How to study for exams - Evidence-based revision tips

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1 May 2026

16:53 Making notes with the book closed (from memory) and then filling in the blanks, if any, with the correct answers.

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How to study for exams - Evidence-based revision tips

1. The Disconnect Between Intuition and Evidence

Many students rely on study techniques that feel "intuitively right" but are actually shown by research to be ineffective. Over 100 years of psychological research suggests that the methods most students find most natural often do not produce the best results. The goal of evidence-based revision is to move away from these intuitive habits toward more efficient and enjoyable strategies backed by scientific data.

2. Common "Low Utility" Techniques

Three of the most popular revision methods—rereading, highlighting, and summarizing—are classified as having low utility. Rereading provides limited benefits for long-term retention compared to other methods, and highlighting often acts as a "safety blanket" that feels productive but does little to boost performance, especially on tasks requiring inference. Similarly, summarizing or note-taking can be iffy because the quality of notes varies so greatly and often becomes a passive exercise in copying.

3. The Concept of Active Recall

The most powerful study technique is active recall (also known as practice testing or retrieval practice). This involves testing yourself and retrieving information from your brain rather than trying to "put it in". The very act of retrieving facts strengthens the neural connections in the brain, making the information far more likely to stick.

4. Scientific Proof of Effectiveness

Multiple studies demonstrate the superiority of active recall. For instance:

• A 1939 study showed that a single practice test at the end of a session improved exam performance by 10–15%.

• A 2010 study found that practice testing could lead to a 30% improvement in scores compared to standard restudying.

• A 2011 study revealed that students who practiced active recall just once performed significantly better than those who reread the material four times.

5. Overcoming the Intuition Gap

Despite the evidence, students often struggle to adopt active recall because their intuition is wrong. In research settings, students consistently predict that repeated study (rereading) will be the most effective method and that active recall will be the least effective. This highlights a major barrier in education: students prefer the ease of passive reading over the cognitive effort required by active testing.

6. Using Anki and Spaced Repetition

Anki is a highly recommended flashcard app that automates active recall and spaced repetition. It uses an algorithm to show you cards just as you are about to forget them—frequently if they are hard and less often if they are easy. This is particularly useful for memorizing isolated facts (like anatomy or pharmacology) or even "chunks" of information for essays.

7. Practical "Closed-Book" Strategies

Two effective ways to apply active recall without specialized apps are:

• Closed-Book Note-Taking: Instead of copying from a textbook, read a topic, close the book, and write down everything you remember (e.g., in a spider diagram). Then, open the book to see what you missed.

• The Question Method: Instead of taking traditional notes, write questions for yourself based on the lecture or text. Your "revision" then consists of answering those questions, which forces the brain to engage in the cognitive effort necessary for learning.

This video by Ali Abdaal, a final-year medical student at Cambridge University, provides evidence-based revision tips (0:05-0:08) to help students prepare for exams more efficiently and enjoyably (0:34-0:38). He highlights that common study techniques are often less effective than intuitively believed (0:27-0:30).



The video is divided into three main sections:



Popular but Inefficient Techniques (0:42-6:42):



Rereading (1:29): Studies show it has "low utility" (2:09) and offers "little or no benefit for learning" (2:56) compared to other methods (2:16-2:27).

Highlighting (3:29): Also rated as having "low utility" (3:50), it does little to boost performance and may even "hurt performance on higher-level tasks" (4:03-4:16).

Summarizing/Making Notes (4:51): While popular, its effectiveness is "equivocal" (5:03) and generally rated as "low utility" (5:25), especially for students who haven't received extensive training in effective summarization (5:30-5:38).

Active Recall: The Most Effective Strategy (6:42-13:41):



Concept of Active Recall (7:31): This technique, also called "active retrieval" or "practice testing" (7:37), involves retrieving facts from memory, which "strengthens connections" in the brain (7:44-7:49).

Evidence for Active Recall (8:02-8:52): Professor Dunlosky's review paper rates practice testing as having "high utility" (8:28) due to its effectiveness and ease of implementation.

Supporting Studies:

Spitzer 1939 (9:18): Showed a 10-15% performance improvement for students who had a practice test (9:57-10:10).

Butler 2010 (10:22): Demonstrated significantly better performance (up to 30% increase) in students who used practice tests over restudying (10:51-11:03).

Karpicke & Blunt 2011 (11:16): Proved that active recall led to better results on both factual (11:40-11:47) and inference questions (12:08-12:13) than rereading multiple times (11:51-12:05). This study also highlighted that students' intuition about effective study methods often contradicts the evidence (12:41-13:09).

Practical Strategies for Active Recall (13:41-19:18):



Anki Flashcards (14:19): A free app for creating and reviewing flashcards that uses a "spaced repetition" (14:50-15:02) algorithm to optimize memorization (15:05-15:44).

Closed-Book Spider Diagrams/Notes (16:07): After learning a topic, close the book and try to recall and organize information (16:22-16:27). Then, open the book to fill in missed details (16:35-16:36).

Questions Instead of Notes (17:33): Utilizing a method similar to the Cornell note-taking method (17:50-17:52), students write questions based on lecture or textbook material and then actively answer them during revision (17:56-18:17). A friend of Ali's successfully used this method to rank high in his year (18:22-18:49).

I've my exam's week starting from a week from now(pre finals), ive finished most of my syllabus, and i made notes for each chapter, im gonna finish acquiring information and notes in 2 days, and start these methods for each chapter, lets see where my grades go!

This exam masterclass is super helpful — bookmarking to review before my exams!

Really clear, evidence-based tips — I’ll try the Pomodoro + active recall combo during my next study session. Thanks!

Really useful, evidence-based tips — thanks! This is exactly the kind of exam prep advice I needed.

Thanks for the video,It is very useful

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Anyone else here because of the thumbnail?

The humor is spot on.

Such a wholesome moment.

Such good vibes in this video.

This video cured my boredom.

This felt very authentic.

So creative and entertaining.

The pacing was just right.

I like your style of presentation.

Love the background music too.

Loved the visuals here.

Your editing is amazing.