The Neglected Art of Revision

Law students are panicking; exam season is upon us.

Some of them have already gone over all of the material once and are now revising. Others (possibly the majority) are still plowing through, while simultaneously revisiting what they have managed to cover.

Wherever you might be positioned within the spectrum of preparation, please remember the following principles of an effective revision:

1. Don’t panic and don’t ruminate on what you could have done differently this year: crying over spilt milk fetches nothing good.

2. Focus on the questions, not just the answers. Comb through past exam papers to spot the underlying themes. What keeps popping up? You are probably not going to get a public law exam with no rule of law questions, no contract law exam with no consideration questions etc etc.

3. Do not reread everything in its entirety. Still, reread the previous sentence. Why Because there is no time for this now! Only approach court cases and secondary sources (e.g. academic journal articles) in order to break them down into bite-sized pieces of information which you can actually use in the exam and dicta that you can quote. Nothing more can be done at this point in time.

4. Brush up on what constitutes academic misconduct. You do NOT want to inadvertently commit plagiarism because you thought something was “OK”. It’s not OK. Make sure you do not present others’ work as your own and do not be emboldened by the fact that exams are online once again; you will be caught.

5. Everyone is different. Do not necessarily follow the revision methods of your fellow students. A mistake is a mistake even if your whole cohort is making it.

6. Give it your best shot. Now is not the time to give up. It’s been a tough year. Try to finish strong and create a solid foundation for next year. Passivity will get you nowhere.

7. Reread point 1.

Best of luck with your revision!