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Condensing notes for exam season

How to reduce a year's content to revision cards that work

As exams approach, the goal shifts from learning to retrieval. Detailed notes become a liability — there's too much to scan quickly. The solution is progressive condensation: taking your notes and reducing them through multiple rounds until you have a compact retrieval kit.

The condensation process

Start with your full notes for a topic. Read them once without writing anything
Produce a condensed version — one A4 page maximum per major topic. Include only definitions, key formulas, important studies, and the main arguments
From the condensed version, produce a page of retrieval cues only — key terms, question prompts, diagram labels — no answers
Use the cue page to test recall, with the condensed page as the answer key
In the final days before exams, use only the cue pages — you should be able to expand each one fully from memory

The condensation process is active learning. Every time you decide what to include and what to cut, you're reinforcing understanding. Don't shortcut it by copying someone else's revision cards.

What to include on a condensed note

Key terms with one-line definitions
Named theories, models or researchers with the core claim
Key formulas or calculations (for quantitative subjects)
One or two specific examples you can deploy in answers
Common exam traps or misconceptions for this topic

What to cut from condensed notes

Anything you already know confidently from memory
Extended explanations — replace with a trigger phrase that cues your memory
Repeated examples — you only need one per concept
Teacher commentary and class discussion notes — focus on spec content