To think 8hrs of study a day is unnecessary

[sillistudi]

School newsletter says year 13s study for forthcoming a-levels should be aiming for 8 hours of study a day over the Easter holidays. Really???! Seems excessive to me! My DC are a couple years off a-levels but I can't see how that is necessary... so I'm interested, those with dc at that stage or just through it, is that level of study really needed?

I have two of my children doing A- levels (science) right now. They work a full time schedule with Sunday’s off.

Someone in Y13 could easily be at work instead of at school, and they'd be expected to hold down a full time job at that age, so 8 hours is perfectly do-able.

Whether it is necessary or not for the individual is another matter.

Mine isn’t studying nearly that much. They’ll maybe do 8hrs total. Usually they’ll sit and do last exams under exam conditions as practice.

But then they consistently work hard from day 1. They are not the sort of young person to coast along for two years and then cram the last two months to try and pull a rabbit out of the hat on exam days.

Their Uni offers are all well below what they currently have gotten on their mocks so they’re not stressed about the exams.

Yes, that was normal for me during the holidays, except I took a complete break on Sundays. It was that same our our DCs.

Some people can get amazing results without that amount of study, but seldom for science subjects. You'll find that the amount of study and results related. For my subjects (all science), I spent a lot of time doing exam type questions, rather than study.

That pattern is also what you find at Uni for the students that get 1sts, that get accepted for MSc, PhD programs, etc.

Exactly and your school exams, rightly or wrongly, can have such a huge knock on effect on your whole life. Studying hard for a few months can have an enormous payoff later in life (and an enormous downside if you do badly). I can't imagine why any parent wouldn't want their child to aim for the stars when at school. Yes I know there are exceptions - the millionaire entrepreneurs who left school at 15 - but this is a critical time that can alter the course of their lives in a major way. Why worry that they're "working too hard".

My DD took her A’Level’s in 2022. She got fantastic results and in Easter holidays and weekends she did 3-4 hours of study a day. She had a part-time job and met up with friends. I don’t think she would have coped mentally with 8 hours per day. When I took my A’Levels and finals at Uni I was much more of a crammer but really would not recommend that way of revising!

Mine did more than that all the way through study leave. At least 10 hours, with good breaks, six days a week, day 7 was the party day. Was very motivated to get best possible results, and got four A stars in STEM subjects. Was worth it for him, he was very measured and organised, enjoyed the study process, and was very mindful of exercise and good nutrition throughout. We were in a position to provide a lot of support, both practical and emotional, and I was present in the home for the duration. Wouldn't work for everyone, but child was happy and fulfilled, now adult and working in a busy and rewarding post.

I did 8 hours a day revision during the Easter holidays and half term while my parents were at work. It didn't seem expecially onerous. I still had time to see friends and relax. It was about the right amount of time to work my way through the syllabus, recap anything I had forgotten and make spider diagrams/flash cards for last minute revision. It was pretty much the only revision I did apart from a quick skim the night before the exams, if that. My revision for S level biology involved taking my textbook with me on a punting trip with friends. We tied a bottle of Pimms to it so we could float the bottle in the river to keep cool 😂

It seemed to be the norm to use the Easter holidays to revise. I don't really remember anyone doing any revision during term time, apart from practice papers set as homework, until the exams started.

My DC probably did more than 8 hours revision during the Easter holidays as they did some work in the evenings (and at weekends). TBF, they did the IB rather than A levels so their exams were in May.

I guess it depends on the student and their revision style though. Some students need a break, some prefer working steadily throughout the year, others are crammers...

I'm always shocked by the threads on MN asking how much daily revision GCSE students should be doing at Christmas filled with posters saying that their DC are doing several hours a day on top of homework during term time, and all day every weekend and every school holiday for the entire year. Even if these kids don't burn out, I always wonder how they are going to cope at university if they need to do that much work to pull off good grades.

Wow. I never worked over summer holidays and I got straight As at A-level. What the fuck is going on.

Straight As aren't enough any more for many courses. There are DC with 4 Astars.

I studied for about 8 hours on my days off for my GCSEs and a levels

Six hours I reckon.

I did 6 hrs most days over the easter break before a levels and then it was definitely 8 hrs a day study on days after ...i did 4 subject, 3 science and english and this was 35 yrs ago
my dd has been told this too and is probably managing 8 minutes !

I did A levels in the olden days (1976!) when there was even more rote learning required than now - but I agree with PPs who say they're the hardest exams they ever did (I have done 2 degrees with exams and found them relatively easy by comparison with A level).

My niece is doing hers this summer and is far too hardworking so I've already had a chat with her about planning in - and sticking to - breaks every day. She's an athlete so I've advised building in bits of exercise into the breaks (they've got 2 excellent aerobic machines in the garage, so I've suggested 15 mins on the bike or cross-trainer).

Having read this thread, I've just sent a message to my brother to remind her about this and to say that she really ought to work daytime only during this holiday - she needs the 'reward' of evenings off.

In the Easter break and after we were released for study leave, I did about 6 hours a day of revision. I would put in an extra couple of hours on the night before an exam, but that was just my paranoia.

It depends on the student!

8 hours a day is basically the same as a full time job. Or the same as a day at school plus a couple of hours homework in the evening.

For (mostly) 18 year olds. Adults.

Hardly excessive is it!

From GCSE all through A-levels to uni exams and then professional exams I used to work from 11am until 2am every single day when I wasn’t at school, probably starting after study leave commenced. I popped down for food and had the odd bath but when it was exam time I pretty much hid away. I also recorded my notes on to tape and listened to them as I went to sleep. I did occasionally have nights out during the period for a break but not many. I came out with straight As so worked for me. I have to repeat repeat repeat for me to remember it so had to just dedicate myself to it for the period and then party after. (And I can still remember the mornings after the last exam where you felt freedom!) At Easter though I probably was doing 6 hours a day trying to get everything ready for study leave. On the other hand my brother did the bare minimum and whilst he didn’t get straight A’s he got good grades for almost zero effort. Depends on the sort of person you are.

I agree. For the 2 weeks just before A levels kick off, I think 8hrs (while it seems a lot), is fine if the student is disciplined.
No need for working all night or anything, just regard as a school/college day and get down to it.

They will be the hardest exams these 18 yos have done to date, regardless of whether they go on to study for a degree.

I also found them harder than my degree. The volume rather than the depth, and (a big one) the study environment. I found it so much easier to manage my time and study when I was at uni than when I was at home.

Mine didn’t do anywhere near that. There need to be a balance between studying, sport and socialising IMO.

Relentless? It’s only the Easter holidays!

8 hours a day is no different from a school day - minus the journey.

Don’t most people work through the Easter holidays for their exams?

Yes. Our Year 13 child is doing at least this amount, sometimes more each day. Eight hours is only a standard days work in a job. It doesn’t seem excessive given that the exams are close now.

These kids didn’t sit GCSE’s because of Covid so it is their first external exams.

@BansheeofInisherin "
Straight As aren't enough any more for many courses. There are DC with 4 Astars."

the phrase comes from
The time "straight As" was the best you could do. Grade inflation has taken than to A double star or whatever but the principle is the same. Straight As now is probably equivalent to 3 Cs back in the day

I didn’t do anything like that amount of revision, and still got into medical school.
If one has been paying attention in classes and has a good memory, it really doesn’t take 8 hours a day to rub it up for the exams. Further, our chemistry paper in those days was based on chemicals we hadn’t studied, to see if we could apply principles, followed by a practical, so revision would have been of limited use.