How much revision is required for A level?

[SunnyKoala]

My daughter is in Y12 and does 12 hours+ of sport a week and four A levels. She will sit maths this year to allow her to concentrate on three subjects next year. She got a B for this in her mocks (just the pure papers as they haven't finished applied yet).

She has done a holiday job and her set homework this Easter and, very resentfully, some revision after I suggested that it was needed if she is going to get the A* she wants. She is quite cross with me but she hasn't really got much time for revision at all in term time as she's out for four hours most evenings with travel time included and her college is a walk and a train ride too

I do have sympathy for her. She is completely overloaded and works hard at everything she does but obviously is spread very thin. Does anyone have any experience of a child taking maths in Y12 and how they managed their revision (plus whether they managed to jump grades) please? Or even just hours done per subject for A levels done in two years?

Also has anyone managed to balance out a child who wants to do all the things without killing their ambition and spirit? I'm scared she won't achieve the results she wants and it'll destroy her self confidence.

This isn't what you asked.

I assume she is doing FM as well?
Does FM still build on Maths?
Back in the 80s maths A level felt easy because I'd been doing the FM. If it still builds i can't help thinking delaying a year would help as she'd have another years practice at even harder things under her belt. But maybe these days it is just different topics?

With maths it is practice practice practice. It doesn't sound enough from what you have said.

We advise our students the 8 hour rule.
Sped 8 hours sleeping, 8 hours studying and 8 hours doing fun stuff a day.
If she's prepping for one A-level, divide 8 by 3.

My ds is taking maths, physics and design tech a'levels in May. He's doing about 4 hrs revision a day during the Easter holiday plus attending school 7.5 hrs a day during term time and doing 2 revision each evening.

He has a weekend job that takes 6 hrs on a Saturday and sport that takes 1.5 hrs on Sunday.

He's forecast an A in DT and Bs in maths & physics.

Obviously each dc is different but it sounds like your dd is overloaded. Who decided it was a good idea to take 4 a'levels? Surely better to get three outstanding marks that four less good marks.

I have a DD in year 13 who does a lot of sport and wants to have a social life (like any teen) but also wants to do well in her exams. She had a part time job in year 12, but gave it up at the beginning of year 13 to carve out some more time.

Like pp, I am surprised that your DD is doing maths a year early. Surely she's more likely to get a better grade next year if she's doing FM?

@TeenToTwenties and @RoyalPenguin at her college they do the whole of A level maths in the first year and then the whole of FM in the second year to avoid four sets of exams in the same year. There isn't a choice about this but she would have been told to drop FM and take maths in Y13 if they thought her understanding wasn't secure. Thank you both for your experiences which are helpful.

@menopausalmare that's very clear and useful. It'll just be a case of trying to fit it around the other study and lack of study leave, etc. I think it's doable though. I'll work up the courage to discuss it with her!

@Meadowfinch that's helpful. It sounds like your son does loads too and I'll try and properly compare. She wanted to do FM and just wants to do really well in general but obviously the idea of it is really nice but the reality probably a bit different. She does miss out on social things because of the sport and gets resentful of that too (I still think she manages at least 75% of what her friends do). Obviously I'm happy she's academically ambitious and that probably adds to the pressure she's under even though I try to say the right words about happiness being more important and totally do mean it when she is upset.

I appreciate that you all answered this as it's a bit of a ramble.

The most academic at my (selective ambitious) school probably do the 8-8-8 mentioned above. I’d say they do need holidays but the Easter weekend and weekends would be enough this time round. It’s such a short period of time.
for her next year though she should def make sure she’s using her study periods effectively - we always have groups around school working together so they’re not missing out on socialising but aren’t just chatting.
maths is lots of practice. Many give up jobs or cut back in y13 temporarily at least around exams.

I cant offer advice on the revision side, but we are also Y12, 4 A levels, and a mountain of stuff outside school.

Some of the outside stuff has gone. He is missing maybe one sesion a week to keep on top of stuff, and also turning down events so he doesn't wipe out consecutive weekends - they are about hus only chance to gave some down time.

I think it might be a case of you cant have it all when everything is at the top end of normal levels.

My DS is in year 13, and sat his Maths a level last year in year 12. He got an A and was disappointed. He is resitting it this year.

He wasn't in the best mindset to sit an A level in year 12, which felt just months after GCSEs.

He didn't do enough revision (or past papers) or focus on stats and mechanics which was in the end where he lost the marks to get an A Star.

I would say your daughter is not doing enough for an A star, but doing it in year 12 does mean that they can retake the next year.

Now that my DS has done FM in year 13, regular maths is a walk in the park! Is your DD able to retake next year if the exam does not go to plan?

My children did 4 A levels, including Maths and FM; they also have paid work and volunteer commitments totalling 12 hours a week including travel time. They had to work at their Maths and FM to understand the concepts and build on these (ie maths was not a walk in the park for them).

They did use all their free periods to practice and consolidate across all their subjects and did set aside some time most evenings and at the weekend to keep things moving forward. The crucial difference was that Maths and FM were taken in parallel and I think that helped as Y12 felt less of a sprint. They did consciously schedule in downtime to avoid it all feeling a bit relentless.

With Maths, it is really important to practice and consolidate - to get those higher grades and to form a solid basis for the even more demanding FM. Can your daughter develop a plan to squeeze out time whilst commuting and/or during free periods and/or in time gaps in her current weekly schedule to devote more time to mathematical practice? Perhaps draw the parallel with sport and the need for that strong base for strong performance.

As an A level teacher we recommend that pupils are doing 6 hours independent study/revision per week, per subject. Is she doing that? A lot of this should be in school where she will have study periods. Is she using them to study - or is she scrolling on her phone or drinking coffee with mates?

Get her to be honest. And if she's not using her study time in school effectively then she needs to start.