The truth is, History is such a vast subject, there is no time too early to start your revision. This does not mean that you need to be testing yourself on all of the information all the way through your two-year course, but making your revision resources as you go through each topic is a really good idea. This will ensure that you are always on top of your resources, which will help you avoid that last-minute panic before your exams start!

Past papers will not only help you consolidate how to structure your answers, but they can also identify areas where your knowledge of the content is weaker. This can help you prioritise which areas you need to revise more – something which is incredibly useful when there is such a high volume of information to learn! 2. Using Mind Maps Will Help You Visualise Your History Revision NotesChoosing when to start revising can be a very difficult task. Everyone knows that cramming everything in the night before the exam is not an ideal situation (to say the least!), but perhaps you are also worried that if you start your revision too early, you will lose motivation. This free online revision course includes the Russian Revolution of 1917, Tsar Nicholas II, the New Economic Policy, Stalin and his rivals, the cult of Stalin, the gulags/kulaks and much more. Why You Should Use History Past Papers For example, the Medieval Case Study point on the Edexcel Specification for Medicine Through Time is: Therefore, cramming isn’t the solution – take frequent, yet short breaks during your revision sessions. There are many formats you can do this in, however, many students like to follow the advice drawn out in the Pomodoro technique, which you can read more about here.

As I’ve said before, GCSE History is a vast subject to study. This means that, as much as you can, you want to try and break down the information you have to learn into small chunks. Working through past papers will help you get an idea of the kind of questions you can expect. Try answering them as if under exam conditions to help you develop your exam writing skills.

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For GCSE History, you need to be especially careful that you are actually summarising the information you need to learn in as few words as possible. There is a great temptation to write as much information as you can on your flashcards, because you want to learn the content in as much detail for your exam. This will not only make creating your flashcards much more time consuming, but it will also hinder you in your revision – it is impossible to learn everything word for word! If you are a more visual learner, it can often be helpful to use colours as a method of doing this. They can not only help you create links between pieces of information, but they can also make going over your revision notes, mind maps, or flashcards much more bearable! You can only access past papers that relate to the current specification. Papers from previous years won't show if the specification has changed or expired. There are a number of different ways to use timelines, and your use of them will depend on your individual learning style.

In an ideal world, you should be making your flashcards right from the start of your course, to consolidate your learning as you cover the content. This gives you the most opportunity to use your flashcards as a way of testing your knowledge. Whatever you are studying, the Exam Board’s Specification is the easiest way to familiarise yourself with what you need to learn. History is no exception. Just remembering periods, people or places isn’t enough. You need to be able to play around with the knowledge you have gained over your GCSE course and use it in a clever and developed way in your writing.That said, here is the short answer for how to revise for GCSE History: when revising for History you will be required to remember so many periods, places and people that your brain will want to explode, so my main, number one tip, is to take frequent, yet short breaks. Other than breaks, I would say consider the following revision tips:

To help you prepare for your exams, we have worked with The Student Room to produce a series of subject-specific advice articles. Written by our subject matter experts and covering a range of GCSE and A-level subjects, the articles include revision tips and tactics for exam day. Mind maps may help you make links between events and their causes and consequences, or the impact of certain important individuals. Don't get surprised by your exam deadline and the amount of history work you'll have to get through. Plan your history revision sessions in a simple but clear revision timetable. This will help you break down the large amount of history content into manageable chunks so that you plan your normal life more easily around these revision sessions. You can create you timetable just on a piece of paper or use use online tools such as the Revision TimeTable Maker from The Student Room. Alternative History GCSE Revision ResourcesSome modified past papers (eg, Braille) may also be available. Find out more about access arrangements. Mark schemes When colour coding your History notes, my advice would be – keep it as simple as possible. Decide how you would like to organise your revision resources, and think about what you are struggling to link together the most – whether that is historical individuals, time periods, events and their consequences or places. However you want to use your timelines, make sure that you have other revision resources to accompany them. As I said in Point 7, it is a good idea not to limit yourself to just one type of revision. 11. Ensure That You Choose The Best Time To Start Your Revision