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?

For a levels on a weekend I literally studied 8-6. On school It's the hardest, most time intensive. After a levels I thought a degree was easier.

@moveoverye You wouldn’t have been able to do drama A level at my school as wasn’t considered academic enough. My nephew is doing it and his written paper is only 40% of the marks. 30% is a created piece of theatre submitted well in advance of the exams, and the other 30% is live performance. So it’s not like doing 3 essay subjects. In fact he’s doing it because while very bright he struggles with academics due to ADHD.

That’s interesting but I’m not sure what your point is? I readily acknowledge that I probably did less revision than my classmates doing STEM.

My Drama A Level didn’t stop me getting a 1st Class English Literature degree from Durham, so I don’t suppose my essay writing skills suffered too much.

One thing to bear in mind about the current Y13 is that they didn't sit GCSEs and had a massively disrupted KS4. Many of them came into sixth form with huge gaps in their GCSE level knowledge, which means teachers have to go through the course more slowly and leaves less time for revision at the end of the course.

Many of them don't have the effective revision strategies that students in Y11 now will be developing for GCSE, and I think a lot of them still believed even up to about February that their exams weren't really going to happen.

I'm not sure it's useful to compare the current Y13 with other year groups and what they needed/didn't need to do. IMO, as teacher, I think they've had really poor preparation for their A-levels, and could do with some kind of special consideration like Y13 got last year. Don't forget, as many students take gap years, they'll be competing with students for uni places who were given advanced information. They'll be competing with students in the job market who got TAGs, which we all know were inflated.

I do think schools have to find a balance, and of course it's not a good idea to put too much pressure on students BUT equally, if schools went down the route of "don't worry, it'll all be fine", they would be letting the students down. Especially this specific cohort of students.

FWIW, our expectation at sixth form is an average of 4 hours of study outside of lesson time per subject each week. The students have 6 hours a week of contact time in school- so that's 30 hours for 3 subjects, plus travel time etc. They also have tutor sessions etc in school. So it's probably normal for them to spend about 8 hours a day on school related activities, and it's sensible to keep this up over Easter.

Yes, students need breaks- and I encourage my students to take a few days off BUT they shouldn't take the whole easter holidays, or may bank holidays, or half term off revising as it is nominally "holiday"! They will have 3-4 months away from academic work over the summer, after all!

I teach a science subject, and there is so much content to remember, and the mark schemes are incredibly picky. To get an A/A*, you really do need to be self motivated, and I know my most motivated students will be doing more than 8 hours a day. Ultimately, A-levels are competitive, and in most subjects there is no short cut around doing the work.

Simply that the workload is lighter thus less revision time was needed. It’s about 2.5 A levels. Similarly I did 4 but my 4th was music which has a performance component so I considered it as 3.5 A levels.

In fact, STEM subjects needs less revision than humanities ime.

That was to @moveoverye

Dd week has been much more relaxed.
Wake up around 10am, leisurely breakfast, a couple of hours work, lunch, countdown (something we both enjoy), a couple more hours work, dinner, then either her sport/fitness training or we do a board game/cards/something as a family, then another hour or so. She aims to sleep around midnight.

A couple of days through each week she has gone out with friends or spent the day with her grandparents, helping to entertain her cousins. She's spent time with her aunt and kept up her friendships. It's been a good balance and a lovely break from routine.

@L1ttledrummergirl

Me and DH wouldn’t be happy with the DSs following your daughter’s schedule. In our view, the time for gallivanting about is in the summer once exams are over. Now is time to get noses to grindstones.

We set an 8 hour per day baseline for the Easter holidays and both DSs stuck to/exceeded this.

If she can get 3 A*s on that, why not.

@Mirabai

In my view it is unlikely that anyone could achieve 3A*s with such limited revision.

Well, quite. 😉

But if she’s super clever and already put a lot of work in, it’s not impossible.

Again depends on person and subject.

DD haS probably done about that over the Easter holiays.she is doing maths FM biology and chemistry Alevels and wants 4 A*

I have no idea of what results she will come out with. What I do know is that she is happy, has good mental health and a wonderful approach to her life.

Having had one of ds1 friends from school die through suicide due to the stresses of expectation and pressure following covid, my dc mental health is my priority.

I also know that we took the same approach with ds1 during his A levels. As I said up thread, he is just finishing vetmed and he has a brilliant work life balance so I'm happy with our approach.

It’s very English the idea that hard work somehow might be in conflict with happiness, well-being, with a good approach to life.

That seems to be how it is now, but it wasn't always the case.