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?

Hell yeah.

In China we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.

I am guessing your son achieved more than "reasonable grades" to be in vetmed school.

He achieved what he needed to do the course. He didn't study for 8 hours a day through the holidays though, it would have caused too much stress and been detrimental to his mental health. Young people need balance.

I agree. Maybe it is the use of the word reasonable that I don't get as the 3 As he would have required are more than that to me. I appreciate you did not say they were reasonable.
Everyone is different of course. To me it is aiming for the top potential a person can get and the intent to do so. Don't settle for less. It is a very short time in a young person's life but one that can dramatically affect their immediate future.

8 hrs to study. 8 hrs to sleep. 8 hrs to hang with friends, go to the gym, watch TV. Seems ok to me.

Dh is looking at this and says he probably studied 17 hours a day at this stage. I wasn't far behind by the time we got to uni. We are immigrants from a developing country, so we had no safety net. No one would have hired us without top grades. No one will hire DS either without those.

Yes, this is what I mean about being flippant about it :)

We are from working class backgrounds ourselves and my DS's are first generation University students. They are bright so I know they can manage uni but better grades mean better chances to attend Universities with higher chance of employment after (I know - I work at a redbrick Uni that has very high employment rates post graduation)
Some young people struggle with exams... my 18yo didn't even sit proper exams till his A levels as covid totalled his GCSEs. He was performing so well in classes but exams are different so he had to spend a lot of time preparing. 8 hours a day spent doing structured revision is well worth the results.
Not saying study and do nothing else - he spent a lot of time with friends, relaxing and sleeping but his time studying was what got him where he is today and I know he doesn't regret it.
It is a balance and really scary that these are the most important years of their lives - none of us can know how to decisions they make will play out but we can only hope it turns out right, know that we tried our best and be there when they need us

As a teacher I can tell you that A-levels (especially in things like maths, science etc) are a huge step up from GCSE, much bigger than the jump from A-level to degree. They need to treat it like a full time job in the holidays. So yes have days off, lunch breaks, evenings etc but they need to get their heads down. 8 hours a day is a working day. Really they spend 7 hours a day at school and should be doing a couple of hours of revision a day after school so pretty similar. Remember that this is at this time of year when exams are a couple of weeks away. They are also about to embark on a very long summer if they are going on to uni, plenty of time for fun then!
Maybe I am partly bitter about it today though as teacher husband has gone to work for the day to do revision with his A level students, leaving me, toddler and newborn alone and they all decided at last minute they couldn’t be bothered and only one turned up!!

At a recent parents' meeting on GCSEs, my child's school said the Yr 11 kids should be doing 35 hours a week during the Easter "break". I think that's completely excessive and am not encouraging my daughter to do that much.

And yet we hear in the media business leaders complaining that younger generations are unprepared for the world of work, don't want to do a full day's graft, that they want random 'mental health days', etc.

Reading this thread makes me think they might actually have a point! Not so long ago a large proportion of 16/17/18 year olds would have left school and started their first full-time job.

Every year 11 and year 13 student should be doing at least 8 hours of revision a day at this stage if they’re serious about getting the best grades they’re capable of. Tbh ds1 has been doing 10 hours most days- he sees it as an opportunity to push himself to work as hard as we can.

There are far too many excuses on here from parents encouraging laziness. We have ingrained in DS and our other DC from a young age that they need to work and study hard. They are expected to achieve the best grades they are capable of- whether that is all A*s or Cs.

DS works hard at everything he does- sport and volunteering as well as studying. However, now is the time to prioritise studying and the vast majority of time should be spent on this.

My 3 consistently worked hard throughout their A level courses and had already done a good amount of revision for mocks, so 4-6 hrs a day in Easter holidays was fine for them. I think it's more important for parents to focus on helping them to revise effectively rather than expecting them to work for a set amount of time, as that can just lead to them sitting in front of the laptop or colour coding notes.

By A levels students shouldn’t need parents’ help to revise. And revision time is not about parental expectation but about effective, comprehensive work.

@BethDuttonsTwin

I don’t think it’s smug to praise DC who are working hard. DS1 is in year 13 and has been studying at least 10 hours a day over the Easter holiday, with less revision one day per week.

All of his friends are doing a similar amount. They know that they are in a vital few weeks that will determine their A level grades and future opportunities. Clearly that level of work is not sustainable long term but it is certainly not harmful for an intense period before exams.

DS2 in year 11 has been doing 8 or 9 hours a day.

In my view any year 11 or 13 not doing close to this amount of revision is not working hard enough.

Do you mind me asking where they’re finding these “few hours every day” on top of a normal school day? Presumably after school there’s a family meal time and a chance for down time or socialising before bed?

At my school we had 2-3 hours homework a night. Time for family meal not much time for socialising on a school night.

This!

But equally this is why is annoys me that years later people seem to begrudge those who got top grades and went into well paid jobs.

This so what is takes to get all A*s in A-Levels etc...

This! It's really not that bad

I didn’t. I probably did 4 hours or so on a good day. But I expect it depends on your subjects. I did English History and Drama. No doubt the Chemistry students were doing more than me!

Absolutely unnecessary as anyone studying that much won't be optimising revision techniques. Studies have shown that active recall with spaced repetition is far better than constantly recalling information.

Active recall - basically questions to the topics instead of reading books/passive studying.

Spaced repetition - increasing the time between recalling information. Used correctly it increases how long you ca retain the information.

Studying 8 hours a day is just constantly recalling information. Theyre far more likely to forget what they've learnt quicker than using optimised revision. Revising properly they shouldn't need to spend that much time revision and have better recall.

It’s not 8 hours free time really is it though.

8 hours of sleep probably becomes 9 hours if they take half an hour to drop off and to get up in the morning. Take away another hour for shower and breakfast. Another at lunchtime for eating, esp if they help prepare / wash up. Another in the evening for dinner. Half an hour in the evening getting ready for bed, and half an hour elsewhere in the day just for little things that crop up.

So it’s actually more like 3 hours free time. Which is enough for a walk or to read a book or watch TV, or pop to the shops, but not really to take a trip out to do anything fun or different, which I think is such a shame. Young people are only young once, they shouldn’t have to be sacrificing their holidays to this extreme, they should be out enjoying themselves.

I don’t think we are teaching our children what a healthy work-life balance looks like, no wonder there are so many youngsters today suffer from stress and anxiety.

Oh and I got straight As, I’m not that bright, but I enjoyed my subjects. I think if you pay proper attention throughout the year, intense cramming is less necessary.

The most difficult time of their lives? Surely that’s a bit exaggerated… the idea of putting that amount of pressure on teens, especially when their brains aren’t fully developed until the age of 25 is just shocking. Ditto GCSEs. Education can be obtained at any stage of life . We don’t serve our young people well by making them think their A levels are life or death. No wonder there are such high rates of anxiety and depression among teens.
mans FWIW, the most difficult time of my life we’re family bereavements, my child falling seriously ill, dealing with adult life stressors. A levels doesn’t even hit the top ten of “difficult times”

@moveoverye

A level and GCSE students shouldn’t be gallivanting about in the few weeks before their exams. This is the time to really focus on serious study and revision.

Obviously it is important to have some balance and walks are good, but DC also shouldn’t be spending time gaming or on social media. DS has done at least 10 hours’ revision every day over Easter and still has time for balance. This has been his schedule:

6.30am- wake up and breakfast
7am- walk/gym
8am- 5 one hour revision sessions with breaks
1.30pm- lunch
2pm- 4 one hour revision sessions with breaks
6.30pm- dinner
7pm- last one hour revision session
8pm- TV/relaxation time
10pm- bed

Yes, it is intense but it is possible to have balance with self-discipline. For example, both DSs have handed in their phone until after exams to avoid wasting time.

😳
What can I say, I really hope they get the grades they want and that looking back it all will have been worth it.

Personally I’m more of a ‘seize the day’ and live in the moment sort of person, but if this works for your sons all power to them.

Agree. I've got a degree, a Masters and a PGCE and A Level History and Eng Lit were the hardest exams/courses I've ever taken. One of my EL exams was 3.5hrs long!