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Become a better student · Module 3: Revision that works

Why highlighting feels useful (and how to make it count)

A page covered in colour looks like hard work. On its own, it does very little for memory.

Written by the Brainhub Editorial Team Cites published research Updated 13 Oct 2026 5 min read

The course unlocks one lesson at a time. You can read this now, but it only counts once you’ve finished Stop re-reading.

Key takeaways

1. What the research says

A 2013 review of ten common study techniques rated highlighting, underlining and re-reading as having low utility. They did little to improve test performance, and in some studies highlighting made it harder for students to make connections across a text.[1]

2. The illusion of fluency

When you highlight, you are choosing what looks important. That is a useful decision, but it doesn’t test whether you can remember it. Later, seeing your highlights makes the page feel familiar, and familiarity is easy to confuse with knowing.

Psychologist Robert Bjork calls the alternatives “desirable difficulties”: methods that feel slower and harder in the moment, such as testing yourself or spacing your study, but lead to stronger long-term learning.[2]

If it feels smooth, check it. If it feels effortful, keep going.

3. Turn highlights into questions

You don’t have to throw away your highlighters. Use them as the first step, then make the highlights do some work.

Highlight less

One highlight per paragraph at most. If everything is highlighted, nothing is.

Question in the margin

For each highlight, write a question in the margin whose answer is the highlighted text.

Cover and answer

Cover the text, answer your margin questions out loud, then check.

4. A 20-minute swap

Next time you would spend 20 minutes highlighting, try this: 5 minutes reading and marking the key points, 5 minutes writing questions, 10 minutes answering them with the page covered.

For parents: If revision looks colourful but quiet, ask your child to quiz you on what they highlighted.

Try it now

Test yourself on this page

Answer in your head first, then check.

  1. 1. How did the 2013 review rate highlighting?

  2. 2. What is the illusion of fluency?

  3. 3. How can you make highlighting useful?

Your next steps

  • Pick one highlighted page and write margin questions for it.
  • Answer them tomorrow with the page covered.
  • Limit yourself to one highlight per paragraph.

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Sources

  1. Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J. and Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58. doi:10.1177/1529100612453266
  2. Bjork, R. A. (1994). Memory and metamemory considerations in the training of human beings. In J. Metcalfe and A. Shimamura (eds), Metacognition: Knowing about Knowing (pp. 185–205). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. bjorklab.psych.ucla.edu/research

This guide is general study advice. Every student is different. A teacher can help you work out what fits.