How to Study Over the Holidays IB Tips

It’s time for part 2 of our studying over the holidays series! We hope that you’ve had a lovely time with your family and friends. If you’re ready to get back into studying before school starts up again, you’re in the right place! Here we’ll take you through our top tips for studying over the holidays.

Tip 1: Assess where you’re at

It’s part way through the holidays at this point so it’s a good moment to take stock of where you’re at. If you set goals at the beginning of the break, it’s time to revisit them. Go through and tick off any you’ve met already.

Now, take a look at the ones you have left. Are you on track with your study plan? Are you going to be able to accomplish all the goals that are left? Is there anything else that you want to get done before heading back to school?

The next step is to create a new and improved goals list for the rest of the holidays.

Tip 2: Have a second planning round

Using your new goals list, take a look at how many days you have left before going back to school. Do you need to change your study plan to meet your goals before then?

It’s more than fine to adjust your plan! Remember, your study plan is there to help you. If it’s not working, change it up!

Tip 3: Improve your studying space

Chances are things have gotten a bit messy over the holidays! It’s much easier to work in a space that is tidy. Taking 10 or 15 minutes to take old mugs to the kitchen, throw away any rubbish, and organise any notes that are lying around will make it much easier to get back into studying. Set a timer and blast some music to make it more pleasant!

In the winter, making sure you have a good light source at your desk is more important than ever. It’s so easy to get sleepy when it gets dark. A bright light will help you stay awake.

Also, you might find it tricky to get time on your own to study with family around during the holidays. If you can, find a study space with a door that you can close! Don’t be afraid to put a ‘do not disturb’ sign on it. Remember to take it down when you’re done so that family members know that it’s serious when it’s up.

Tip 4: Get studying!

Now it’s time to actually study! If you’re revising for exams or mocks, it can be really helpful to use this time where you don’t have to worry about day to day work to go back to basics.

Take a look at the syllabus for each subject to see what you need to know. Then, prioritise what you look at based on how well you currently remember it. Topics you covered at the beginning of the school year are probably a bit hazy by now!

If you have deadlines right when school starts again, how you’re working will look a bit different. Instead of having topics to cover, you’ll probably have tasks to do to get projects finished.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by what needs to be done before you go back to school, try numbering your tasks in the order that you’re going to do them. This method doesn’t give a time frame to complete each task and so can be a less stressful way of planning!

Remember that the work you’re doing now will make the rest of the academic year easier! If you find that you’re stuck on a certain topic or need a helping hand with getting on top of revision generally, we can help. Check out our YouTube videos here.