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I am neurodivergent. Is revision different for me?

There are several conditions that the NHS classes as "neurodivergent". These include Autism, ADHD, ADD, Dyslexia, and Dyspraxia. If you have one of these conditions, you will have an awareness of what you might find more difficult and you will have been given some strategies to help you succeed. At Copleston, we use something called "adaptive teaching". This means that as well as making or allowing any reasonable adjustments that might be specific to your condition, we teach in a way that should allow all students in the classroom to be successful and we adapt our teaching if we become aware that individuals are finding things more difficult. When it comes to revision, we will give you extra help and support in lessons if you need it, but what can you do to help you succeed at home?

The first thing to remember is that everybody is different. We can't assume, for example, that everybody with autism has exactly the same needs or abilities. You are unique and have your own personality, abilities and your own set of things that you find easy or difficult. However, all of the strategies within this study hub will work for everybody, regardless of whether or not they have a particular condition or disability, although you might just need a little more help to access these or to get started, or you might need some additional strategies in place for the exam.

The following website is a revision advice page from an organisation that supports people with neurodiverse conditions to formulate study plans. From reading this, you will see that the strategies we have recommended throughout the study hub are exactly the same as the ones they are recommending for you if you are neurodivergent! All the usual ideas of retrieval practice, dual coding etc. are ideal for all students and some of these might actually work even more successfully for those with certain neurodivergent conditions.

https://aimforward.co.uk/revision-support-for-students/

Here are some top tips and strategies to help you with some of the additional things you might find more difficult, along with some websites where you can find out more. Rather than splitting this up into different conditions, we have identified some of the things you might find struggle with and have come up with some helpful strategies. Choose the ones you think most apply to you and click on these to see information and tips to help you:

Revision is a big change to my normal routine. How do I cope with this and how do I get started?

For many people with neurodivergence, routines can be very important. Any change to your normal routine can be unsettling or can cause anxiety. However, revision is all about routines and habits. The most difficult part is making the change from not revising to a routine that includes revision. The best way to do this is to make a revision timetable. If organisation is difficult for you, you will need an adult to help you with this and it might be something you need to do in stages. Read the information in this section about making a revision timetable, then print off a template. Next, spend some time with a parent or family member, blocking off any commitments you can't change. The next stage of adding in your subjects could be done with a family member or a teacher/staff member at school who knows you well and will be able to come up with something manageable. Lots of shorter sessions are likely to be more successful than longer ones, but you and those close to you will know what you will be able to cope with. Remember to make your revision timetable aspirational, but also achievable.

I don't like revising at home. I like to separate school and home.

This can be a common theme amongst people with neurodivergent conditions, and particularly those with autism. You see school as being a place to work and home as being a place to relax and wind down. However, there are just not enough hours in the school day for you to complete all the studying and revision you will need to be successful. There are a couple of possible solutions here. If you enjoy being at school, could you extend your working day by coming in early and/or leaving late and working in the library? Or could you go to your local library and study there? Another option is to set up a dedicated study space at home, separate to any spaces you use for eating, watching TV or sleeping, which is where you will go to study. This will help you make the connection that when you are in this space, you are working, whereas all other areas of the house are for social time. This isn't easy if you live in a small house, but even a little desk or table specifically allocated to studying a revision would make a big difference to your focus.

I get so anxious about revision and exams. I feel like I won't be able to cope

The first thing to remember here is that you are stronger and more resilient than you think! You have coped with all these years of school despite the added difficulties of your neurodivergent condition (which is classed as a disability). You have done smaller class assessments and mock exams and have coped with these. If you can, try not to inflate the exams in your mind so that they become something huge, but break down the smaller steps you have to take and ask yourself if there is anything specific that is worrying you. You can then address these one at a time. For example, do you know which room you will be in for your exams and can you arrange to visit the room and work out roughly where you will be sitting? Do you need your teacher to spend a little extra time going through a past paper with you so that you understand the instructions and how to approach the paper? Do you know how long it will take you to get to the exam and what time you will have to leave? When it comes to revision, make sure you know exactly what you need to revise, ask your teachers to go through this with you if you need to, then try to break this down into smaller chunks so it becomes manageable. For example, revising "cell structure" seems a lot more achievable that revising "science".

Secondly, bear in mind that everybody will be at least a little anxious about exams and this is a normal and healthy reaction. Some people with neurodivergence can experience heightened levels of anxiety and might need extra support to help you feel calm, but whether neurodivergent or not, there are lots of tips and strategies available online to help with managing anxiety. Mindfulness and relaxation activities can be very helpful, as well as setting aside time for the things that you know will help you relax such as listening to music, a warm bath, a walk in your favourite place or curling up on the sofa with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate! If you feel that these strategies are not working, remember that you can seek help from a GP or from the safeguarding team at school who can signpost you to further resources or organisations.

Another important point is to just get started on something. Tasks can feel overwhelming before we start, but if you take things a small chunk at a time, these small chunks all add together to become a much larger amount of work, you start to feel a sense of achievement and everything starts to seem more manageable!

There are too many distractions and I find it difficult to sit still and revise

The strategies you use here will depend very much on your specific needs or difficulties. A quiet fidget toy might help, but it needs to be something that won't become a distraction in itself. For example, a small piece of blue tack that you fidget with in one hand whilst you are writing with another can be a powerful technique for some people. Although most people work best in silence, it might be an idea to have some level of background noise. However, it is important that this is not something you will "tune into" e.g. a song with lyrics that you will end up singing along to.

It is important to completely remove any distractions that take a lot of your focus. This can take a lot of willpower, but leaving your phone in a different room might be the only way that you will really be able to leave it alone and not allow yourself to be distracted by it. There are also apps you can get to help you stay off your phone and some that reward you for doing this.

If you know you will get distracted easily, build in lots of breaks. Use a timer (ideally not one on your phone, but perhaps a cheap kitchen timer), press start and revise as hard as you can within the allocated time, even if this is only 10-20 minutes at a time. At the end of this time, get up out of your seat, go somewhere else, do something active and make maximum use of your breaks. Knowing that you never have too long before your next break should enable you to remain more focused and achieve more.

Some people, particularly those with ADHD, can benefit from something called "body-doubling" which is where having another person in the same room with them and focusing on their own task can help keep them focused. Perhaps you could sit with a sibling who is completing homework or alongside a parent who might be reading, working or preparing dinner? Apparently a video call works in a similar way, so just having a grandparent or other relative present on a screen (not talking to you, but doing their own activity) can work as it helps to keep you accountable.

I get bored quickly, so I just can't get into a revision/study routine

Try "gamifying" your revision! There are lots of apps that can support you with this. For example, Quizlet can turn your use of flashcards into a game. Devise a reward system (and agree it with your parents if you are unsure if you will stick with it) so that you can earn rewards (e.g. small chocolate treats) for making progress with your revision and achieving certain tasks.

Make your revision active so that you can concentrate for longer, and potentially involve others in your family. For example, use of flashcards is a great activity as you have something to physically hold and move around. Check out the sections on flashcards in this study hub and set up your own Leitner System for testing yourself.

Remember that, whilst revision can be rewarding and interesting, there are going to be times when you just have to do all you can to focus on something you might not particularly enjoy (e.g. practising a past paper). For these study sessions, have a proper break beforehand and plan a longer, active break for afterwards, involving something you really enjoy. It might also help to have a checklist of possible distractions to "tick off" before you begin - e.g. visit the toilet, check your phone one last time, check the time of that TV show you want to watch later, have a quick look at what the weather is doing outside. Once you have been revising for a few weeks, you will become very familiar with whatever your big "distractors" might be and can learn to pre-empt these.

Revision feels overwhelming. There are too many different things to revise.

There is an old saying about how you would eat an elephant. The answer is "one bite at a time". Of course, you are never going to actually eat an elephant, but this saying is a way of describing the fact that when we face a challenge that is so huge that it feels almost impossible, the only way to tackle it is to do so one small step at a time. Breaking your revision up into manageable chunks is going to be incredibly important, both in terms of how you split up your time and in how you split up your topics. You may need an adult to help you with this. Making your timetable visual can also be very helpful as it mean you can tick of revision sessions or topics as you go and start to see the progress you are making.

Using the Leitner System for flashcards (see the sections on how to make and use flashcards) can also be a great way of seeing your progress and of making each topic seem less overwhelming.

Revision apps can also help you here. Apps such as Quizlet can be done in 5-10 minute bursts. Watching a short revision video then using it to make a brain dump is another easy way to chunk your revision.

I just can't make it stick! It's all too complicated and I can't remember anything.

This could be a particular issue for you if you have dyslexia or dyscalculia, but could also be the case for other neurodivergent conditions too. Some people who are neurodivergent have an incredible memory for facts and figures, but this is definitely not the case for everybody.

In this case, try to just focus on the key facts. Flashcards are your best option, but keep these simple. Don't try to put more than one fact on each flashcard and remember that the time spent testing yourself on these is the most important part of your revision, so don't spend hours making them and hardly any time testing yourself on them. You should also remember that getting things wrong is all part of learning, so each time you don't remember a flashcard and have to look at the "answer", your brain is strengthening the connections until eventually, you will get it correct! Repetition is the key here. Keep persevering and you'll be amazed at how much you can learn and remember.

I've been given so many resources from school but I don't know what to do with them all!

That's ok! We want to make sure our students feel that they have everything they need for the exam, and for most people, using a range of resources is great and means that you can cross-reference. However, if it works better for you to pick one resource and stick with that, this is absolutely fine. For example, you might decide to only use a revision guide and not to look at your knowledge organiser or class notes when you are revising. This can help you to focus and to order your thinking as you can tackle this a page or a chapter at a time and even plan your revision sessions around the chapters in the revision guide.

There is too much background noise in the exam - every time a chair scrapes or somebody coughs, I get distracted and can't refocus

If this is the case, there may be "reasonable adjustments" made to help you cope with your condition. This might involve completing the exam in a smaller room or having a prompt to help you stay focused. However, these adjustments need to be made a long time in advance, so you need to let your teachers know of any specific needs relating to your condition.

It is also a good idea to think in advance about strategies that help you refocus following a distraction which has completely thrown you off course. Something as simple as a long deep breath can help you to resettle and to reorganise your thoughts. Other people benefit from counting to 5 in their heads. You will complete several mock exams, so you can use these to help you work out the best strategies for you. Remember that your teachers are here to help!

If there is a specific noise or sensory issue during the exam that is bothering you (perhaps a squeaky chair or a wobbly desk), put your hand up and tell the invigilator as there are often simple things they can do to fix the problem.

Many people with neurodivergent conditions have other sensory issues, and you will be very aware of these if they apply to you. An exam therefore might not be the right time to try wearing a new piece of clothing or a different perfume or body spray, and you should stick to combinations you already feel comfortable with. Consider the temperature of the room too and how you are likely to react to this. If you get cold or warm easily, remember to wear the appropriate layers.

Reading the exam paper is difficult for me or I find it difficult to organise my thoughts in the exam

Make sure you are aware of any adjustments or "access arrangements" you might have been given. These are not designed to give you an advantage in the exam, but are adjustments that allow you to complete the exam on the same footing as your peers. You should therefore make the most of these and use them!

Having a pen or pencil in your hand and underlining key words or points in the question can be a good way to slow you down slightly and help you to focus on what the question is asking. Another strategy is to look through the whole paper before you start writing anything as this helps you to know what is coming up and can be a great way to focus your thoughts. It also helps to settle you if you are nervous at the start.

You can usually ask for as much additional paper as you wish and there are often extra pages in the back of the exam paper, so you can use these to plan out your answers. Sometimes you can panic and think you need to start writing straight away, but taking a few minutes to organise your thoughts and make a plan can make a huge difference to your answer.

Remember that you can answer the paper in any order, so you might want to go through and answer questions on your favourite topics first, do all the shorter answers first or perhaps even tackle the longer answer so that it's done. This is all down to personal preference. Remember that for the first few minutes of the exam, your adrenaline levels are likely to be high, so although this makes you feel more alert and ready to work, it can also make you feel more panicky and perhaps more likely to make a silly mistake.

I can't concentrate for the whole length of the exam

This is another scenario where chunking your work can really help. For example, if you are writing 3 essays in 1.5 hours, that's half an hour per essay. If you spend 5 minutes planning, 20 minutes writing and 5 minutes checking it through (your teacher will advise as to the right timings, depending on the subject), this means the longest you will be doing a single task is 20 minutes. If the questions are shorter, you could do a quick check of the number of pages at the start and work out roughly how long you should spend on each page, then check the clock at the end of each page and see if you are staying roughly to time. However, you may well find that once you are in the exam, your level of focus is might higher than you think. Many athletes find they run their best ever times on race day and musicians play their best ever when the performance really counts. You might be amazed at how much you can achieve when it really counts!

Copleston High School