GCSE Revision - how much should they be doing ?

DS2 did some half-hearted revision (maybe 10 hours, total) over the Christmas holidays and first two weeks of this term for his mocks, which he's just finished. No results yet but he felt they 'went ok'. He's now having, according to him, 'a week or two off'.

DS1 did his GCSEs last year. I felt panicked when I read threads on here where everyone else's children (especially the girls) seemed to be doing loads of revision. My DS had worked pretty well all through secondary school, did all the homework set by his school throughout the spring term (mostly revision), did maybe an hour or two a day through the Easter holidays/study leave in the summer term, kept playing computer games, playing competitive sport and working a paid job throughout and got a fantastic set of results. I had to bite my tongue frequently in the months running up to the GCSEs to stop myself from asking him if he was doing enough/what he knew and didn't know/if he should get off the bloody PS4 and get on with it! But I'm really glad I did.

We all need to make sure we keep our children healthy, happy and enjoying learning through what could potentially be a stressful time. No need to worry about what anyone else is doing - the right amount of revision will vary according to the child. Better indicators of GCSE success are probably their ability to work independently, their school attendance record, and how much attention they have paid in class and to homework the entire way through their educational journey.

One hour before school

I am quite shocked by the amount all your DC's are doing. Needless to say, we are doing nothing like that. I would hope that where they have finished the curriculum classes were structured around revision, and any homework set now, would be revision too, therefore no extra revision needed. DD will be starting some home based revision after half term, and then start in earnest during the Easter holidays, which for us start beginning of April.

GCSE Revision - how much should they be doing ?

Answer: “A fucking lot”

One hour before school and a couple of hours in the evening. Get my child to practise topica past paper questions. Eng Lang and Lit is my biggest concern.

My DD is totally stressed with GCSE revisiom. She wants to get all 9. From what I see she is doing revisiom all the time, except for Saturday morning when she does sport. She has got 8 in mocks and is not happy. She is ambitious and her school is very pushy to the detriment of children’s health.
How donI help her ? I tried aroma oils in the evening for relaxation, she does not like them. I am worried she will burn out before reals exams, which is a shame as she is a bright and able girl.
How do you help your children in these stressful time?

My Ds had 2 -3 hours of homework each night, and over the weekend. Some of that was revision in that it was going over stuff already covered so practice questions etc.
He didn't do any individual revision until the Christmas holidays for his mocks straight after the break. He then went back to doing his set homework, which took up a significant amount of time, but again included some revision work set by teachers.
He didn't really start revision for his actual exams until the Easter holidays, but was away on a school trip for a week of that. Real independent revision started with his study leave. He did attend revision sessions laid on by the school before that started. He got all 7/8/9s.
30 - 40 hours on top of school and homework is ridiculous! When does the child eat/sleep/relax?

Haha inforthelonghaul same!

OP she needs to have a life and other activities too. Has she had mocks? How did she do? Look at what she needs to target eg time management - practise questions against the clock. Quotes for Eng lit? Write them on flashcards and get you to test her.

Better to do a reasonable amount of targeted, sustainable, useful revision than trying to do overwhelming hours.

Ds started his in September just by us buying all of the revision guides and highlighting any areas that he struggled with. He then started seriously revision for mocks and did very well.

Currently he has so much coursework for art and similar for photography.
He's staying every night after school for revision classes and has been since November and will continue until the exams.

He does around 1-2 hours every night and most of Sunday revising. Saturdays he goes to watch his football team either at home or anywhere else in the country.
Last week it was Southampton ( from Liverpool ) so he took some books and revised for a few hours on both journeys. He also uses some revision apps which test his knowledge which is especially helpful for science which he really struggles with.

Any revision is better than none and I'm glad that he's off the bloody Xbox and only goes on for an hour a day.

My son has done bugger all. He's managed to get 4 c's so far. If he pulled his finger out he could be brilliant (he is brilliant, but at least he'd have certificates to prove it)

Dd does 1-2 hours a school night and 4-6 hours over the weekend.
Ds didn't start until March but that was far too late.

Hmm I’d be ecstatic if DS did any!

That's a daft amount, totally unreasonable and unsustainable.

That seems a lot. Dd is doing about 1 hour per week on every subject, but, as she still has 3 or 4 hours of homework as well, is struggling even with this. She does 2 hrs/night most nights and 5 or 6 hrs at weekends. (On day working, one day off).

Nearer the exams she will probably do more.

Dd did her GCSE’s last year. She did 8 subjects and got mostly Grade 8 with a couple of Grade 9, a 7 and a 6.

At this stage she was doing about an hour a night with a couple of extra hours at weekends, so roughly an hour a week per subject.

Her school didn’t have study leave so all classes after Easter were revision sessions. After school she was doing 60-90 minutes a night plus 3-4 hours at the weekend.