The Spaced Repetition System That Got Me Through My First Year Exams

The Problem With How I Used to Study

In secondary school, I studied the way most people study: I read my notes, highlighted the important parts, re-read the highlighted parts, and hoped for the best. It worked well enough for A-levels. It stopped working the moment I arrived at university.

The problem isn't the technique — it's the theory behind it. Re-reading feels productive because it's familiar. But familiarity is not the same as learning. You can re-read a page five times and still fail to recall it under exam conditions, because recognition and recall are different cognitive processes.

Spaced repetition trains recall. That's why it works.

What Spaced Repetition Actually Is

Spaced repetition is a study technique based on the spacing effect — the well-documented finding that information is retained more effectively when review sessions are spaced over time rather than massed together (cramming).

The mechanism is the forgetting curve, first described by Hermann Ebbinghaus in the 1880s. When you learn something new, you forget it rapidly at first, then more slowly. If you review the information just before you're about to forget it, you reset the curve — and each time you do, the forgetting happens more slowly. Over time, the information moves from short-term to long-term memory.

Spaced repetition software (SRS) automates this process. The algorithm tracks when you last reviewed each card and how well you recalled it, then schedules the next review at the optimal time. The most widely used SRS is Anki, which is free and available on all platforms.

Why Most Students Give Up on Anki

I've recommended Anki to at least a dozen people. Most of them tried it for a week and stopped. The reasons are always the same: the cards take too long to make, the review sessions pile up and become overwhelming, and the interface feels clunky.

These are real problems. Here's how I solved each one.

Problem 1: Card Creation Takes Too Long

The solution is AI-assisted card generation. I use ChatGPT to generate initial card content, then review and edit before adding to my deck.

My prompt template: "I'm studying [topic] for a first-year biomedical science exam. Generate 15 Anki flashcards covering the key concepts, mechanisms, and clinical applications. Format each card as: Front: [question] / Back: [answer]. Keep answers concise — maximum three sentences."

I then review every card before adding it. AI-generated cards sometimes contain errors. The review process is also a learning opportunity.

Problem 2: Reviews Pile Up

This happens when you add too many cards too quickly. The solution is a daily card limit. I add a maximum of 20 new cards per day. This keeps my daily review load manageable and prevents the backlog that kills most people's Anki habits.

Problem 3: The Interface Feels Clunky

Spend 30 minutes customising it — there are excellent free add-ons (Image Occlusion, AnkiDroid for mobile) that make the experience significantly better.

My Specific Workflow for Biomedical Science

For factual content: Standard question-and-answer cards.

For mechanisms: Image Occlusion — take a diagram, cover specific labels, test yourself on them.

For clinical connections: Cloze deletion cards — sentences with a word or phrase removed.

The Honest Caveat

Spaced repetition is excellent for factual recall. It's not a substitute for deep understanding. For biomedical science, you need both. The understanding comes from lectures, textbooks, and active problem-solving. The recall comes from Anki. Use both.