Revision Hub
Personalise your revision
One of the most crucial parts of revision is finding what works for you. For me, I used different techniques for different subjects. For science, I created personal revision guides using the full exam board specification, whereas for English Literature I found watching pods helped me remember the love and relationships poems for my exam. The point is, you should try as many different active revision strategies as you can find and see what works best for you, whether that’s creating flashcards, doing exam questions or creating revision clocks.
It's never too late to start
Even if you’re late off the mark to start revising, any amount of revision is better than none. After being disappointed with a mock grade in English literature, I was quite worried I wouldn’t do as well as I’d hoped; however, with just a half-term’s worth of daily pods, I managed to push myself up by a whole grade!
Ask your teachers
All of your teachers are there to help you during this stressful year so don’t be afraid to ask for help. Teachers want you to get the best possible grade so they will be more than happy to look over work you’ve done in your own time. Don’t feel silly asking questions about anything – it’s better to approach a teacher than be unsure!
Mental health
It is really important that while you’re revising you still make time for yourself. You can do this by taking regular breaks and making sure to leave time to unwind between revising and going to bed. After all, if you overwork yourself and are constantly tired, your revision might not be as effective! It is also important to balance your hobbies and your revision.
You can still enjoy your hobbies, no matter what they are, as long as they don’t get in the way of revision (and revision doesn’t get in the way of your hobbies).
How can parents/carers help?
We all have busy lifestyles, but try to take time to think about what your role might be during the revision period and how you might be able to support your child.
Make a point of discussing and listen to your child, understand what will be involved in the revision period and what your role as a family could be.
Respond positively when they ask you for help, ask how you can help and if you can't help immediately, say when it's convenient. Also be prepared to be told that your help is not required (this can be disheartening) but don’t take this to mean that you shouldn’t do anything at all.
Try to attend all parents’ consultation evenings and exam related update information nights, either online or in school; this will help you understand what your child is experiencing right now and show support to the child too.
If you are in any doubt about anything, please do contact the year 11 team via email or phone and we will happily support you.
Motivation
Take an interest.
Your interest, support and encouragement can play a key role in helping your child to establish and maintain their motivation.
Ask about their plans for revision in a positive manner; ask how they are feeling, what’s working well and what they’re having problems with?
Look for opportunities to praise them for their efforts.
Encourage them to believe in themselves by reminding them of things they have done well in the past.
Identifying the reluctant student
If you feel that your child is reluctant to study or is disengaged, try to talk to them about this in a positive way. Find out what they are struggling with, contact school to see what your child should be doing. Some pupils do find it hard to revise and you may feel like you are met with a brick wall of resistance. There are no easy solutions but here are some suggestions:
- Maintain an active interest in what they are doing throughout the revision and exam period.
- Encourage them to go along to revision classes.
- Make revision at home active by offering to test, quiz or support them.
- Avoid detailed questioning about revision as this will add pressure; help them to decide what to revise and when to revise. Studies have shown that short and often burst of 20-30 minutes a time is more beneficial than hours and hours of revision.
- Discuss with your child what they want to do after GCSEs; this may start to encourage them as they have a goal to focus on.
- Help to chunk revision sessions breaking the year down into blocks; for example, 'the next 6 weeks we will focus on…', 'Within three weeks you want to be able to….' Sometimes, trying to focus for the summer with a large number of weeks in between may feel overwhelming.
- Reassure the pupil that normal life will return.