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Original poster

How much revision should kids be doing for their gcse mocks ?

28 replies

Cokeacola · 26/02/2023 08:09

In terms of hours or what ?

dd who can get quite anxious about it all, feels like she’s not doing enough
and I’ve noticed she really not doing much at all
i don’t want to make her anxiety worse but I’m unsure how how much she should actually be doing

OP posts:
MirabelMax · 26/02/2023 08:12

If she's anxious but not doing much I would focus on quality not quantity. Help her get a little organised with it, does she need a timetable? Do school do any sessions? There are lots of different methods and some suit different kids better so try and find out a bit more about what she's doing.

Original poster
Cokeacola · 26/02/2023 08:13

I will chat to her today
yes she would benefit from some sort of plan or time table
I just don’t know how much to put on it

OP posts:
00100001 · 26/02/2023 08:14

Zero or more.

Depends on the child.

Give her a past paper to do and see how she gets on, that might guide her revision as it will show any gaps in knowledge.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

Children's health General health
00100001 · 26/02/2023 08:17

Cokeacola · 26/02/2023 08:13

I will chat to her today
yes she would benefit from some sort of plan or time table
I just don’t know how much to put on it

If only there was a place she could visit that had an ample supply of adults that might be able to advise her on how much revision to do... Somewhere she could go most days and have people who are also helping other children her age... Where they have also helped hundreds of kids before and might be able to advise

Hmmmmm.... I think it's something like..skooot...skoooor.. schoooooo

Get her to ask her teachers. You don't need to be making revision plans for her, that's her responsibility, with your support.

MirabelMax · 26/02/2023 08:18

Yes, past papers are really helpful. The school should have given some guidance on what they need to revise too.

I reassured my kids that mocks are important in terms of practice more than the mark itself, its an opportunity to see where they are and what might need improving on.

00100001 · 26/02/2023 08:22

Mocks are only there to practice being in an exam. How to work silently, the procedures, learn essay timing. They will also help her highlight gaps in knowledge etc.

The marks will be given out, yes, but won't count for a single thing. They won't be considered for anything, including predicted grades, or if she misses the real exam they won't be used for results etc

She shouldn't be putting this much pressure on herself.

Original poster
Cokeacola · 26/02/2023 08:38

yeahbshe does get the mocks don’t mean anything but she seems to think she’s not doing in general
i will ask her today when I chat with her
what have the school advised
how much do they say you need it be doing

she seems to be feeling a bit low at and maybe overwhelmed
and she’s not spending that much time with friends
and she siad yesterday she worried her friends don’t like her
when she’s had counselling in the past one of her worries was worry if she’s fundemeantlly unlikeable
but she’s the loveliest girl and very likeable

OP posts:
MirabelMax · 26/02/2023 08:43

Oh bless her. Definitely encourage her to speak to a teacher she trusts or offer to do it on her behalf. It sounds like she has a lot of other stuff going on. Maybe it's worth looking at counselling for her again? The last years of school are tough and there's no point worrying about revision if her mental health is poor.

TeenDivided · 26/02/2023 08:44

This seems somewhat late for mocks? At this point, it isn't so much about revising for mocks as revising for the real exams. They are less than 100 days away.

The answer is as much as she can reasonably cope with, whether that is 30 mins every evening or 2 hours every evening.

Original poster
Cokeacola · 26/02/2023 08:47

Yes maybe it’s more about being worried about the actual exams
she seems to be finding things tough atm
yesterday she didn’t do much at all except go for a walk with a friend for like 45 mins maybe an hour
She did a lot of reading tho m she loves to read

OP posts:
bloomsburyavenue · 26/02/2023 08:57

Definitely as much as possible from now on, probably an hour or two each evening and more at the weekend. There’s a surprising amount to get through for each subject and not long to go now before the actual exams start.

AliMonkey · 26/02/2023 08:59

Their mental health is really important at this stage. For DD, this was best served by her doing lots of work so she felt in control. So she worked hard throughout the year then from about 6 weeks before exams she did 2-3 hours a night after school, 4-5 a day at weekends and 5-6 whilst on study leave. All without any prompting from us - indeed I encouraged her to take more breaks. And she got great results in every exam.

DS needed a different approach. He did the minimum required during the year so had more to learn for the exams but he couldn’t concentrate for long periods of work but got really anxious about not knowing anything and convinced himself he was going to fail. For him, it was about lots of short bursts, us testing him to help, suggesting practice questions etc, with lots of relaxation in between. So probably more like an hour after school, 2 hours at weekends. Won’t do as well but expecting reasonable results.

And agree with a PP that it’s now close enough to the real thing that mocks now are about both getting used to sitting exams and learning stuff for the real thing.

lljkk · 26/02/2023 09:02

Maybe help her make up a schedule.
1 hour/day on average would be enough imho, in addition to keeping up with assignments.
fwiw, I've had kids (adults now) who did: nothing; exhausted themselves with too much revision; did nothing but used mock results to decide what to actually study b4 final exam. They all have similar intelligence & all got similar results (ok the "study until I cry" kid did better, but not wildly so).

Original poster
Cokeacola · 26/02/2023 09:05

Thanks so much. For taking your time to chat to me about it
dh says he’s not worried about it and that it’s just normal teenage angst
i don’t think he gets the emotions as much
like if she’s feeling unlikeable that seems to be awful to me

OP posts:
Original poster
Cokeacola · 26/02/2023 09:06

I did think I should plan a few things with her like a few trips out to make her smile

OP posts:
Original poster
Cokeacola · 26/02/2023 09:07

She’s been a bit stroppy towards her younger sibling too
Which also makes me think she’s struggling

OP posts:
JettersonStokes · 26/02/2023 09:17

At this stage she should have finished the content for pretty much all of her subjects so a great test would be past papers. She can access them online and have the paper and the mark scheme open and maybe do one question at a time to compare her answer with the mark scheme. For things like science there are certain key words they are looking for.

A paper is around 90 mins to 1 hour 45 so she can tackle them one at a time. This isn't about the time spent doing something but how effective it is. Seneca will test her knowledge for science, does she know dates for say History or Geography, quotes for English Literature the books and the poetry? Can you help test her? Help her cement her knowledge.

What grades is she predicted? Is there anything in particular she needs to work on to improve the grade? Is her post-16 choice A levels? Btecs? Does she need certain grades to get into the college or sixth form she wants?

Choconut · 26/02/2023 09:33

If she enjoys reading and you can afford it then I'd recommend the CGP books for her subjects. The lay out and way they explain things is great and she can read through them to revise. They may have some in the school library. There are also some great youtube videos she could watch, Primrose kitten has science ones, Mr Salles has English ones, she can search up 'maths AQA GCSE' (or whatever board she is doing) and they will have people going through the whole course in a couple of hours. The physics and maths tutor website is really good (and does more than just physics and maths).

I think at GCSE it can be quite overwhelming because there are so many subjects that you just don't know where to start so I would help her with planning her time. DS did about an hour after school (if no homework) and then an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon at the weekend. These would then be split into half hours ie half an hour reading CGP book for History, then half an hour watching part of a youtube video covering all of GCSE maths.

Original poster
Cokeacola · 26/02/2023 09:43

She only needs to get 5 passes so 4 to go into sixth form
and she predicted 7 and 8s
so she should be fine
so I don t know it’s just anxiety or what

OP posts:
Original poster
Cokeacola · 26/02/2023 09:45

Told her we are more than happy to buy her any books or equipment she needs
she does print off past paper etc using the printer

OP posts:
TheTurn0fTheScrew · 26/02/2023 09:55

possibly a controversial view, but if she's worked diligently across Year 10 and 11 then hours and hours of revision isn't needed. The mocks are useful for highlighting which topics they're really solid on, and which should be the focus for future revision. I have a year 11 kid who is not revising nightly, but fitting in a hour or so a few night each week. None at weekends.

there absolutely will be kids doing hours and hours but honestly I think there's a point of diminishing returns, both in terms of academia and general wellbeing.

Oh, and do pop over to the GCSE support thread - we're all in the same boat.

DancingDaughter50 · 26/02/2023 09:57

It is overwhelming these are big exams and the first ones.

Help her.

Past paper is a great idea so you can gage where she is with it.
Then help her plan, does she like revision cards?

How does she Remeber things?

Wishihadanalgorithm · 26/02/2023 10:10

Mocks are really useful as they help the students to begin their revision - we had mocks in December and last week1. We do two lots as it ensures pupils revise at least twice and can guide them for future revision. It also presents them leaving it all to the last minute.

For GCSE, I would say get homework completed each evening and then bring in some revision (about an hour - 30 mins for one subject and 30 mins for another). This is assuming your DD Is home form school by 4.00pm. Add more at the weekend.

Thing is, each child is different, so it really would benefit your DD to speak with their form tutor, subject teachers of HOY.

I Would expect the school to have given DD a how to revise guide by now anyway.

Trainham · 26/02/2023 10:22

Was my son's idea. He wanted revision party so a group of friends came to myhouse.they all sat round a table talking about their subject .asking each other to explain this that and the other and asking for explanations when not understanding something.
Not all of them did all of the subjects but still lots of discussion going on. When dinner was ready I had to drag them away to eat. I was sceptical it wouldn't work and had said no X box etc but they just got on with it.all parents were impressed with how it went.. it was repeated when they did their exams .

QueenMabs · 26/02/2023 13:13

Does she have more mock coming up. Revision for those and doing them is revision for the final exam.

Does she know the key content on all of the paper and what Papers she is sitting and when? Does she know her strengths and weakness on each paper.

Eg. Complement 1 English language reading is fine (don't skip last question time plan)
Writing is ok need to plan answers for several scenarios

English lit: ACC is fine but need to do quotes For anthology poetry and Macbeth.

Geography p1 need to revise rivers as did worse on that in mock and glaciation but not tectonics. Need fact for hot case study

I think this is the most important think now.

I did a revision lesson in class and ask the students to do 5 mins prep activity and 10 minutes to write and answer and the just flew. It was heartening to see they can just do it now.

So write a list of all subjects and exams and then strengths and weakness. Timing is crucial for l exams. So many miss the last question in the subjects I teach. Once she's done an audit the an hour each night 5 times a week is fine until May? That with no home work. If she is still set homework ditch the revson as all homework now should be revision.