Home

  • CII Exams
    • AF Exams
    • CII AF1 Personal Tax and Trust Planning
    • CII AF4 Investment Planning
    • CII AF5 Financial Planning Process
    • CII AF7 Pension Transfers
    • CF Exams
    • CII CF1 UK Financial Services, Regulation and Ethics
    • CII CF6 Mortgage Advice
    • CII CF8 Long Term Care Insurance
    • ER Exams
    • CII ER1 Equity Release
    • FA Exams
    • CII FA1 Life Office Administration
    • CII FA2 Pensions Administration
    • IF Exams
    • CII IF1 Insurance Legal and Regulatory
    • CII IF2 General Insurance Business
    • CII IF3 Insurance Underwriting Process
    • CII IF4 Insurance Claims Handling Process
    • CII IF5 Motor Insurance Products
    • J0 Exams
    • CII J02 Trusts
    • CII J05 Pension Income Options
    • CII J07 Supervision in a Regulated Environment
    • CII J10 Discretionary Investment Management
    • CII J12 Securities Advice and Dealing
    • LP Exams
    • CII LP2 Financial Services Products and Solutions
    • R0 Exams
    • CII R01 Financial Services, Regulation and Ethics
    • CII R02 Investment Principles and Risk
    • CII R03 Personal Taxation
    • CII R04 Pensions and Retirement Planning
    • CII R05 Financial Protection
    • CII R06 Financial Planning Practice
    • CII R07 Advanced Mortgage Advice
  • CII Qualifications
    • CII Qualifications Overview
    • Advanced Diplomas
    • CII Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning
    • Awards
    • CII Award in Financial Administration
    • CII Award in Life and Pensions Foundations
    • CII Award in Long Term Care Insurance
    • CII Award in Regulated Pension Transfer Advice
    • Certificates
    • CII Certificate in Advanced Mortgage Advice
    • CII Certificate in Discretionary Investment Management
    • CII Certificate in Equity Release
    • CII Certificate in Financial Services
    • CII Certificate in Insurance
    • CII Certificate in Investment Operations
    • CII Certificate in Mortgage Advice
    • CII Certificate in Paraplanning
    • CII Certificate in Regulated Financial Services Operations
    • CII Certificate in Securities Advice and Dealing
    • Diplomas
    • CII Diploma in Financial Planning
    • CII Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning
  • Main Pages
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Corporate
  • FAQ
  • About
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Corporate
  • FAQs
  • About
  • Contact
Cart
Brand Financial Training
  • CII Exams
    • Exam-Col-01
      • AF Exams
      • CII AF1 Personal Tax and Trust Planning
      • CII AF4 Investment Planning
      • CII AF5 Financial Planning Process
      • CII AF7 Pension Transfers
      • CF Exams
      • CII CF1 UK Financial Services, Regulation and Ethics
      • CII CF6 Mortgage Advice
      • CII CF8 Long Term Care Insurance
      • ER Exams
      • CII ER1 Equity Release
      • FA Exams
      • CII FA1 Life Office Administration
      • CII FA2 Pensions Administration
    • Exam-Col-02
      • IF Exams
      • CII IF1 Insurance Legal and Regulatory
      • CII IF2 General Insurance Business
      • CII IF3 Insurance Underwriting Process
      • CII IF4 Insurance Claims Handling Process
      • CII IF5 Motor Insurance Products
      • J0 Exams
      • CII J02 Trusts
      • CII J05 Pension Income Options
      • CII J07 Supervision in a Regulated Environment
      • CII J10 Discretionary Investment Management
      • CII J12 Securities Advice and Dealing
      • LP Exams
      • CII LP2 Financial Services Products and Solutions
    • Exam-Col-03
      • R0 Exams
      • CII R01 Financial Services, Regulation and Ethics
      • CII R02 Investment Principles and Risk
      • CII R03 Personal Taxation
      • CII R04 Pensions and Retirement Planning
      • CII R05 Financial Protection
      • CII R06 Financial Planning Practice
      • CII R07 Advanced Mortgage Advice
      • Study Kit Box
  • CII Qualifications
    • Qual-Col-01
      • CII Qualifications Overview
      • CII Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning
      • CII Award in Financial Administration
      • CII Award in Life and Pensions Foundations
      • CII Award in Long Term Care Insurance
      • CII Award in Regulated Pension Transfer Advice
    • Qual-Col-02
      • CII Certificate in Advanced Mortgage Advice
      • CII Certificate in Discretionary Investment Management
      • CII Certificate in Equity Release
      • CII Certificate in Financial Services
      • CII Certificate in Insurance
      • CII Certificate in Investment Operations
      • CII Certificate in Mortgage Advice
      • CII Certificate in Paraplanning
      • CII Certificate in Regulated Financial Services Operations
      • CII Certificate in Securities Advice and Dealing
    • Qual-Col-03
      • CII Diploma in Financial Planning
      • CII Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning
Brand Financial Training > Study Tips > How to Keep Information in Your Head
  • Previous
  • Next
How to Keep Information in Your Head
January 12, 2016
How to Keep Information in Your Head

How to Keep Information in Your Head

Posted by The Team at Brand Financial Training on January 12, 2016 in Study Tips, Studying and Revision
Last updated on January 20th, 2020 at 9:04 am
How to Keep Information in Your Head

When you’ve worked hard to get information in your head, it makes sense to do what it takes to keep it there. The simplest, most reliable way to do this is to test yourself. It doesn’t just let you know if you still know it, the process encourages your brain to strengthen the connections that keep it there.

Written by Lysette Offley

Each time you test yourself:

  1. Read the test question you’ve devised and try to answer it.
  2. Then turn over the page and check you’ve covered everything on the other side
  3. If you remembered it all, put a tick on your Progress Chart. Then in your diary make a note to test this question at the next stage of the Learning Cycle, e.g. one week later.
  4. If you didn’t remember everything, turn back to the test question and have another go. And repeat the process a few hours later.
  5. If you succeed this time, put a tick on your Progress Chart and a note in your diary to test yourself within another 24 hours to make sure you still know it.
  6. However, if you don’t remember it this time, change your notes. Highlight the bits that escape you. Or circle them. Change your notes to make the difficult bits stand out. Or consider redrawing your notes completely into a form that your brain likes better.

So how do you know if you know it?

Don’t be tricked by your unconscious mind. It wants you to feel comfortable and will therefore lull you into a false sense of security, and have you believe you ‘know’ something before you really do. Don’t get fooled. You only know something when you can remember all the information on your page of notes.

Your unconscious mind will trick you into prematurely believing you know it. Test your #revision. Share on X

 

If not – you don’t.

As you build up your revision notes, put them in your ring-binder, always with the question side facing you (so that you’ll have to turn the page over to see your revision notes). Add the title of that revision page to your Progress Chart.

Then for each page in your revision folder, to revisit that particular revision that you’ve done, all you need to do is answer the question.

Then, and only then, turn over the page and check that you answered with each point on the reverse. Now here’s the important part: If you discover anything you forgot to mention, leave it for several hours and try again.

Revise your revision notes

If you still can’t remember everything on the other side, change your notes. You might need to circle or highlight bits, as above – anything to make them stand out in your mind. You might even make such a pig’s-ear of remembering them that you decide to have another go at making those notes. You might have to rewrite the whole page in a different way and chuck out the original set of notes. That’s fine – and to be expected.

If it’s happening a lot though – have a look to see what you can learn from it. Can you see any patterns? What tends to work? What tends not to work?

Each time you test yourself in this way, check the feedback you’re getting. Do you need to make changes to the way you make your notes?

Be your own judge.

You’ll know when you’ve got a process that works.

Over to You…

Have you ever been certain that you know your study material, only to have a rude awakening when you’ve gone to test yourself – or worse, when you’ve sat down to take the exam?

http://www.genius-material.com/

Tags:memory retention technique, study tips, testing yourself during exam revision

Related posts

  • 3 Ways to List Your Way to Being Motivated to Study
    3 Ways to List Your Way to Being Motivated to Study
  • Use These Shortcuts to Help with the CII R02 Exam
    Use These Shortcuts to Help with the CII R02 Exam
  • How organised are you during exam revision?
    How organised are you during exam revision?
  • How and When to Avoid Mind-Wandering and Distractions
    How and When to Avoid Mind-Wandering and Distractions

Subscribe

Get new blog posts delivered straight to your inbox!

By ticking this box you are giving your consent for us to email you when a new post is published on our blog. We may also email you with additional information and offers that we believe may be of interest to you. We take your privacy very seriously and we will never share your personal information. You can unsubscribe from our emails at any time. For information about how we handle your data, please read our privacy notice.

Please tick the box to give your consent for us to email you when a new post is published on our blog. We may also email you with additional information and offers that we believe may be of interest to you. We take your privacy very seriously and we will never share your personal information. You can unsubscribe from our emails at any time. For information about how we handle your data, please read our privacy notice at https://brandft.co.uk/privacy-policy/

Search

To search our blog just enter a keyword and click search.

Latest Posts

  • Friday Five Focus on Regulation – 5 Questions in 5 Minutes – 18 Jul 2025
    By The Team at Brand Financial Training
    July 18, 2025
  • National Insurance Employment Allowance
    By The Team at Brand Financial Training
    July 15, 2025
  • Friday Five Focus on Protection – 5 Questions in 5 Minutes – 11 Jul 2025
    By The Team at Brand Financial Training
    July 11, 2025
  • Chargeable Events on Bonds Held in Trusts
    By The Team at Brand Financial Training
    July 8, 2025

Follow us

Categories

Archives


All content © Brand Financial Training Ltd, 2008-2024. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Brand Financial Training Ltd https://brandft.co.uk with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Contacts

Email :
Tel : +44 (0)345 680 1682
You can leave a voicemail for us but for the quickest response, please email our customer service team at the above email address, who will respond within 24 hours.

Calls are charged at the same rate as standard landline numbers. This rate will depend on your telephone provider and may be included in your tariff.

Newsletter

Stay up to date with our informative monthly newsletter tailored for you.

Learn more

We write for...

Logo: Money Marketing Logo: Professional Paraplanner Professional Paraplanner Awards 2021
Learn more

We support...

In Aid of Trussell Trust The Clothing Bank
Find out more about how we work to make a social impact.
Learn more

Home
About
Blog
Contact
Social Impact

Money back guarantee
Corporate
Help and FAQs
Learning Resource Updates

Email :
Tel : +44 (0)345 680 1682 (Voicemail only)

Calls are charged at the same rate as standard landline numbers. This rate will depend on your telephone provider and may be included in your tariff.

LinkedInLinkedInTwitter/XTwitter/X YouTubeYouTubeYouTubeYouTube

©2025 Brand Financial Training Ltd · Reg No: 7153959 · VAT No: 979 2499 45

Policies | Terms of use | Terms of sale | Privacy policy | Cookie policy