Y10- 2025/2026

DD has also been worrying about quotes (she has mocks after half term in the exam hall when there aren't GCSEs on) I keep suggesting she writes some out and sticks them up but although she thought it was a good idea, it hasn't actually happened...

I was searching for dates and discovered the provisional 2027 GCSE timetable has been published- so scary to see actual dates and think she'll be doing them. I think I'll keep this to myself until it is confirmed, she's nervy enough as it is!!

I feel your pain. I also have a DS who just will not write stuff down! 😭

Thanks, I'd seen the second but not the first.

I've just been up to ask him to please start writing some notes for revision. Every now and then I've asked him and sometimes he says he's written something, but I've seen zero evidence.

DH has given up because he just gets angry which makes DS more anxious and likely to not sit any exams at all.

I know I'm also just in a hormonal, emotional state today for no particular reason, but I just want to cry, in fact I am crying writing this. Every round of tests I think maybe this will be the time it clicks, that he gets it, but it's just completely unpredictable and I'm not a teacher, I don't know how to teach him to do this but he just can't seem to work it out himself because, I think of the ADHD and psychologically being more like a 12yo than a 14yo.

He thinks he's doing a lot of work, and he is doing some but it's not enough and he has to write stuff down.

@Echobelly you've probably spotted them already, but these two recent threads have some potentially useful suggestions:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/5511488-gcse-english-lit-how-are-they-meant-to-remember-all-the-quotes?

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/5521869-why-do-so-many-students-get-stuck-at-a-grade-4-in-english

@Echobelly I have heard that it's not uncommon to memorise an essay for the question in English Language that is based a picture (they just have to fudge the start to make it somewhat relevant to the picture and then go off on a bit of a tangent!) but I've not heard it mentioned for the literary analysis questions in Literature.

I would think it's possible to do quite a lot of memorising of key themes, and for each one memorise some quotes and examples of literary devices. That could get you a chunk of marks, I guess? I'm not a teacher though, and I, like you, found literary analysis straightforward (as does DD) so I'm not the best one for advice. Hopefully someone else will come along with ideas.

I've just read back and noticed that your DS's exams are quite spread out. All DD's are crammed into next week! There is only one exam per subject though, apart from maths.

Yes, he sometimes, but not always finds it helpful to watch films and we plan to watch at least one version of Macbeth in the next week. I just don't know how to help because I was one of those people who could just do literary analysis stuff - I could spot patterns, foreshadowing etc and I don't know how you help people who can't really, which is probably most teenagers I know. I presume a lot of kids just learn essays by rote?

I've ordered him some flash cards as I thought that might help and DH was initially 'No you should make thems yourself' but understood my point that a bird in the hand was better than flahcards that don't get made at this point!

I remember when I had to sit a course at uni that I simply did not get (philosophy of logic - I had somehow missed it was compulsory on my degree!) and I just had to try to learn the formulae off by heart. I got my worst exam mark ever, but it was still a pass and I never had to do it again, at least!

@Echobelly for English Lit, are there films available of his set texts? If so, it might be worth watching them with him, and discussing themes at the same time? Lots of people talk about Mr Salles and Mr Bruff on YouTube (I admit I have not yet looked at either) – perhaps there might be some useful summaries of key themes on those, that he could commit to memory for the exam?

DD has exam week next week. A couple of weeks ago she said, ‘I hate revision’ and we had a chat and it transpired that she wasn’t sure how to approach it – it felt quite big and vague. We then sat down together and wrote a revision timetable, with 45-min revision slots and times for meals, breaks, shower etc. The following evening, having picked some specific things to revise (eg a particular unit in Biology: do some practice questions, revise, do some more questions) and she was much happier.

I’m trying not to pressure her but to support her, as she has decided for herself that she might as well use these exams as practice for learning how best to revise for each subject and seeing how much difference the revision makes. One thing that has surprised me is how much time she needs to spend on certain units, particularly science. Stuff she seemed to understand at the time is coming back more slowly than she expected. She will definitely not have enough time to revise everything before these exams, so that will be useful learning too!

DH has done a few more 'year to go' exams... well, he froze in English language because he got hung up that the question asked how the writer 'built tension' in the extract and he couldn't identify any tension in it, so he didn't write anything. I have some hopes we can sort it because it's not an exam nerves issue.

Was happy with biology, a bit 'meh' about first maths paper today but still thinks he did better than his last maths test where he only answered half the questions and only about half of those were right. He is quite good at maths but it still recovering from moving a set back after Set 1 was too much for him.

Chemistry next week, should also be OK as a 'close question' one, but then he has English Lit and honestly I just don't know how to help him, he has so much difficult with extended writing anyway and finds it really hard to pick up and understand themes from texts (he's amazing at spotting them in films and TV but can't from written word) and there's only so much I can do in a week and a half. At least then there is half term before history and pt2 maths, and a week each between psychology and drama after that.

We've discussed rewards for grades, an elder sibling of dc1's friend got £250 per 9 at GCSE, dropping £50 per grade. That's not right for our family but I'm not sure what we will do.
There's been some talk of next years prom too, the cost of dresses sounds eye watering, dc1 isn't keen to go thankfully! We'll probably do a fun theatre trip or something that's more their thing instead.

He said it was OK and sounded fairly relaxed. He will say if he think it went badly out if he didn't manage to answer anything, so that's broadly positive!

@Echobellyhow did he think it went? Hope all good

Bit nervous - he has his first 'year to go' paper today. I think he'll be OK and he's always managed science papers on other rounds of tests even when he's wobbled in other subjects so I really hope he won't get overwhelmed and will have been able to complete a reasonable amount

It'll be hard to guess how he's done if he does sit it as he's not always good at judging how he's done. But if he can feel OK about it that is psychologically a good start at least.

He'll be back a bit late due to drama rehearsal, so we won't know until a bit later.

@Echobellywe have a financial reward system, relatively small rewards for in year exams, more for mocks and more for GCSEs and it includes deductions if he does badly. It’s set up quite sensitively and in accordance with what I think he’s capable of. It’s generally helped but he still lacks motivation in subjects he really dislikes. If you don’t want to link to final grade, can you link it to progress? Ie if he scores better in the next set of exams, than the previous ones he will get a reward? Linking it to time spent revising sounds hard, unless you’re around.

Sometimes if I am around I do this and it’s effective-tonight he really didn’t want to revise biology (exam tomorrow) and I offered him a load of screen time in return for 45 minutes revision and he did it (but was revising with me). I also find that if I break down the revision in tiny chunks it can help and seems less challenging. Up until today we’ve been doing 20 minutes biology per day in exchange for 20 minutes of screen time directly after (as you can tell, he hates biology!)

Thanks @LetItGoToRuin - I decided to ask Copilot AI about the Switch2 idea (instructing it not to be sycophantic and to spell out the out the pitfalls, especially for a kid with ADHD) and it laid out some useful suggestions. Ultimately the suggestion was that tying reward to a grade/grades would probably create more anxiety in the long run because results are still not 100% in his control, whereas effort is - so it would be better to, say, offer a reward for a certain amount of revision, which they can control.

I think a Switch2 is too big for that, but wondering about incremental rewards, but then also how ensure we know how much revision he's actually done without it being loads of work for us to monitor?

@CouldNotStayAway DD’s grammar is not part of a group of grammars or anything like that – it’s just its own thing. There’s a boys’ grammar in the same town (the schools are not linked in any way) and they motivate their students completely differently. Teachers tell them the class order for results of every test and seem to try to incite the competitive spirit all the way. DD would be crushed by such an approach!

@Echobelly DD’s school has lots of tests, but they are in-class end-of-unit tests and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of pressure.

@Echobelly I am sure I’ve read on this forum that some parents offer financial rewards for good GCSE results. In fact, a friend of a friend was told that if she passed the 11 plus she could have a pony! Go for it, if you think it will help. My aunt told me that if I got a First in my degree, she’d take me to New York. I did actually get a First, but she either didn't mean it or forgot - I am still waiting for my lovely holiday nearly 30 years later 😀

@Echobelly you say he wants to do better but he can’t work out how. There’s a lot of resources on the Internet about how to structure revision timetable and so on. Can you sit down with him and help him put together a plan, so that he knows when he is going to revise each day and also what he is going to do? Eg, on Tuesday night spend half an hour revising geography, topic: rivers, technique blurting. Then he doesn’t have to decide what he’s going to do, he just does the next thing.

DS had mocks last term in both year 9 and year 10. In the run up to both sets of exams we had an information evening at school about how to revise. They do try to get the kids to take the mocks pretty seriously. It has been useful because he’s got used to the idea of revising, he’s tried different techniques and can see which ones are working.

It's interesting what a different approach schools take to prep for GCSEs, I kind of assumed everywhere did as many bloody tests as ours did.

I'm wondering whether anyone here has had an older kid or knows of anyone who had success by basically bribing their kid to do the work and revise? eg money or something they really want for a certain result DS is so unsure of himself in most subjects and nervous of getting it wrong, and has difficulty looking ahead and seeing why and how much he needs to revise. So maybe the possibility of something he loves might be a goal he can understand and would motivate him?

Honestly I am wondering about maybe bribing him for a minimum mocks result at the end of this year? He's obsessed with Nintendo and part of me thinks he would up his game if we offered him a Switch2 for getting an (achievable but a little stretch) result at his mocks. I don't know if we'd be peaking a bit too soon to do it then, like there's a risk he might get the Switch and then lose his motivation. But it feels like at the actual GCSEs might be a bit too late and if he got to better results at mocks he'd maybe at least have learned how to revise. He does want to do better, but he can't seem to work out how. Or we could set a goal and if he doesn't get it at mocks, but does improve, we'll keep the offer open for the real thing?

DD has a weeks work experience next week and then the revision will start for the year 10 mocks which are in June after the GCSEs finish
They issue a GCSE style revision guide and there is a info evening about revision coming up in the next few weeks

@Stressystressylemonzesty "he has 6 GCSE exams this summer" - that explains it! I had forgotten you were in Wales!

@LetItGoToRuin nope, standard comprehensive in one of the most deprived areas of south wales, he has 6 GCSE exams this summer.

I could do with a really easy, intuitive online revision resource. I keep looking at things but it feels like they will take too much explaining to DS. He needs something he can work out how to use himself and will find easy to come back to.

DH keeps suggesting paper methods but I can't see DS organising that.

@Stressystressylemonzesty - after school revision in Y10😮Is it a private school?

@Echobelly - that all sounds quite full on too, especially if there are retakes for Y10 exams in September! Good luck to your DS!

DD came home yesterday saying there has still been no word from teachers about the May exams at all. Isn't it interesting to see the range of approaches between the schools?

@RunningKatie my eldest found doing past papers the best way of revising. They're usually free to access. Not saying that they should be tackling whole GCSE papers at this stage, but for example a page or two of 1 mark maths/science questions, or a single 10 mark essay question.

DC2 is not revising for end of year exams, and probably won't other than a little bit of night before revision during the exam time. This is partly because they're not a big thing and her school, and partly because she's not very studious!