Save My Exams vs Textbooks: Which Is Better?

Revision season can be stressful. You've got a pile of textbooks on your desk, a dozen browser tabs open, and the clock is ticking. You're not even sure which one is actually going to help you get the grade you need.

When it comes to Save My Exams vs textbooks, it can feel like you’re comparing chalk and cheese. One feels modern, the other feels very traditional. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for both.

This article will explore the differences between Save My Exams and traditional textbooks, so you can make a smart decision about where to focus your revision time and money.

Key Takeaways

• Save My Exams is a digital revision platform built for exam preparation, offering past paper questions, flashcards, and concise revision notes.

• Textbooks provide in-depth subject knowledge and are ideal for building understanding during the school year.

• The two resources serve different purposes, and combining them is often the most effective revision strategy.

• If you're short on time during the exam season, Save My Exams is designed to get you exam-ready faster.

What Is Save My Exams?

Save My Exams is a digital revision platform designed to help students prepare for their exams.

With everything you need in one place, the platform was built for convenience and a stress-free study experience.

Save My Exams offers a wide range of revision tools, including:

• Revision notes - clear, concise summaries of every topic on the syllabus, written by teachers and examiners.

• Official past papers - so you know the exact question formats that you’ll see in the summer.

• Mock exams - so you can get used to the time pressure of real-life exams.

• Flashcards - for quick, active recall practice.

• Topic questions - targeted practice on individual areas of the course.

Save My Exams covers a huge range of subjects and supports all major UK exam boards, including AQA, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC, and CIE, as well as the IB Diploma Programme and AP.

Next step: Unsure if your subject is covered? Head over to the platform’s subject checker to see what resources are available for the subjects you’re studying.

What Are Textbooks?

A textbook is a printed (or digital) book written to cover the content of a specific course or subject.

They tend to be written by subject experts and published by educational publishers such as Hodder Education, Oxford University Press, and Pearson. 

Many GCSE and A Level textbooks are officially endorsed by exam boards, meaning the content has been reviewed for accuracy and syllabus coverage.

Textbooks are structured around the full course, usually following the same chapter-by-chapter order as the specification. This makes them useful for learning new material as you go throughout the school year.

They tend to go into a lot of depth on each topic, offering: 

• Detailed explanations

• Worked examples

• Diagrams

• End-of-chapter questions

Did you know? The average endorsed A Level textbook by CGP (opens in a new tab) costs between £5.50 and £23.

Key Differences Between Save My Exams and Textbooks

Content Structure and Organisation

Textbooks are built for learning. They take you through a subject step by step, explaining concepts in detail. That depth is really valuable when you're encountering a topic for the first time.

Save My Exams, on the other hand, is built for revision. The notes are shorter and more targeted, cutting straight to what you need to know for the exam.

There's an important point worth making here: passive reading is one of the least effective revision methods. Research consistently shows that active recall (opens in a new tab) - testing yourself on material - leads to far better retention than simply re-reading notes. 

Save My Exams is specifically designed around this idea. Rather than just presenting information, it constantly nudges you to test yourself with topic questions, past papers, and flashcards.

Textbooks, by contrast, are designed for reading. Most don't offer structured active recall beyond end-of-chapter questions.

Next step: Our active recall article will show how to implement more active revision strategies into your study sessions.

Accessibility and Convenience

Textbooks are physical objects. They're heavy, they stay at home, and you can only use them when you have them with you.

Save My Exams is accessible from any smartphone, tablet, or laptop, which means you can revise on the bus, in a free period, or in five-minute gaps between lessons. That flexibility makes a real difference to how much revision you actually get done.

Save My Exams also organises content by topic and exam board, meaning you can jump straight to the exact area you need to work on. That means no flipping through chapters or searching the index to find the relevant section.

Cost Considerations

The cost of a full set of A Level textbooks adds up quickly. If you're studying three A Level subjects, you could be looking at £60–£120 for just the core textbooks (opens in a new tab), depending on the publisher of your books.

Save My Exams offers a free tier with access to a selection of content, and a full subscription unlocks everything on the platform, including all subjects and exam boards. Free trials are available to try before you buy.

For students on a tight budget, Save My Exams can provide significant value, especially in the run-up to exams when targeted revision matters most.

Parents should also note that many schools provide textbooks to students, which can reduce the cost burden significantly.

Alignment with Exam Specifications

This is an important one. Exam specifications change, and when they do, printed textbooks can quickly become outdated.

New editions take time to write, review, and publish, meaning students can end up revising from a textbook that doesn't fully reflect the current syllabus.

Save My Exams is updated regularly to reflect changes to specifications as soon as they're announced. Every set of notes and questions is mapped directly to the current version of the relevant exam board specification.

This gives students confidence that what they're revising is exactly what will be assessed.

Which Resource Is Better for Different Learning Styles?

There's no single "best" learning resource. It depends a lot on how you learn.

Visual learners often benefit from the diagrams and illustrated examples found in textbooks. That said, Save My Exams also uses: 

• Clear visual formatting

• Easy to navigate sections

• Engaging diagrams

Read/write learners tend to get a lot out of both formats. Textbooks offer rich, detailed reading material, while Save My Exams notes are structured and easy to annotate.

Active learners (those who learn best by doing) will probably find Save My Exams more effective. The platform is built around practice: 

• Answering questions

• Checking answers

• Identifying gaps

• Engaging with flashcards

• Repeating the process

When to Use Save My Exams vs Textbooks

During the School Year

During term time, textbooks tend to earn their place. When you're learning a topic for the first time, the depth and detail of a good textbook is hard to beat.

Textbooks help you build a solid foundation of understanding. This is something that makes revision much easier later on.

Save My Exams is still useful during the school year. You can use the platform to:

• Check your understanding after a lesson

• Revisit topics you found tricky

• Do quick practice questions to consolidate new knowledge

During the Revision Period

This is where Save My Exams really comes into its own.

When exams are approaching, you don't have time to re-read entire textbooks. You need to:

• Identify gaps in your knowledge

• Practise exam-style questions

• Build the confidence to tackle whatever the examiner puts in front of you

That's what Save My Exams will help you do. The focused revision notes, topic questions, and mark schemes allow you to work through the specification systematically and efficiently.

Can You Use Both Resources Together?

Yes, and for many students, using both is the smartest approach.

• Textbooks build your understanding

• Save My Exams turns that understanding into exam performance

Follow these steps to integrate both resources into your revision plan:

1. Use your textbook to revise a topic in depth. Read the relevant chapter and make sure you understand the key concepts.

2. Switch to Save My Exams and read the revision notes for that topic. These will help you identify the most exam-relevant points and cut through anything you don't need.

3. Test yourself using Save My Exams topic questions. Don't look back at your notes - see what you can retrieve from memory.

4. Check your answers using the Strengths and Weaknesses tool. Identify any gaps.

5. Return to your textbook to re-read any sections where your answers were weak.

6. Use Save My Exams flashcards to try and recall what you’ve read.

7. Repeat the process for the next topic.

This approach combines the depth of textbooks with the active recall benefits of Save My Exams.

What Do Students and Teachers Say?

Students and teachers who use Save My Exams regularly highlight a few consistent themes in their feedback.

Students often mention how much they value having past paper questions and revision notes in one place. And, teachers like the independent practice Save My Exams encourages. Here are a couple of Trustpilot review snippets:

Sai, a student (opens in a new tab), says: “I used Save my Exams throughout Year 11 but it was in those final months before my exams that I really benefitted from it. Having a subscription meant that I was able to have access to high quality notes that also included the exact wording exam mark schemes want to hear.”

Jane, a teacher (opens in a new tab), says: “Nothing beats the use of past paper questions to prepare for an exam, but to have them arranged by topic with mark schemes and worked answers is spot on. Backed up with notes, quick quizzes and a record of success with marks; this truly is the full package.”

Textbooks also receive strong support from students and teachers for their role in learning. Tim Oates, Group Director of Assessment Research and Development at Cambridge Assessment, wrote an entire policy paper (opens in a new tab) on why textbooks matter, stating that the best education systems in the world, like Singapore, still rely on them heavily, even in a digital world.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I access Save My Exams for free?

Yes. Save My Exams offers a free tier that gives you access to a limited selection of revision content across different subjects.

To unlock the full platform, including all past paper questions, model answers, flashcards, and revision notes across every subject and exam board, you'll need a paid subscription.

Do I need textbooks if I have Save My Exams?

Not necessarily, it depends on how you're using the platform and what stage of the year you're at.

During the school year, textbooks are useful for building deep subject knowledge. During the revision period, many students find Save My Exams provides everything they need.

Are there different Save My Exams subscriptions?

You can sign up for a monthly, quarterly, or annual Save My Exams subscription. The annual subscription provides the best value. Pricing may vary, so it's worth checking the current rates on the Save My Exams website.

Will You Choose Save My Exams or Textbooks?

Both Save My Exams and textbooks have an important role to play in your education, so there’s no need to choose one or the other.

Textbooks are brilliant for building a thorough understanding of a subject. They go deep, explain concepts clearly, and support your learning throughout the school year.

Save My Exams is built for what happens next: turning that knowledge into exam success. With targeted revision notes, topic-specific practice questions, and detailed model answers, it's designed to help you revise smarter and more efficiently.

Use them both together, and you have the perfect study, learning, and revision combination. 

References

CGP - A Level Student Books (opens in a new tab)

Science Direct - Active recall strategies associated with academic achievement in young adults: A systematic review (opens in a new tab)

Cambridge University Press - A Level (opens in a new tab)

Trustpilot - Review of Save My Exams by Sai (Sep 2025) (opens in a new tab)

Trustpilot - Review of Save My Exams by Jane (Jun 2023) (opens in a new tab)

Tim Oates - Why textbooks count (opens in a new tab)