Knowing your study style will not only make exam season less stressful, it will also help you ace your exams!

To understand what study style works best for you, the VARK method is one of the most effective tools for you (especially for exam revision). The 4 study styles are visual, auditory, reading/writing and kinaesthetic.

1. Visual Learners

If you are a visual learner, then your imagery game has to be strong! Here are some of the kinds of study material that will appeal to that visual-loving brain of yours:

If your study materials don’t have too many visual aids then flashcards are a great to separate concepts and avoid cramming too much information in one go.
If you are a visual learner, mind-mapping will be your best friend. Think of it as a graphic version of your brains natural process of linking concepts together, so it will work wonders for you, especially when you have to memorise things.
Images and diagrams will be your holy grail, try looking for diagrams and images in your textbooks and lecture slides and use them as a starting point during your exam revision.

2. Auditory Learners

If you are an auditory learner, then using your listening and speaking skills would be the most beneficial. Some of the methods you can use to study are:

Listen and re-listen to your recorded lectures like they all are your favourite song. Doing so will help you absorb important topics that were discussed in the classroom. Also, try avoiding sitting in a noisy area since your listening and speaking senses might get distracted by everything else going on.
Group studying was made for auditory learners! One of the best ways to group study is picking topics and ‘re-teaching’ them to your peers. It will help spark discussions and let you use your speaking and listening skills to make your study sesh productive.
The most advised learning tool for an auditory learner is verbal repetition, and it's pretty obvious why. You can choose to sing them, rap them or just simply read them out loud, whatever works for you.

3. Read/Write Learners

You are the kings and queens for note-taking, the more you write the better! Stock up on some fun stationery, and lots of notebooks and get into action! Some of the note-taking methods that would help you are:

Make notes during lectures (or when watching recordings) and then re-write them in a flow you prefer. This way you would’ve written the curriculum twice, chances are you already remember it better.
Try turning graphics and diagrams into words, since you better absorb information from words rather than visuals.

4. Kinesthetic Learners

You are a natural do-er and learn best when you’re physically active, which we know doesn’t really fit a traditional classroom vibe, but here are some ways you can still make it work for you:

Gamify your studying, figure out a way you can make your study time an activity. For example, flash card trivia on your subject is one game you could try. One side would have the question and the other side the answer, and the beauty of this game is it can be as fast-paced you want, and you don’t need to anyone else to play.
Sitting in one spot for long may not be very productive for you, instead, try studying in shorter blocks of time and take quick-breaks in between to walk around, stretch or exercise and refresh your mind for another round.

Also remember, that you can have more than one studying style, they aren’t mutually exclusive. So try a little of everything and see what works best and then create your study plan accordingly.

You can do this!