little revision trick and see how much more you can remember on command