The few study habits with strong evidence behind them, and how the planner uses each one.
Testing beats rereading
Rereading feels productive because the material starts to look familiar. But recognising something is not the same as recalling it, and the exam needs recall. Pulling a rule out of your memory, even badly, strengthens it far more than reading it again. That is why every Head Start session ends with recall, book shut.
Space it out
You forget quickly at first, then more slowly. Revisiting a topic just as it starts to fade resets the curve. A simple pattern is a day later, a week later and a month later. The planner's Flickering mode does this for you, by drawing questions from sessions you have already done.
Mix it up
The exam mixes subjects and topics. Practising one topic at a time feels easier, but it means you never practise the hardest part, which is working out which rule a question is about. Once you have covered a few topics, mix them in your recall drills.
Explain it out loud
Explain the rule as if to a client who has never heard of it. Where you stumble or wave your hands is where your understanding has a gap.
Keep an error log
Every wrong answer is useful, if you record why it was wrong. Keep a simple log with three columns.
- The topic.
- Why you got it wrong. Did not know it, misread the question, or confused it with another rule.
- The fix. One line you can recall next time.
Read the log before each drill. The same mistakes come back, and this is how you stop them.
Try this now
Without looking anything up, write down everything you remember from the last thing you studied. Then check. That is a recall drill.
Check yourself
Answer each one out loud before you open it.
Why is rereading a weak way to revise?
It builds familiarity, not recall. The exam needs you to recall the rule and apply it.
What is a simple pattern for revisiting a topic?
About a day later, a week later and a month later.
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.