Study techniques are something that are very personal and what works best varies from person to person, but I always get asked how I got through ground school so here goes…
I worked slightly different in each phase of ground school and to be honest I spent most of the first phase figuring out how I revise best. It took me a loooong time to work that out.
In the evenings after ground school I would go home, have a snack and take a break, usually going for a walk before starting studying. This break really helped me to start my evening refreshed.
First I would complete my CBTs - which I realised followed the book quite often- so at the same time I’d have my book open and make sure I absorbed the book content as well as listening to the CBTs.
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At a later date I will write a blog post on ground school essentials but for now, highlighters are an absolute must.
I would then try to make summary notes from the lessons that day - focusing on the parts we’d highlighted and anything I didn’t understand well. I would try to complete the quizzes on LMS for each topic and the end of chapter questions in the book too, to make sure I’d understood what I’d revised. Obviously it’s hard to revise everything from the day in one evening, so I used the weekends too!
When I revised in the evenings, I’d make sure to make a note of anything I didn’t understand and then go to see the instructors during lunch for help.
I really made the most of having such incredible instructors and always came to them with lots of questions. Sometimes it’s better to get them to re-explain things to you as it’ll take 5 minutes as oppose to you spending 30 minutes confused trying to work it out on your own.
On the days where I wasn’t exhausted by lunchtime, I would try start my CBTs during the lunch break to get a head start on the evenings work- but some lunches I just really needed the break.
Nearer to EASAs I would switch to using the banks - but to be honest I didn’t finish any of them. I really tried to understand the content so that I could tackle anything thrown at me. I also find it easier to commit something to memory if I’ve understood it.
Overall my top tips would be to stay organised, make the most of the instructors knowledge and always ask if you aren’t sure about something. Also down time is extremely important, so try to get a good work-life balance as difficult as that may seem. Ground school is hard work, so if you ever feel overwhelmed - you are not alone, we’ve all been there.
Best of luck! If I can ever help with anything let me know 😅✈️
