How to juggle revision and uni prep

It’s coming at you from all sides. Teachers are telling you to start revising for you’re A- levels, finish your coursework and rush to cover the whole curriculum before your exams. Your parents are supportive, anxious and trying not to nag.

Then you start hearing you should be choosing what you want to study at university, doing further reading and going to open days.

What?! How can anyone get all of this done? Have your teachers heard that there are only 24 hours in a day (and you have to sleep?).

Well, the answer is planning and prioritisation. As Benjamin Franklin is often credited with saying: "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail".

So, how to plan for success? Lucy gives us her top tips.

Set your schedule

When I was at school I knew I wanted to get five A grades at A-level and a place at Cambridge University. It was a tough task that I’d set myself but I was confident that if I did the work I’d get the grades. So, I created a weekly routine.

Basically, I treated my studies like a job. I had set start, finish and break times, with the aim of doing four hours study every week night. (And it worked! I got five As and went to Cambridge!).

Work out what you need to get done

Once you’ve got your schedule you need to work out what needs to be done. These are some of the tasks that should be on your list:

• Revision

• Homework

• Coursework

• Further reading

• Researching unis and courses

• Getting work experience

• Going on open days, virtual events or campus tours

Going on summer schools, taster sessions or other activities that help you explore the subject you want to study at

Somehow, you’ve got to fit all this in. And you actually can. Trust me. Once you know what your priorities are, allocate them slots in your weekly schedule. So, if your exams are next week you need to be spending most of your time on revision. But you probably need to spend a minimum amount of time each week on things like researching unis and further reading.

Follow your schedule, adapting to your needs

Start following your schedule. Do your very best to follow it and tick off tasks as you do them.

You may find that your schedule doesn’t work perfectly for you. Instead of completely abandoning it, try to adapt it so that it does work.

When you prioritise tasks and plan to complete them at certain times, they’re more likely to get done well and on time. Don’t worry if you don’t stick to your schedule 100%, even if you do it right 80% of the time, you’re well on the way to getting everything done!

NEXT:

• Revision techniques for students

• How to look after your mental health during revision

Lucy Parsons helps 15-18 year olds get the best grades and into the universities of their dreams. She’s the author of The Ten Step Guide to Acing Every Exam You Ever Take.