Having a streamlined revision process during exam season often makes all the difference between passing with flying colors and receiving less than ideal final grades. For this reason, keeping your revision notes organised and secure can provide peace of mind, reducing unwanted stress and anxiety when it comes to exam preparation. How you organise your files is just as important, and while it varies from student to student, finding and finetuning your revision groove can quickly boost productivity.
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15 july 2025
Note-taking is one of the easiest and best ways to start your revision, allowing you to highlight the main points to remember and really understand what you’re studying. There are so many ways to take notes from mindmaps, to lists, to flashcards, it’s important to find the best method that works for you. And thanks to modern technology, keeping your files organised has never been easier. You can color code, highlight and merge PDF files online to keep all of your notes, readings, and other revision guides together and secure.
There is no harm in trialing more than one note-taking method, however it is advisable to stick with one you’re most comfortable with – repetition is the key to a strong revision system. Below are our top tips for managing your revision notes, so you can spend less time organising and more on revision.
1. Storing Your Notes Digitally
Digital notes have many advantages over physical notes, with them being editable and easily stored. They can however get just as messy if not stored correctly. Storing your notes in folders and subfolders, organised by subjects and topics is a simple way to maintain structure, without taking time away from studying. Clearly name your files – having more files is better in this situation, making topics and areas for revision clear and easy to locate.
Apps like Notion or OneNote are great for filing revision notes, keeping all your work in one place. Similarly, you can collate your notes in well-defined folders (i.e. one folder per subject and subfolders per week or module, for instance). Storing them as PDF files can also guarantee easy sharing and accessing of files across all devices.
2. Establish Structure
Further to organising notes by subject, class and topic, formatting the structure of your notes can help highlight your most important notes. Using bullet points, headings and bold text can provide structure to your notes, making them easily readable.
Using flashcards, whether physical or digital are an amazing way to memorise and retain information. Creating personalised revision decks, you can quiz yourself or others based on your own revision notes. Top Tip: Keep your physical flashcards stored with a rubber band or plastic sleeve for maximum organisation!
3. Color Coding Your Notes
Of all the many note-taking methodologies used today, color coding is still amongst the most popular for a few key reasons. Color coding your revision notes can help you organise and remember what you’ve written. Assigning a different color to each subject, topic or type of data can help you locate information quicker. This can be especially useful if you have multiple classes and exams at the one time.
The act of color coding can also make exam revision more engaging, with the physical action of highlighting and the cerebral decision-making of picking and assigning colours supporting the development of associations which can then go on to support knowledge retention.
How do you color code? Use highlighting, colored fonts, headings and folders for different classes and topics, creating and using a personalised code or key to clarify your findings and revision. Highlighting keywords or hashtags can help find information easier, with the search ability making it easier than ever to scan texts.
4. Prepare Weekly & Monthly Summaries
There’s nothing worse than leaving all your exam revision to the last minute! Now that you have your note-taking system mastered, weekly and monthly reviews can clean up your notes, combining your most valued information, keeping you up to date and providing another opportunity to review your notes. Once a week, you should:
- Summarise key findings
- Clarify notes
- Organise and file anything you might have missed
- Back up your digital notes
A monthly or annual collation of notes can act as your ultimate revision hub, holding all the key points you might need in your exams. Having a table of contents can help clearly identify topics, making your master notes easily navigable. Keeping on top of your notes can reduce stress in the lead up to exams and puts you in the right headspace to excel.
5. Backup Your Revision Note Files
The most important part of filing your notes digitally – backup. Always backup your files at least once, if not twice, losing your revision notes will never end well. It’s always best to save to and back up your cloud, with the potential to file your data on an external hard drive or USB.
Apps often provide the option to password-protect your data, a sensible and effective way to provide extra security to your work. Make time to regularly review, revise and clean up files to ensure files are kept organised and backed-up.
Ensuring Success Across Exam Season
Organising and storing your revision notes is often one of the most important ways you can ensure success during your exam period. It is often simple, and a great way to keep yourself motivated. Whether you prefer mind maps or pages of handwritten notes, following these simple steps will help streamline your revision journey, saving time and stress later on in your studies.
Regularly review your files, tidying as you go and don’t forget to back-up your files in case of emergencies. Remember, repetition is the key to success.
