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Original poster

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

126 replies

studyleavegcse · 08/03/2024 21:29

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?

OP posts:
Toblerbone · 08/03/2024 22:18

DD's school is doing the same OP. I was a bit surprised when I heard but I think it's a good idea overall.

Foxesandsquirrels · 08/03/2024 22:23

studyleavegcse · 08/03/2024 21:41

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?

It's managed the same way lessons are though so it shouldn't make much difference.

Zwicky · 08/03/2024 22:28

They used to have it at dcs school but not for about 7/8 years now, none of my nieces and nephews have had it either.

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.

It’s a blanket, not a bespoke, policy. If your child can achieve all 9s in mocks without study leave then why do they need to be at home?

Surely those who dont want to revise will just mess around and stop those who want to learn revising same as in lessons now

The same arguement can be applied to the previous 5 years of lessons.

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Starlightstarbright3 · 08/03/2024 22:33

Reality school is for the masses .

My D’s definitely benefited from no study leave as do the majority .

schools care about results ,

Study leave may well be the better option for some but not the majority .

Original poster
studyleavegcse · 08/03/2024 22:33

I dont trust the school stating 9s on school report/marking and if Dd learns best at home and is mentally prepared for that and believes by going through every past paper and then teaching herself any topics school have not covered she feels that is best chance of a 9 even if school are optimistic. They will focus on getting everyone to a 4 in final revision lessons.

OP posts:
NewName24 · 08/03/2024 22:44

Fairly standard, and a great improvement, over what used to happen, but not really new.
My youngest is 22 and kept going to lessons until they took the exam for that subject.

sleekcat · 08/03/2024 22:56

We have study leave. But some students will be asked to come to school and others can put their names down to attend. It's independent revision though, with teachers available if needed, not lessons. My son would be better off going in as he doesn't really do anything at home, but I doubt he'll volunteer.

RampantIvy · 08/03/2024 23:10

DD is 23 and they only got study leave after mid June. She took her GCSEs in 2016. She got study leave for year 12 and year 13 exams.

The only school that I know of that starts study leave at the beginning of the GCSEs is an independent school.

DD found that she got more revision done at home TBH.

WaitingForMojo · 08/03/2024 23:22

No stidy leave here and I kept ds off anyway. I don’t know how they can possibly revise in school, I certainly couldn’t have.

Legendairy · 08/03/2024 23:56

My DSs school keep them in school till May half term, they do drop the lessons they have already taken all the exams for which gives them extra time to study.

I actually think it's a great idea. Good to have more structured revision IMO.

Mine have 3.5 weeks off for Easter so for one of the weeks they do 2 hrs in school for each subject also.

JockTamsonsBairns · 09/03/2024 00:18

studyleavegcse · 08/03/2024 22:33

I dont trust the school stating 9s on school report/marking and if Dd learns best at home and is mentally prepared for that and believes by going through every past paper and then teaching herself any topics school have not covered she feels that is best chance of a 9 even if school are optimistic. They will focus on getting everyone to a 4 in final revision lessons.

I feel a bit confused.
If your DD is a grade 9 student in her mocks, when she's not had study leave, why would she need study leave for the actual GCSEs?
She's at top grade, with still a term left of teaching surely?

RedHelenB · 09/03/2024 06:09

ThanksItHasPockets · 08/03/2024 21:39

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.

Show quote history

Why? All.teachers have access to the syllabus, mark schemes, model answers etc. You sound like a snob.

VenetiaHallisWellPosh · 09/03/2024 06:11

DD did her GCSE exams last year. No study leave. But the lessons she got were hot housing her fir the exams.

BCBird · 09/03/2024 06:13

It's pretty standard now. We vollapse the timetable and create a new one around the exams. Pupils will have top ip.lessons before an exam. If this clashes with when i would usually be teaching another class then this class is covered.

Hellocatshome · 09/03/2024 06:23

My DS's school did this last year and it was the best thing for him. They got targeted lessons on areas they needed to go over again, revision that was structured with the teacher on hand to answer questions, they went over exam technique a lot. Once that subjects exams were over those lessons were free revision periods but still in a classroom so no distractions etc. Honestly I dont think he would have passed his GCSEs if they had set him free after Easter like when I was at school.

LaWench · 09/03/2024 06:25

DDs school doesn't do study leave either, they have been doing an extra hour of revision lessons every day since Sept and revision lessons in the school holidays. They push Y11 hard and do get decent results. She's exhausted but her 3rd mock results are improved on her 2nd so it's working.

Fluffycloudsfloatinginthesky · 09/03/2024 06:25

My daughter was at school full time - before exams Some days this was until 5pm as they had daily revision sessions (optional unless a weak performer) and standard school had t finished until 4.

They were still at school full time through exams again until 4pm on some days.

I think in the last 2 weeks they said if you don't have an exam next day you can go home at lunch, that was never for her!

It was worth it, they got exam tips and hints on questions the teacher thought were likely - even last minute one of these came up in the nearly the last exam.

Some people had started skipping days by then if they had no exam and they missed out on that very important lesson!

Cat2024 · 09/03/2024 07:01

No ‘official’ study leave at my school. It’s been that way for more than 25 years. Everyone keeps going to individual lessons until the exams in that subject are complete, then there is a collapsed timetable with staff on a rota supervising groups after May half-term. Parents who prefer their DC to have study leave can write to the head and it’s normally granted for students who can work independently after the May half-term. It works out pretty well.

Slightly tangentially, I definitely don’t teach to the ‘4s’ as OP suggested might happen at her DC’s school but aim to stretch the top end as well but every school is different. Some students definitely work better at home and I completely get why they would want study leave. Some students would not work at home so our system seems a good compromise to me. Personally when I did exams more than 29 years ago, we had study leave from May and I loved it and felt it helped me. Horses for courses.

Taylormiffed · 09/03/2024 07:06

Normal teaching until May half term in schools around here. Timetabled and breakfast / after school revision lessons.

MrsHamlet · 09/03/2024 07:07

studyleavegcse · 08/03/2024 21:46

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

We will be teaching our normal classes - my subject's last exam is in the first week of June. Until then, I teach my y11 as normal. It's not "more" work. It's just work.

DarkheartsDontMatter · 09/03/2024 07:15

It seems that exam leave isn't a thing now - Dd last year was doing an hour each way school bus journey ( rural area) followed by having to pack up and move from one 'lesson' to another all day where the teachers weren't actually teaching but just getting on with other stuff while the kids did thier own revision... being constantly put off by some kids messing about!
A couple of times the day before a big exam I let her stay off and rang the school to explain my reasoning- I was at home and could see she was spending in excess of 8 hours sat at her desk revising, I realise not every kid can be trusted to do this of course...

NamelessNinja · 09/03/2024 07:15

This was the case 15 years ago when I did my GCSEs in a mixed ability comp. I'm sure it worked for some but it certainly didn't for me as a self motivated worker who needed quiet!
Resolved the issue by being 'ill' and so getting parents to ring and explain I would only be going in for exams. Would recommend the technique if you think your child would study better at home - I got all A's!

whiteroseredrose · 09/03/2024 07:18

DD did GCSEs 5 years ago. Her (Grammar) school had about 2 weeks study leave so she did a lot of revision at Easter. The local High School had revision lessons throughout the Easter holidays.

I assume most of the lessons after Easter would be revision rather than new content.

I can see your point about mixed ability classes revision classes focusing on getting lower ability students to pass rather than stretching the higher achievers. However it would be difficult to tell the top 10 they can work at home but the rest need to come in.

waterlellon · 09/03/2024 07:20

studyleavegcse · 08/03/2024 21:37

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.

And that attitude is what makes the 9 kids slip to 8

blackheartsgirl · 09/03/2024 07:31

ours doesn’t.

dd2 found it pointless being in school, kids messed around, she couldn’t concentrate. She ended up just not going in and got far more done that way