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Most students re-read their notes for hours. Research shows it barely helps. The techniques below feel harder — that's the point. Struggling is what makes things stick.

Active Recall

The most powerful technique there is

How to do it

Close your notes and try to recall everything you know about a topic
Write it down or say it out loud — don't just think it
Check your notes afterwards to see what you missed
Repeat the next day — you'll retain more each time

The act of struggling to retrieve something strengthens the memory far more than passively re-reading it. The harder it feels, the better it's working.

⚡ This is exactly what the app is built on. Every quiz question and every flashcard you flip is active recall. Using it counts as proper revision — not just practice for revision.

Spaced Practice

Spread it out — don't cram it all at once

How to do it

Study a topic, then leave it a day or two before coming back
Review it again just before you'd start to forget it
Short daily sessions beat one long session the night before

Reviewing material just as your memory is fading forces your brain to reconstruct it — and that reconstruction is what makes it last.

🔥 Your daily streak in the app is built on this idea. Ten minutes every day is genuinely worth more than an hour the night before an exam.

Interleaving

Mix subjects — don't do hours of just one

How to do it

Do 20 minutes of Maths, then switch to French, then Geography
Come back to Maths the next day rather than continuing for 2 hours
It will feel harder and less satisfying — that's a good sign

Switching topics forces your brain to work out which approach to use each time — which is exactly what happens in an exam room.

The Feynman Technique

Explain it like you're the teacher

How to do it

Pick a topic — the French Revolution, photosynthesis, simultaneous equations
Close your notes and explain it out loud as if teaching someone
Where you get stuck is the gap — go back and fill it in
If you can't explain it simply, you don't know it well enough yet

You can fool yourself that you understand something when reading. You can't fake it when you have to explain it out loud from memory.

These are the things most students do. They feel productive — but the research is clear: they barely work.

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Re-reading your notes

It feels familiar so your brain thinks you know it. You don't. Test yourself instead — that's what makes it stick.

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Highlighting

Passive. You're decorating the page, not learning it. If you're going to highlight, immediately cover it and recall what you just marked.

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Copying notes out again

Your hand is doing the work, not your memory. Writing pretty notes feels productive — it isn't. Close them and test yourself instead.

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Cramming the night before

You'll remember it for about 24 hours, then it's gone. Worse, it leaves you tired for the actual exam. Short sessions across several days wins every time.

Exams run Tuesday to Friday. Here's how to approach each day without burning out.

Weekend

Focus on Maths & English — they're first up Tuesday. Short sessions on the app, then leave it.

Mon

Light review of Maths & English. Quick look at Geography & Science. Early night — rest beats cramming.

Tue eve

Exams done — switch off properly. Then 20 mins each on Geography & Science.

Wed eve

20 mins each on Spanish & History. Use flashcards for vocab and key events.

Thu eve

Quick session on French. One subject only — keep it short and sharp.

⚡ Every morning: use the app's flashcards on that day's subjects only. No heavy cramming — a calm brain performs better than a panicked one.