Memory Recall

Hey, I totally get what you’re describing — it’s a classic case of the “forgetting curve” in action. Revising new material often pushes older material out of your short-term memory, which is why your performance drops when you go back to earlier chapters.

One approach that works well for many P1 students is spaced repetition, but applied to questions rather than just flashcards. The idea is to regularly revisit a mix of old and new questions, gradually increasing the interval between revisits for topics you’re getting right. For example:

After finishing a chapter, do a quick set of 5–10 questions from previous chapters.

At the end of each week, dedicate a session to a mixed question set covering everything you’ve studied so far.

Over time, you can adjust the number of questions and spacing based on which topics you tend to forget.

Another tip is interleaving — instead of studying chapters in strict order, mix questions from different chapters in the same session. This forces your brain to recall older material and strengthens retention.

Finally, reviewing mistakes is key. When you get a question wrong, make a short note explaining why. Then, periodically revisit just those tricky concepts.

Basically, don’t just focus on learning new chapters — build a routine that constantly refreshes the old ones. It feels slower at first, but it massively improves long-term recall.