Revision and Exams: The Necessary Evil

Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could just go to class, have stimulating discussions about what the subject might be, is or ought to be and just leave it at that? Cases can provide great entertainment value – reading about the crazy, tortuous or just plain stupid things people do is always good for 10 minutes of guilt-free ‘work’. But alas work it ultimately is and we have to get through those exams. So make it as pain-free as possible for yourself…

Preparation/Revision

1. Try to work consistently throughout the year. This really works. Honestly. Giving yourself time to understand things and let them sink in is not to be underestimated. Plus, it will greatly lessen the potential for pre-exam panic if you don’t have to catch up on the 15 seminars’ worth of reading you still haven’t done by Easter break.If you’re a confirmed last-minute crammer and this works for you, then good luck.
2. Prepare a study timetable of some description. I’ve only ever met a few people who could stick to a strict timetable, but you MUST have an idea of how much work you have to cover and how much time you have to do in it.
3. Be realistic about the time you have available and how productive you can be.
4. Know your strong and weak subjects and mix them up on your timetable. Don’t tackle all the nightmare topics at once.
5. Everyone has a natural limit of concentration. Accept this and work with it.
6. Know what helps you remember – summaries, mind maps, symbols and diagrams, colour-coding or detailed notes. Make notes as you go – it reinforces what you’re reading and is handy for reference later.
7. Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security by open-book exams – you still need to know your stuff. You won’t have time to look too much up in the exam.

The Exam

1. Be on time and make sure you have everything you need.
2. Read the questions carefully. Underline important words and phrases. You don’t want to miss an issue or a defence.
3. Answer the question. You might have fascinating things to say about Willams v Roffey Bros, for example, but does the examiner want your opinion or does he want to know how it applies to the question?
4. Stick to your time limit for each question. If not, you’ll find yourself with 15 minutes to answer the last question and will have to resort to bullet points. Not good.
5. If you have time, read through your answers at the end, even if you just want to go home now.
6. You’ve done this before and you know you can do it. Prepare, be calm and you will be fine.

Martha Sivaguru graduated from King’s with an LLB in 2004. She was Called to the Bar in 2005, worked in litigation at a major law firm in Singapore for a year and is currently reading for an LLM at University College London.