Effective study techniques aren’t about working longer hours — they’re about how the brain processes information. Cognitive scientists have spent decades testing which study methods actually improve memory. The results consistently favour a small set of techniques over familiar habits like rereading and highlighting.
Here are five that hold up, and how to actually use them.
Why rereading and highlighting feel productive but rarely are
Most students revise the same way: read the notes, highlight the important bits, read them again.
It feels like progress because the material becomes familiar.
But familiarity isn’t the same as being able to recall something under exam conditions, when there’s no textbook in front of you to jog your memory.
Research comparing rereading with active recall methods tells a clear story: rereading produces little durable improvement in memory. Yet students consistently rate it as their most-used and most-trusted strategy.
The five techniques below work precisely because they feel harder. That extra effort is what builds a memory that survives past the next lecture. If part of the problem is putting revision off altogether, it’s worth reading about why students procrastinate at university before tackling how you study.
Retrieval practice: test yourself instead of rereading
Retrieval practice means closing the notes and trying to recall information from memory, rather than looking at it again.
The act of retrieving information strengthens memory, even when you get it wrong. Simply re-reading the material doesn’t do this, because it lets the brain passively recognise information rather than actively search for it.
It’s widely considered the single most effective of these study techniques. It’s also one of the easiest to build into a weekly routine — though it demands more concentration than passive reading, so it helps to protect your focus while you study.
- After a lecture or reading, close your notes and write down everything you can remember before checking what you missed.
- Turn key facts into flashcards or a quiz app, and test yourself without peeking.
- Use past exam papers under timed conditions rather than just reading through model answers.
Spaced practice: spread sessions out instead of cramming
Studying the same material across several short sessions, spaced days or weeks apart, produces far better long-term retention. That’s true even when the total study time matches one long session.
Cramming can get you through a single test. But the information fades fast afterwards, because it was never given time to properly consolidate.
Spacing feels less comfortable. You’ll often feel like you’ve half-forgotten something by the time you return to it — but that slight difficulty is what makes the memory stick.
- Revisit a topic a few days after first learning it, then again a week or two later, rather than only reviewing it once before the deadline.
- Build a simple weekly rota that rotates between modules instead of dedicating each week to a single subject.
- Start revision earlier than feels necessary — spacing only works if there’s enough time between sessions for some forgetting to set in.
Interleaving: mix related topics instead of blocking them
Interleaving means switching between different but related problem types or subtopics during a single study session. Rather than working through one type exhaustively, you move between them.
It’s particularly well-supported for subjects with multiple problem types — maths, sciences, statistics. That’s because it forces you to recognise which method or rule applies to which problem. Knowing how to execute a method isn’t enough if you don’t also know when to use it.
The evidence is strongest for interleaving within a subject. Mixing entirely unrelated subjects in one sitting — revising history and then chemistry back to back, for example — hasn’t shown the same benefit.
- Shuffle question types within a subject on a single practice sheet, rather than answering twenty of the same kind in a row.
- When revising for a maths or science exam, mix problems from different chapters instead of working through one chapter at a time.
- Go back over old topics in a different order to how they were originally taught, rather than always following the syllabus sequence.
Elaboration: explain the “how” and “why” in your own words
Elaboration involves connecting new information to what you already know. A simple way to do this is asking yourself “how” and “why” questions about the material, then answering them — ideally from memory, checking against your notes afterwards.
Explaining a concept out loud, as if teaching it to someone else, works the same way.
It forces you to organise the information and notice gaps in understanding that passive reading tends to hide.
- For each key concept, ask “why does this happen?” and “how does this connect to what I learned last week?” before checking your answer.
- Try explaining a topic out loud in plain language, as though talking to a flatmate who’s never studied it.
- Study with a friend and take turns quizzing each other on the reasoning behind an answer, not just the answer itself.
Dual coding: combine words with visuals
Pairing written or verbal information with a visual — a diagram, timeline, or simple sketch — tends to be remembered better than words alone. That’s partly because it gives the brain two different routes back to the same information.
This doesn’t mean redrawing every set of notes as an infographic. It means reaching for a diagram where one naturally fits — a process, structure, or sequence — rather than describing it only in text.
- Sketch your own diagram of a process rather than only reading a description of it — generating the image yourself adds a further benefit.
- Turn a timeline of events or a multi-step process into an actual timeline or flowchart instead of a block of prose.
- When a textbook diagram is available, cover the labels and try to fill them in from memory.
Frequently asked questions
Does rereading notes actually help you learn?
Not much on its own. Rereading builds familiarity with the material, which can feel like understanding. But it does little to improve your ability to recall that information later, under pressure and without notes in front of you.
Replacing rereading with retrieval practice — testing yourself instead of looking the answer up — produces significantly better results for the same amount of time spent.
How far in advance should spaced practice start?
As early as possible. Spaced practice works by revisiting material after some forgetting has set in. That means it needs several weeks, not several days, to be effective.
Starting a topic early and returning to it a few times across the term beats a single intensive block of revision right before the deadline.
Do these techniques only work for exam revision?
No. Retrieval practice, spacing, interleaving, elaboration, and dual coding apply just as well to coursework, seminar preparation, and learning a new skill outside your course.
Anywhere you need to retain and apply information — not just recognise it — these techniques help.
Finding a quiet, well-suited place to study is part of the picture too. Compare student accommodation on Hallbookers to find a room that works for how you actually study.
These five strategies are drawn from research on the cognitive science of learning, including a widely cited tutorial review by Weinstein, Madan, and Sumeracki (2018) in Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications.
