Any schools not give study leave in year 11 for GCSEs??

[studyleavegcse]

Our school have just announced the kids have to continue at school for lessons until the end of May in between their GCSE exams which start on 3rd May. We are in England. I have never heard of this before at any local school and definitely not at this school. Last year study leave started the week before GCSEs started.

Different students will be in each lesson as they have exams on different days and some will have exams on the official leaving day.

Is this just our school or a regular thing or a new government policy?

It’s pretty standard now. I think most schools consider that students will get more revision done and be safer in school with supervision.

Depends on the school round here.

The better ones don't give study leave.

My child had no study leave officially it was ridiculous expecting them to
go to “study lessons” around their exams. With kids messing around, o teachers half the time just being baby sat in a classroom! Fine if you have a child who needs that but mine was happier working at home. Parents tried to argue against it instead they threatened those with low attendance they couldn’t go to the prom. It wasn’t great, I allowed her to stay home a couple of mornings before a pm exam as that was the right thing for her.

For a few years now my school has done study leave on a you need to apply for it basis.

So students who they think won't do any work at home don't get it.

You need to demonstrate you can work independently at home to get it.

DC had to attend school until May half term in 2016 and 2018. Pretty standard here. DS was also supposed to attend until half term when doing A levels too, though he definitely worked better independently at home.

Only the shit schools do study leave around here tbh.

Surely if you are achieving 9s in mocks a school with low results and mixed ability teaching you have already demonstrated you can self study.

My eldest didn't get any study leave for GCSE's or A levels! For him it's a blessing as he does no study/revision outside school hours so dread to think how he'd do if left to his own devices but I know plenty of kids and parents are up in arms about it (especially for sixth form when many are more self-motivated!)

This has been the norm for some years now. Year 11 are of compulsory school age until the last Friday in June and it is normal for daily attendance to be expected at least up to May half term. Government advice is that study leave should be ‘used sparingly’.

At the other end of the scale, the large private school in our town boots y11 out on ‘study leave’ just after Easter. They still charge parents a full year of fees

Dd is in year 12 in the 6th Form. She didn't have any study leave. She also got a school leavers job in macdonald's and wasn't allowed to start work until her exams were officially finished. I was pleased with both these things.

@Octavia64 that seems much more sensible than a blanket ban.

If you are achieving 9 in mocks in a school with low overall attainment then tbh I’d want those assessments corroborated by teachers who see a lot of grade 9s.

Surely those who dont want to revise will just mess around and stop those who want to learn revising same as in lessons now. Will they even have the teaching staff to cover all lessons? Are none of the teachers involved in the exams?

No. Teachers aren’t allowed anywhere near the public exams for fear of malpractice. They are supervised by invigilators.

what would the teachers normally be doing because this means 4 more weeks of work for them

We continue to teach our lessons until the final exam in our subject. After that if we are lucky we can use the gained time when we would have taught exam groups to plan and prepare for the following year.

Thanksithaspockets - I am well aware that marking may well be inaccurate in mocks/school reports optimistic if they are not used to high grades but I know that effective self study gives her the best chance to achieve 9s as students dont want to learn and classes are mixed ability.

thanksithaspockets - Sorry what I mean is if in all previous years teachers stop teaching yr 11 at end of april at our school they presumably are used to having that time for prep for next year or school reports of something useful. They surely wont be happy to have lost all that time this year and be keen to teach reluctant learners for longer.

I can only speak for myself and the teachers I know, and say that we care very much about our students getting the best outcomes, and we know that our teaching is the best way to achieve this, so we actively want to teach up to our exams. Very disruptive students are sometimes sent on ‘early study leave’ to protect the ones who want to study. I can’t say whether this applies at your child’s school.

I have one in year 11 and have heard nothing about study leave so presume there is none. I’m sure my daughter had study leave 2 years ago but only once the exams had started. She’s doing her A levels this year (I timed that well) and haven’t heard If she has study leave either actually.

Ds1 (year 13) didn't get study leave in year 11. Ds2 (year 11) I imagine will be the same although we haven't officially been told yet.

I am happy to say that I have never met a teacher who thinks that writing reports is a better use of their time than teaching their exam group.

thanksithaspockets - Sorry what I mean is if in all previous years teachers stop teaching yr 11 at end of april at our school they presumably are used to having that time for prep for next year or school reports of something useful. They surely wont be happy to have lost all that time this year and be keen to teach reluctant learners for longer.

You surely don't think schools make decisions on the basis of what will make teachers happy? Most schools gave up on long study leave years ago, because statistics show that keeping Year 11 in school longer gives better exam results. It's irrelevant that some students will revise well at home if the majority won't.

Study leave hammers school attendance. I don't know if it's still the case but a massive drop in attendance could trigger an Ofsted visit. It's not the schools fault- their hands are tied.

Please dont think i am being critical of teachers, that is certainly not the case. Unfortunately in mixed ability classes where the focus is on ensuring some of the students get a 4 then revision teaching is not that helpful for DD who is motivated.

The frustration is as much because revision is not targeted/appropriate and that this change was totally unexpected as last years students started study leave at the end of April so DD is mentally prepared for this.