Spaced Repetition and Anki

Spaced repetition is the most rigorously validated revision technique in cognitive science and remains dramatically underused at A-level. The principle is straightforward: reviewing material at increasing intervals, timed to coincide with the point just before forgetting, consolidates long-term memory more efficiently than any amount of re-reading or highlighting. Anki is free, cross-platform software that implements this algorithm automatically — you rate each card on how difficult you found it, and the system calculates when to show it to you next. The course covers implementation in detail, because Anki used poorly is almost as ineffective as not using it. The most common mistakes are making cards too complex (a card should test one atomic fact or relationship, not a paragraph of content), creating cards passively from notes (cards made by typing out a piece of information without already understanding it produce low-quality recall), and abandoning the daily review queue when it grows large (the queue grows because reviews were skipped, and skipping more reviews compounds the problem). Effective Anki use at A-level requires about 20 minutes per day of card review once a deck is established, which is modest for the retention gains it produces. The course covers card design for different subject types: cloze deletion for factual content in biology and chemistry, image occlusion for diagrams and maps, and a question-answer format for definitions and analytical claims in humanities subjects.

Recommended YouTube videos

• Search YouTube: “Anki tutorial for students how to set up A level”
• Search YouTube: “spaced repetition Anki beginners guide for school”
• Search YouTube: “how to make good Anki cards A level biology chemistry”
• Search YouTube: “Anki common mistakes students should avoid”
• Search YouTube: “spaced repetition science explained forgetting curve”