Cards by Clara

Why Anki? Spaced repetition for A Level revision

I used Anki during my own A Levels. It's a free flashcard app that decides when you should see each card again, based on how well you knew it last time.

The forgetting curve, with and without spaced reviews Without reviews, memory fades away within a couple of weeks. With reviews after 1, 4, 12 and 32 days, memory returns to full each time and then fades more slowly, staying above 70%. 0%25%50%75%100%010203040 Days since you first learned it How much you remember With spaced reviews No reviews
An illustration of the idea, not real data. Each dot is a review: memory is topped back up, then fades more slowly, so the gaps can grow.

How quickly we forget

In the 1880s, Hermann Ebbinghaus learned lists of made-up syllables and tested himself on them at different times afterwards. About half had gone within an hour and two thirds within a day. After that, he forgot much more slowly. This pattern is known as the forgetting curve, and it means most forgetting happens soon after you learn something.

Each time you test yourself and get something right, you forget it a little more slowly, so you can leave it longer before the next go. If you know a card well, Anki shows it to you again after about a day, then roughly 3, 8 and 20 days. Spacing reviews out like this is called spaced repetition.

Taking the guesswork out of timing

Knowing when to review each card is the hard part. Anki does it for you: every card has its own review date, worked out from how well you knew it last time.

Compared with paper flashcards

Paper flashcards test you in the same way, but you have to decide when to look at each one. In practice most people go through the whole pile every time, or only the ones they like, which means a lot of time on cards they already know. Anki gives every card its own date, so each day you only see the ones that are due.

Compared with other flashcard apps

Anki is free on computers and Android, without a subscription; the official iPhone app is a one-off purchase. Unlike apps that take you through a whole set at once, it only shows the cards due that day. It also handles diagrams, tables and equations well, which matters for science, and it works without an internet connection.

How I'd use it

  1. Before turning a card over, write the key points on paper or a mini whiteboard, then check them against the answer. It's easy to convince yourself you knew something when you didn't.
  2. If you missed a key point, press Again. Anki can only space cards well if your answers are honest.
  3. Try to use it every day, even for ten minutes, so the reviews don't build up.
  4. Don't add too many new cards at once. The flashcard planner can work out a sensible number per day from your exam date.
  5. Keep doing past papers. Anki helps you remember the content, but past papers are where you learn to apply it.

If you'd like to try it, here's how to download Anki and import a deck.

Source (free to read)

The review gaps (about 1, 3, 8 and 20 days) come from Anki's standard settings, as used in the flashcard planner.