How to condense a long chapter into a note you can revise from in five minutes, and what to bin.
The aim
You are not summarising the book. You are building a page you could revise from in five minutes, months from now. Most people write far too much, because writing feels like studying. Copying is not learning.
Read for shape first
Before you read properly, skim the headings and find the matching line in the specification. Ask one question. What could the examiner ask me about this? Then read with that question in mind.
Write rule cards, not notes
For each rule the specification covers, write a card with five parts. Most cards should fit in a few lines.
- Rule. One sentence, in your own words.
- Test. The elements or steps, numbered.
- Exceptions. When the rule does not apply.
- Traps. Where people go wrong, or which rules get confused with this one.
- Example. One line of facts that shows the rule working.
Keep or bin
Keep anything you could be asked to apply. Bin anything you could only be asked to discuss.
- Keep. Tests and elements. Time limits, thresholds and numbers the specification mentions. The steps in a procedure, in order. Definitions of key terms.
- Bin. Case facts and case names, unless the specification uses the name or it helps you remember. Academic debate and history. Dissenting judgments. Section numbers, unless the rule is known by them.
Case law, the simple rule
If the specification names it, learn it. If it helps you remember a principle, keep it as a memory hook and mark it as one. Otherwise, bin it. The exam rewards knowing what a case decided, not what it was called.
Write it with the book shut
Read the section, close the book, and write the card from memory. Then open the book and correct it in a different colour. The corrections are the most useful thing on the page, because they show exactly what you did not know yet.
Your one-page note
Write your own card from memory first, then compare. Yours should look something like this, and fit on an index card.
Rule. A firm statement of terms, made to be binding as soon as it is accepted.
Test. 1 firm, not just negotiating. 2 communicated. 3 specific enough to accept.
Not offers. Shop displays, most adverts, auction lots, invitations to tender, giving a price when asked.
Ends by. Rejection or counter-offer, revocation once received, lapse of time.
Trap. Asking a question about the terms is not a counter-offer.
Hook (not needed in the exam). Carbolic Smoke Ball, the advert that was an offer.
Try this now
Take one short section of any textbook. Write a rule card for it with the book shut, then correct it. Time yourself. Ten minutes is plenty.
Check yourself
Answer each one out loud before you open it.
What five parts make up a rule card?
The rule, the test or elements, exceptions, traps, and one short example.
When should you keep a case name in your notes?
When the specification names it, or as a memory hook if it genuinely helps you remember the principle.
An original summary written for Head Start from the SRA specification and the law. Check the detail against your course materials. This is not legal advice.