How much revision?

[Drabarni]

Looking for ideas as how to manage revision over Christmas.
Mine finishes on 14th and is Y11 GCSE's, mocks in january.

I know she'll crack on, that's not the problem, just wondering what is ideal, to also have a break.

[TeenPlusTwenties]

DD1 did GCSEs under the old system, she also had Jan mocks.
She had 5 complete days off together over Christmas and we packed all family gatherings into that.
Otherwise she did ~4.5 hours a day, normally morning and early evening, with every afternoon off, usually involving some fresh air.
But what worked for her might not work for others. She also hadn't really done any prior revision as all focus had been on doing a million and one controlled assessments.

[user1497207191]

I've seen it recommended to do an average of 25 hours revision per subject. Obviously, depends on their current state of "readiness", i.e. is it really just revising what they already know and have previously mastered, or is there a lot of learning of topics which they've not got to grips with, so effectively learning from scratch.

[Drabarni]

That's a great starting point thanks. I was toying with the idea of days off rather than trying to do everyday but with time off.
4.5 hours a day, that's what I was thinking too, so great minds.... etc.

[Drabarni]

I think it's a mixture of both tbh. Some things she hasn't grasped at all but other things are just revising.
is it better to split it as time per subject in that case.
e.g more work needing doing on a subject will need more time.

[TeenPlusTwenties]

I helped DD with her revision timetable (many will be able to do it by themselves at this age but DD has dyspraxia).
We went through each subject and listed the major topics and she/we estimated time needed, and then went from there.
Some subjects eg science needed loads more time than others, eg languages or Eng lang as science is more content heavy whereas MFL/Eng Lang are more cumulative skills.
Each 30-45min revision session had its own aim e.g. 'Bonding and properties' or 'light & dark theme in Macbeth' or whatever. You can't just 'revise Chemistry'.

[ProggyMat]

DD finishes on 13th, so 3 week break, and then has 8 days of mocks on return to school-18 papers to sit.
She has her mock exam timetable so is aware which exams are ‘first in line’ so will structure revision around that.
She’s fortunate that the 2 weeks of mocks can be study leave, if chosen, so she only needs to be in school to sit the mock exam.
I can’t see any revision over Christmas Eve til Boxing Day- nor would I expect it and NYE NYD is out of the question as she is at a party.
Also, she has an invite to another party in between Chrimbo and NYE so lots of ‘downtime’ already
As your DD ‘ cracks on’ as does mine, I would look at the mock exam timetable and see how many hours need to be spent on subjects she is strong in and others not so,

[user1497207191]

I think it's a mixture of both tbh. Some things she hasn't grasped at all but other things are just revising.is it better to split it as time per subject in that case.

I'd say equal weighting to all subjects and to each section of the subject. For the areas she knows, then solid revision will help her get close to full marks. For the areas she's weak on, then the time can spent on familiarisation and the basics which should enable her to at least get some marks and then she can move it up a notch for the real exam revision at Easter. I'd say that's better than spending too much time on weak subjects to get near full marks at the expense on only getting average marks on her stronger topics. If you see what I mean. I think it's better to do it in stages and for each section - she's got two bites of the cherry before the real exams, so stage 1 to get herself up to average across the board and then stage 2 after the mocks to push it to the best she can achieve. The mocks will show which areas she's good/weak in.

[Drabarni]

That sounds like a good plan to me , it makes sense. I've no idea what her timetable looks like, she's not known for good organisational skills, so I'm so happy and proud she's done it. But she always seems to miss something vital that would make life much easier and be more efficient/ efficient.
She'll tell me to back off, so I thought if I got a range of answers I'd know if her way would work.
Predictions have all increased some dramatically from 3-7 in Eng lit. and 4-6 in Science. Maths from 3 to almost 5 in recent tests.

[Pythonesque]

My daughter's school had a 2/3 rule that they discussed with students and told parents about. The idea being to think of each day in 3 sessions (morning /afternoon/evening eg), and study on 2/3 sessions on 2/3 available days in key holiday revision periods.