How much work should year 11 be doing?

Wow good luck with that 😳

@SummerDuck out of interest, if your DH thinks 2.5 hours a night is far too little, how much does he suggest?

Does your DS do any evening extra-curricular activities?

Just from watching them move through sixth form. The drop out/burn out was always children who’d been forced into the extreme revision. Children in year 11 would often talk about this and they were also the parents nagging teachers for extra work.

The children who wanted it for themselves and who’d learned hard work paid off never seemed to do this.

Add in the fact that the jump from GCSE to A levels is the biggest of all, these children resented their forced GCSE path and couldn’t handle the necessary self discipline and independent study that A levels need.

So anecdotal yes. But a pattern of children and overly involved parents I saw too often.

Can I ask how you know this as an exams officer? Anecdotal or have you actual evidence to show that parents who clamp down have children who perform less well at a level or gcse? Because my very anecdotal evidence suggests the exact opposite for bright but lazy kids😀

My dd did a lot more than that. I think you really have to but the work in if they are capable of good results.

My dd is going into Y11 next year. If she did 2 hours a day Mon-Thu then 3 hours on either Saturday/Sunday then I’d be really happy happy. However, my dd is motivated and independent so those expectations are high. For less motivated students, I think keeping on top of all homework (including assessment/mocks preparation) would be a good goal.

Nowhere near as much as that. YABU, never mind your son's prison warden father.

There is nothing to be gained from being confined to barracks every evening and weekend, other than complete overload by Christmas.

I also think 2.5 hours a night is a lot. Just asked DD (who did GCSEs in 2017) and she says just do your HW until you get to mocks (in Jan at her school). HW on its own should surely be about 10 items a week (= 10 subjects) and maybe 30 mins or 1 hour max per subject. I taught MFL and if all my yr 11s spent half an hour a week on HW (eg vocab revision or a writing exercise) I would be happy with that.

DD did say that it might be helpful to start writing revision cards on (for example) geography case studies or Eng lit books already covered.

But honestly, 4 - 6.30 on HW, then dinner and time to relax - not going to leave any time for other activities. My younger two did lots of stuff after school - sports practice, Scouts, drama - which would not have been possible with that kind of schedule. They both did really well in their exams btw.

Too much pressure is not helpful IMHO - and a set "HW/revision time" does not mean that a student is actually getting anything meaningful done. What does your DS think about all this?

I think handing in the phone can sometimes cause resentment, rather than building the trust, structure and resilience they actually need.

Tbh, if they are a typical smart but lazy child, they work really well under their own pressure. Something myself and my siblings all experienced.

I'm a secondary a school maths teacher though and do understand that between year 10 and 11 is super important, but honestly, over summer, they need that mental break. As long as they can get structure and discipline in when they return, not a huge load of revision is needed now. Stress can cause more issues

No way did mine do 2.5 hrs per night or 3 on the weekend. They were far too busy doing other things. They worked hard in school and did their HW, but that was pretty much it.

I think 2.5 hours per school night is too much tbh. I’m sure his school will be giving homework/revision so perhaps wait and see how heavy that workload is.

I also believe it should be child led and that as parents we can encourage, incentivise and facilitate but not force.

I say this as a parent of a now year 13 child so I’ve been through it recently but also as a former GCSE exams officer who has seen many children forced into unrealistic revision schedules who then burn out and fail with during GCSE or more commonly, at A level.

The children who go on to thrive after GCSE were not hand held too tightly through them.