Tell me what is wrong with this GCSE revision timetable....

Just checked with my husband who is a retired grammar school A level Teacher, and he said he would revise for 5 hours at a time!

I did an A level last year (for, er, fun) and I found the website GetRevising really helpful.

It has a revision planner tool to help plan revision slots around regular activities, school work etc, and automatically logs free time too. Worth a look to see what it comes up with as a revision schedule for your DC?

Loads of other resources on there: you can search subjects by examining board and topic, and make your own resources too. I made flashcards, mind maps, uploaded notes ... Really useful.

(Not just for A levels, btw, but from GCSE right through)

I have a ds the same age. School asked us to plan a revision timetable to discuss with form tutors at a parent's consultation meeting. I've had little formal input for years, as he's very self motivated, and we nearly fell out over this!

In the end, we agreed to go to the meeting and tell the teacher that DS would sort out his revision as and how he needed it. And that wouldn't be prescribing how long and when he studied.

She laughed, said she absolutely agreed, and to let him get on with it.

As it turned out, he's just started some mock mocks, and asked me to through some history for 2 1/2 hours on Saturday, and then spent about four hours testing himself on biology (seneca) yesterday, so I'm just going to leave him to it unless he asks.

I do think shorter sessions with more breaks might be more efficient- maybe consider 20-30 minute blocks, with short breaks in between (obviously with some flexibility for homework).

I also agree with other posters that not all subjects are alike- so using the same strategy for each subject won't necessarily be effective. Some subjects e.g. MFL/Maths may benefit from regular short bursts of practice, whilst others e.g. Art may need longer focused periods of work.

I agree though that now is the time to be doing things like making flashcards/revision notes so that they are ready for when revision starts in earnest, and there is no harm in buying a revision guide now to help support work done in class.

My guess would be that they have given the guide to parents to open up a discussion with their children about how to revise and for the students to see that home and school both play a role in their final outcome.

It's fairly common for some families to take the approach that school should o intervention every night, that if their child attends revision sessions then that's their work done etc.

Things have to fit the child, their strengths and their weaknesses as well as their wider social schedule.

For example, someone who struggles with slower processing would be best starting on flash cards and being quizzed on them by their parents from the start of y11 (probably having bought a set to relieve stress). They could do 15 mins a day, 5 days a week for their core subjects.

Another student does a lot of music and drama so they know that December is really busy with concerts and shows, so they may decide that they want to tread water until the new year and then do more intense revision.

Another might have regular sporting commitments so 2 evenings a week and all day Saturday are out of the question, so they'll probably have to make a revision plan that involves 3-4 hours a night on other days in order to have the time to do what they enjoy.

It needs to be in shorter bursts of 25mins max then a break. Time for sport/hobbies/relaxation should be timetables into it.

Our (well Ds) mocks are next month. He is so laid back about them though.

The problem is you're assuming all subjects will need an equal amount of time - and then that each area will divide nicely into ten which again will take an equal amount of time.

This is unlikely to be the case and needs to be adapted to suit your child. For example, if they're secure in religious studies but weaker in maths, it would be madness to dedicate the same amount of study time to each.

No comment on the amount of time planned... I did my gcses 16 years ago and didn't spend anywhere near that amount of time but I know things have changed a lot then!

What's wrong with it is they you have created this plan and not your child

What's wrong with it? You did it and you're not the one taking the exam..

Let your child sort it themselves. Are you sure that the school told you to perfectly plan 200 hours of revision? That sounds insane.

It sounds too much to me.

My advice to my students is to revise effectively.

Often students prefer methods of revision that aren't the most effective and are often quite time consuming.

I suggest my students do the following:

• phase 1: September to mock exams, look at the topic list for mock exams. RAG them and then use their revision guides to recap their weakest topics first. Do some prep in class and start introducing revision strategies.

• little and often, 30-45 minute slots of meaningful revision (not 1 hour of checking phones, sorting revision guides, deciding if they'll mind map or exam questions)
• each week identify weaknesses from our recall tasks and make that one of their revision tasks to recap and redo
• use a strategy bank and revision materials (I provide this for them all)
• do lots of mock questions, planned or written in full

This links to what I do with them in class:

• regularly recalling information from old topics as starters
• homework exam questions from older topics
• explicitly teaching effective strategies for revision

Crucially, THEY have to be the ones to make their timetable. They need time for hobbies and to see friends and also time just to be and chill.

But you saying what should be revised and when will not ensure any more revision takes place. It is vital that students know their strengths and weaknesses and tailor their revision plan to suit them.
Also if the school is completely failing to support students through GCSE I would be very unimpressed. It’s not down to parents to take that role.

NB, in my timetable above, Phase 2 was way lighter on hours than the other 3, producing a breather between mocks and Easter.

DD(now 17 and doing A levels) did her own timetable for GCSEs. It did not include as much time as yours - maybe one third to half that, and started in the Easter break. School also put on Easter revision classes.

She did very well. I think a part of that was because she focussed her revision where she needed it and did not do too much, so didn't "burn out" too soon. They get bored and fed up of learning.

Too much too soon. My DC didn't start revision until the Easter break. No issues. They all passed their grades. IMO, this pressure is too much. It's not good for their mental health.

What’s wrong is that you’ve done it. You don’t know the course best and you don’t know your child best. They do. Students should work out their own strategy based on what subjects they’re doing and their own areas of strength or weakness.

I personally think starting formal revision that early is counter productive. By the time you get to Easter, revision fatigue will have set in. Assuming DC has mocks at end of year/start of year, quite a lot will be covered by then in terms of good notes, and revision guides. More detailed revision can be done later. Also, don't forget, depending on the school, some subjects may not be finished until Easter anyway.

I did micromanage my disorganised-dyspraxic DD's GCSE revision because she couldn't/can't organise her way out of a paper bag.

I set it up in phases.

Sort of like this:
Phase 1 before Jan Mocks:

• create revision cards for all subjects being covered in mocks (autumn term)

• list of major topics per subject
• estimate hours needed for each topic
• total hours needed
• work out reasonable working over xmas
• fit the two together.

• Target work on weak areas from mocks && create other revision cards
• estimate for each subject hours needed
• etc

• Target Learn everything prior to half term PLUS first go through of after half term info
• estimate hours needed
• etc
• use time between exams to refresh for next exam or later ones that week

• learn remaining content

DD1 managed 4.5-5 hrs revision per non school day in ~45 min slots. usually 3 hrs between 9am-1pm, and 1.5-2 between 4pm-6:15pm.

Revision jazzed up between

• learning from guide
• online
• test papers
• me going through helping / quizzing

The main thing though is timetable was done with DD's agreement. We estimated together work required, we discussed what hours would suit her, so it wasn't me imposing it.

For DD, 20 hrs would have been totally insufficient for Chemistry, but was easily sufficient for MFL.

Am I being thick, but how do you start revising in the New Year for exams in May? (I am coming from the perspective of person who did O levels for which you revised the week before if you were feeling particularly diligent, the night before if not).

I'm trying to stay out of it for my own sanity but I'm thinking my main job is to a) keep him off his phone/xbox at least some of the time, b) make him get to bed early and c) feed him (perhaps this is where microwave management comes in).

He's got mocks at the beginning of January so I'll make sure he's got quiet space to revise for those over the Christmas holidays as well as one of us testing him when needed. If these go well I'll continue with light touch approach.

I would look up study YouTubers. These are really clever kids who did really well by making sure their revision was useful and helpful. All of them advise to start receiving in Easter and prepare revision material before that. Your child will get burned out.

Subjects don't break up into parts like that. If your child wants this help then download each syllabus and/or buy the revision guide to work out how many topics and how easiest to split them.
It's also likely that following mocks it will be clear where they need to concentrate efforts.
Does your child know how to revise? if they sit down and leaf through some notes it will be next to useless. Helping them learn the skills they need for revision will be more helpful than enforcing a timetable, and invaluable when it comes to a levels.

And make it specific to each subject - eg my kids do language vocab practise in ten minute chunks whilst on the bus (having set this up on flashcards on their phones).
By the Easter holidays my kids do the same length sessions as the exams for that subject. This fits in well with doing past papers. A mixture of one of these sessions a day, and 2 a day (prep for stamina needed on days with 2 exams in them).