When should i start revising for my exams?

Revision is vital for exams but everyone works differently and at a different pace. Some prefer to do hours of reading and some need small bursts of writing. I personally would recommend a system that slowly increases the work load of the revision. For example, a student of English Literature can slowly begin to re read the set texts from January onward, this slowly prepares your mind to engage into the texts beyond what they are taught in class. Then as time goes on they could begin to do practice essay questions, get them marked or checked by another person. This then allows for a focus of their revision on the aspects of their essays they struggle with, have this be clarity, context or direct quotes from the text. This system slowly increases the workload and is much better to adjust to revision than a intense last month cram. This system is also helpful to other subjects and revision techniques. A History student could create flash cards of important dates and begin to revise them once a night starting in January , they can slowly increase the number of dates or facts and test them selves once a day. This allows the student to ingrain the information more effectively into their mind. It is important that the workload doesn't majorly increase until April, as students risk "peaking" to early and burning them selves out if they revise intensely during the January - February period. You do not want to be prepared months before the exam, you want to slowly increase the information you are willing to learn. This is majorly effective when considering the many subjects both GCSE and A Level students have to revise, by starting early but slowly you give yourself the time to learn big amounts of information effectively.