Bought or borrowed notes are frequently viewed as a miracle on A4, the answer to your pre-exam prayers. Hand-me-down notes can be a huge help, but should be approached with caution.

If you’re using notes you didn’t write yourself, here's how to get the most out of them and avoid any nasty surprises...

Surviving law school basically amounts to surviving the same cycle of lectures, procrastination, assignments, more lectures, study, exams, and glorious catharsis. The idea is that, after doing this every three to six months for five or six years, you may learn a few things about the law. The major obstacles to success in this routine seem to be work and hangovers.

With 2012 posing ominously as my final year, I was starting to get bored. I chose to dramatically reduce the time I spent in lectures last semester, and the results were awesome. I don't think I've had a happier or more productive semester and my marks reflected that fact.

Packing up your books and leaving the distractions of your house, you tell yourself that you’ll study much better in the library at uni. Your conviction lasts until the moment you arrive at the library and decide you need a coffee before you can start studying and oh no, you’ve forgotten your laptop power cord.

You decide to head home to the creature comforts that will definitely make studying easier and more productive. It’s the “I’ll study better at home/at uni” catch 22.

Sometimes the promises made in first week about doing all the readings, starting assignments early and getting to every class just aren’t possible. As we find ourselves in the later stages of semester, with exams not far away, we begin to fret a little… okay, a lot. 

But fear not! If you’ve fallen behind on the course there’s plenty you can do to catch up in time for exams. To get started, you’ll need organisation, discipline and many delicious study snacks…

I have a weakness for the latest and greatest tech products. With my 4.7-inch phone screen, and iPad, I find it quite easy to access my uni readings and work wherever I am. But having used my iPad in classes for over a year, I have come to the conclusion that tablets are best used for reading and research rather than note taking.

Although you can get Bluetooth keyboards for tablets, many of these are rather touchy when it comes to linking with the device and are generally fairly low quality (on the basis of the several faulty Bluetooth keyboards that I bought for my tablet). This issue is alleviated by some of the newer Android devices, such as the ASUS Transformer tablet, which comes with a keyboard dock, but the fact remains that for taking notes and writing assignments, you’re probably better off with a cheap netbook.

But that doesn't mean that there isn’t room for a tablet in your legal study strategy. Here are some apps that you may find useful for getting through your university readings…

“I knew this last week! Why can’t I remember this?” – Every law student, ever. 

Even at the best of times our memory can fail, leaving us hopelessly fumbling for that case name or trying to remember who had the onus of proof.

Fear not though, as studying for my secondary degree in Psychology has given me great insight into the best ways to remember things and how to avoid forgetting. Here are just a few tips on how to prepare for exams based on what psychology tells us about memory...