Revise Wise Revision Guide Series Review

The ReviseWise series of revision guides are published by The Educational Company of Ireland and are available at both Junior and Leaving cert levels. The guides are 100% exam-focused and offer all the support you need to help you get the most out of your revision and perform your best in the exams.

At Leaving Cert the following guides are available at higher level: Biology, Business, English, French, Geography, Irish and Maths. The Maths revision guides come in two separate books – one for paper 1 and another for paper 2. Guides for Maths papers 1 and 2 are also available at ordinary level along with Irish. There is also a revision guide for Home Economics which caters for both ordinary and higher level Leaving Cert syllabi.

All of the books were carefully compiled by teachers with expert knowledge in the subject areas. They are user-friendly and are presented in an appealing and manageable format with colourful glossy pages that are easy on the eye!

Each guide covers the entire syllabus for each subject – including all elective options as well as core topics – and the exams. They provide a detailed introduction explaining the layout of each chapter, how to use the guide effectively, and proposing a useful plan-of-attack for your studying and revision. They also list important and useful websites to aid your learning and revision. In addition, the French guide comes with a listening CD, full transcript and listening exercises to help develop your listening skills and improve your understanding of the language. The Irish language revision guide, however, does not offer this additional benefit.

The books provide study hints, revision and exam techniques specific to each subject and what each section of the exams test as well as providing recent past exams and sample exam questions with model answers so you can see how to achieve the absolute maximum mark. They show you what the examiners look for in your answers and how to make sure you use your knowledge and revision to make sure you answer exactly what each question asks! Many of the guides also include a very useful glossary of words used in the exam questions – making sure you always answer the question that is actually being asked!

The back of the books contain pages for your own use – there is a ‘revision notes’ section where you can write down key points, test yourself and even answer exam questions; and there is also a very useful ‘study plan’ section that works like a diary or journal: you fill in the date and time and a subject or topic of your revision to be completed within that time framework – a useful tool for organising yourself and helping you split your revision into bite-size manageable chunks.

Each guide explains the exam format for each subject including how it is broken up and how many points are awarded for each question or section, a marking scheme and a suggested time allowance that you should allot for each question.

The books include many illustrations, colour photos and clear diagrams which both aid your learning and revision as well as breaking up chunks of text, making it easier for you to digest smaller sections at a time.

Boxes and bullet points of essential information are highlighted at the end of each topic or section and stand out prominently on the page which helps you take it in and process the information more effectively.

There is no doubt that the books offer a constructive and easy-to-manage guide to your revision, offering all the advice and techniques you need to get maximum points at Leaving Cert – so what are you waiting for? It’s time to get revising wisely!