Whenever you speak to older students, they always seem to say the same thing: I wish I’d started revising sooner. You might then wonder how early is too early. At GCSE, you can almost get away with revising at the last minute, but with A-Levels, being a step above - both content-wise and in terms of the amount you have to learn - this isn’t possible. So when should you start revising?

October half term is a time to start thinking about these things and preparing for exams, and while it might be too early to revise, one thing is sure - you can’t wait until May and then study everything at once because there isn’t enough time. The best way to revise for A-Levels is doing little and often throughout the year. With mocks around the corner, the earlier you start, the more prepared for these you will be as well.

Spending an hour or two per week revising for each subject will eventually add up to a lot more than you expect. Every time you quickly refresh your memory of a topic, the easier it becomes to remember. You want to get to a point where you don’t need to spend hours and hours on each topic during exam time.

It’s also helpful to make your revision resources throughout the year. Start with summaries, flashcards, mind maps and anything else you typically use for revision. By making these resources earlier in the year, it saves you some time during exam season. Of course, you could still make these as a revision method at exam time, but don’t underestimate the value of making them early. Having these resources to hand also makes having to revise a little less daunting as it means you don’t have to spend hours writing out pages and pages of notes and it could be as simple as just having a flick through your flashcards.

Everyone is different, and the key to revising is to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses early on so that you know how much time you need to dedicate to each topic or subject. Just remember, it builds up - so the more you do, the easier it will get. Success will come from those little study sessions throughout the year that eventually build up at exam time.