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Original poster

GCSE day off

127 replies

Mardymaryyou · 09/06/2025 06:11

Ds is into last week of gcse. Thurs will be the day before a science exam on Fri. Last exam on Mon is also science. He has no exam Thurs but the school have kept them in throughout the exam period to "revise". However the revision is not structured it's just revise what subject you like. No he probably won't revise if at home and I'm at work, but I kind of feel like letting him stay home anyway. The school have given them no study leave and they've had to stay in school after every exam. I feel like this late, he isn't going to learn much more anyway and what will be will be. What's everyone else doing in this situation as I know it's not just our school who has adopted this view of study leave? On the other hand he finishes altogether Monday so maybe I just make him go Thurs. Apparently no one else is going in.

OP posts:
PrincessOfPreschool · 09/06/2025 06:49

Ours are sent home this week if there is no more structured revision for them. I doubt he'll be the only one if you keep him home on Thur! However, they do still have Physics P2 on Monday, which ain't easy! So if school are doing any teacher-led revision for that, I would grab it.

TheDogDecides · 09/06/2025 06:50

In your situation, if he’ll do no revision at home, I’d send him in as he might do some at least with teachers around to supervise, or he might pick something up from friends. He’ll be off from Tuesday anyway so hardly mean. Why isn’t he revising though? My child has Biology today and then she’ll be revising for Maths, Chemistry and Physics, there is still time to learn. It’s stupid to just stop before exams are finished.

MyRootinTootinBaby · 09/06/2025 06:50

If he’s not going to revise at home, I’d send him in. It’s one day of doing some work before they leave.

TheaBrandt1 · 09/06/2025 06:51

Sounds oddly rigid. Our school it’s up to them now whether to go in / stay for revision sessions. Some revision sessions have been brilliant some a frustrating waste of time.

Thelosthalfathought · 09/06/2025 06:51

Ours are still in - last day Thursday - celebratory assembly planned, shirt signing and pizzas.

My department will have booster sessions for fridays exam thursday afternoon. Its the middle sets who have mostly been attending as they know they want to revise but wont at home.

A large number have been going home from exams with headaches…..

TheaBrandt1 · 09/06/2025 06:52

Both mine very hard workers though so not an issue of skiving.

TheDogDecides · 09/06/2025 06:53

Also, the school sounds shit if they haven’t had structured revision sessions. Our school aren’t always great, but they have been really good over exam period doing targeted revision.

Easyonaweekend · 09/06/2025 06:55

However the revision is not structured it's just revise what subject you like. No he probably won't revise if at home and I'm at work,

He is 16
does revision really need to be “structured” for him in order for him to do it?!

UndermyShoeJoe · 09/06/2025 06:56

Our can start study’s leave Thursday which seems pointless as like your child he has a Friday and Monday science exam and then his done.

They are not even revising unless they want during school hours. He had a nap last week. Don’t get me wrong they have put on extra breakfast study before school as well but I do get the feeling it’s very much let them do as they please which could help remove some stress I guess.

Some local schools started study leave before the half term no consistency.

RhaenysRocks · 09/06/2025 06:58

Zanatdy · 09/06/2025 06:16

Yeah i’d just let him have the day off, but depends how much you think he needs that extra day of revision. I pulled DD out of school a month before the exams. She has some ongoing health issues and hated revising in school. She got 11 x grade 9’s so it didn’t make any difference missing a month at school. But she did so much revision at home, way more structured than in school so I had no issues doing this. Seems mean the school didn’t let them finish Friday before half term like most schools.

FFS "Mean"? Yeah that's why schools do it, just to really stick it to em 🙄. Schools decide this based on their average cohort. If they decide that their students will achieve better grades for their future lives by staying in, that's what the school does. Do you think the teachers are overjoyed that they aren't gaining a few extra frees from May to plan for September? Do you think they're delighted to be overseeing surly and unwilling teens who want to be anywhere else? Or who are now, at the eleventh hour suddenly demanding they are spoonfed the entire syllabus?
How about we trust that teachers are professionals who make decisions based on expertise and decades of experience? If you choose to keep your individual child off because you know them best and know they'll do more at home, that's your call but for the love of God don't say it's because schools are just bring mean for the hell of it. 😡

WhereHasMyPlanetGone · 09/06/2025 07:00

UndermyShoeJoe · 09/06/2025 06:56

Our can start study’s leave Thursday which seems pointless as like your child he has a Friday and Monday science exam and then his done.

They are not even revising unless they want during school hours. He had a nap last week. Don’t get me wrong they have put on extra breakfast study before school as well but I do get the feeling it’s very much let them do as they please which could help remove some stress I guess.

Some local schools started study leave before the half term no consistency.

Each school will be making their own individual decisions on how to manage this period for their students, so there isn’t likely to be any consistency. They don’t confer with each other.

Zanatdy · 09/06/2025 07:02

RhaenysRocks · 09/06/2025 06:58

FFS "Mean"? Yeah that's why schools do it, just to really stick it to em 🙄. Schools decide this based on their average cohort. If they decide that their students will achieve better grades for their future lives by staying in, that's what the school does. Do you think the teachers are overjoyed that they aren't gaining a few extra frees from May to plan for September? Do you think they're delighted to be overseeing surly and unwilling teens who want to be anywhere else? Or who are now, at the eleventh hour suddenly demanding they are spoonfed the entire syllabus?
How about we trust that teachers are professionals who make decisions based on expertise and decades of experience? If you choose to keep your individual child off because you know them best and know they'll do more at home, that's your call but for the love of God don't say it's because schools are just bring mean for the hell of it. 😡

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Jeez, feel better getting all that out? Keeping kids in school after and before exams is mean in my opinion. Yes keep them until May half term, but let them go home after their exam. It’s draining, my daughter had 25 exams. She wouldn’t have got through it if she then had to go to lessons after an exam. The vast majority of schools finish at the May half term and don’t drag kids in every day when they are doing exams. In my opinion that is mean. My opinion, which i’m entitled to have. Most parents whose kids are having to do it will agree.

MyRootinTootinBaby · 09/06/2025 07:05

My kids’ school tried to put them in study leave and I complained, I’d much rather have them in school with staff in front of them to help them revise or address any misconceptions, than allow them to lig about the house having a lie in and playing computer games.

springbl0ssoms · 09/06/2025 07:06

I feel like this late, he isn't going to learn much more anyway and what will be will be.

Exams aren't really about what you have learnt, they are about how much you can memorise. I never revised more than a day or two before each of my GCSEs or A levels. Spent those last couple of days memorising as much as I could, churned it all out in the exams and forgot it all pretty much immediately afterwards. If he's not going to revise at home then I would definitely send him in. It could make all the difference to his grades.

Easyonaweekend · 09/06/2025 07:07

A full day of revision and you don’t think he’ll learn a lot?

TheDogDecides · 09/06/2025 07:07

My friend is a teacher and says the reason for no study leave at her school is that when they allowed it, as well as results being worse, lots of kids just didn’t turn up for some exams. When they just say everyone is in, they are more likely to turn up like for a normal day at school, and are at least there to sit them. It blows my mind and makes me wonder what is going on in some families.Some parents certainly don’t take exams seriously and that doesn’t help the kids attitude.

Motherofacertainage · 09/06/2025 07:08

If a child wants to revise they will revise either at home or in school. If they don't, even if they go in. they will just waste the time with their mates. At this stage I would leave it up to the student. Where will they concentrate and revise best? Mine preferred to be at home at the later stages as there were kids messing about and distracting them in revision lessons at school but they were capable of organising themselves and staying focussed. Forced revision in school rarely works well imho as the kids who don't want to be there disrupt those who do so the teachers will thank parents who keep their kids off! There will literally be no push back from school if you phone them in as sick or stressed if that's what you are concerned about.

RhaenysRocks · 09/06/2025 07:10

@Zanatdy ok so in your opinion why are teachers doing it? What's our rationale? Whats said in the staff meeting when this is discussed? "Well Jason in 11f has really pissed me off this year so let's keep the little shit in?" Do you not think it's because they've worked their arses off pushing boulders uphill for two years and are really bloody keen to see Jason actually make it over top so are pulling out all the stops? Or maybe, as the pp above, they get parental complaints of they don't. There are good reasons for both approaches but meanness and spite is not one of them...that's what pisses me off. In few other jobs are professionals accused of this sort of motivation for doing unpopular things.

Zanatdy · 09/06/2025 07:15

RhaenysRocks · 09/06/2025 07:10

@Zanatdy ok so in your opinion why are teachers doing it? What's our rationale? Whats said in the staff meeting when this is discussed? "Well Jason in 11f has really pissed me off this year so let's keep the little shit in?" Do you not think it's because they've worked their arses off pushing boulders uphill for two years and are really bloody keen to see Jason actually make it over top so are pulling out all the stops? Or maybe, as the pp above, they get parental complaints of they don't. There are good reasons for both approaches but meanness and spite is not one of them...that's what pisses me off. In few other jobs are professionals accused of this sort of motivation for doing unpopular things.

Schools can do what they like, and parents can also do what they like, and I am entitled to think it is a bit mean making kids stay in school all day throughout exam season. My DD wouldn’t have made it to the end of the exams if she had to do this. It’s my opinion. Others can clearly think differently about it. I am thinking of my own child and how stressed she was during exam season and this approach would have caused more harm than good for her. Plenty of professions have negativity around them, my God my place of work gets far more negativity than teaching, and so do many others. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

CatHairEveryWhereNow · 09/06/2025 07:15

I've let DD2 start to go in just when she's got relevant lessons though there's no teaching now or teacher led revision she still wants to go to most of them.

Difference is she will revise at home - and not so sure in remaining lessons seem to be some game playing and loudness or despite eveyone meant to be in no-one is so they are shoved into other locations with who left and it feels disruptive to her.

School claiming that all the local schools have no study leave and everyone needs to be in till last exam but there a list to get on to come home after exams and DD2 is now on that.

justgoandgetpizza · 09/06/2025 07:18

WhereHasMyPlanetGone · 09/06/2025 06:44

The OP said he won’t revise at home on his own.

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Realistically, will he revise at school then? Because I don’t think they are having science lessons all day; they have their ‘normal’ lessons in which they are supposed to revise for science (but don’t!)

Unexpecteddrivinginstructor · 09/06/2025 07:18

It's a shame he won't do any revision at home. Do you think he is doing any revision in his lessons at school though if they are not targeted? Are they the scheduled teachers taking the lessons? Mine have all been fairly motivated to study at home so have really benefited from having study leave from the start of exams. Would he do any revision if you got someone in to help him on Thursday? Lots of uni students are now home for the summer so if you put a post on Facebook you might find someone willing to go over key concepts with him on Thursday. There are also lots of good YouTube resources which he could watch. Or something like Seneca could help him. Obviously school might let them use phones to revise in which case he could revise at school but if they don't then you could suggest he spends Thursday morning revising at home using YouTube etc and then relaxes in the afternoon.

At this stage though it is mainly his responsibility to motivate himself whether he is at home or in school.

RhaenysRocks · 09/06/2025 07:18

@Zanatdy you didn't answer my question though ..why DO you think schools are being mean? Genuinely I'd love to know what you think the conversation is about this decision a staff meeting meanness is our motivation? Do we hate the kids?

justgoandgetpizza · 09/06/2025 07:21

RhaenysRocks · 09/06/2025 07:18

@Zanatdy you didn't answer my question though ..why DO you think schools are being mean? Genuinely I'd love to know what you think the conversation is about this decision a staff meeting meanness is our motivation? Do we hate the kids?

I am not the poster but bear in mind the people making the decisions aren’t the ones actually dealing with bored, tired, stressed kids!

TheDogDecides · 09/06/2025 07:22

Zanatdy · 09/06/2025 07:15

Schools can do what they like, and parents can also do what they like, and I am entitled to think it is a bit mean making kids stay in school all day throughout exam season. My DD wouldn’t have made it to the end of the exams if she had to do this. It’s my opinion. Others can clearly think differently about it. I am thinking of my own child and how stressed she was during exam season and this approach would have caused more harm than good for her. Plenty of professions have negativity around them, my God my place of work gets far more negativity than teaching, and so do many others. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Edited
Show quote history

If the kids all cared, like it sounds your daughter does, schools probably wouldn’t do it. The issue is, there seems to be huge numbers of kids who don’t care and would hardly revise at home if left to it. Surprisingly, or maybe unsurprisingly, it’s a lot of the parents of these kids moaning about them having no study leave.

I’ve let my daughter choose if she goes in or not but I know she is revising a lot, is motivated and cares. If she wasn’t doing it at home, I’d send her in and tell my child to appreciate the teachers trying to help.