A level physics Easter crash course revision

[LuckyCharmz]

My son is doing physics A level this year. Previously his strongest subject, he did badly in his mocks. Partly because he struggles to revise by himself.

I’m wondering if a crammer type intensive revision course over Easter would be any good?

Does anyone have any experience or recommendations? We’re in the South east, east to get to London, Kingston, Guildford.
thanks for any advice. We’re looking at weekly tutoring too.

Can't advise on crammer courses, I afraid but revision/study skills are something he will need to develop if planning on higher education. I think often it's just that they feel so overwhelmed by the amount of content. My son found breaking it down into smaller chunks (by topic) really helped. Free websites like Maths Made Easy have questions by topic. He'd go through these, write down anything he got wrong on post-it notes, stick them to his wall then test himself on them. When he was confident on the topics, he'd then do practice papers. He did lots and lots of past papers!
He also made a lot of flashcards and regularly tested himself on them (or got me to test him if he was fed up of working on his own!)
Keeping to a strict revision timetable that actually says what topics he's going to do rather than generalised "physics revsion" or whatever really helped give him a sense of control and make it seem more manageable.
(He made his own timetable but there is something commercially available called a Study Buddy that you might like to have a look at as it does all the breakdown of topics for you).
He's at university now and still using all the methods he developed during A'Levels.
Good luck to your son. I think A'Levels are harder than a degree in some ways as they are so intense!

@Debrathom thankyou for your reply. No he’s not planning on higher education.
I agree with all those revision points, getting him to implement them is another matter. No matter how many times the teacher, and ourselves, have talked to him about flashcards, he won’t do them.

We had good experience with Justin Craig. Did what they said on the tin.

DD is very dyslexic and so, despite having been well taught, it was important that she picked up every mark possible in the GCSE. She ended up 2/3 grades above predicted. She also enjoyed the course and it helped give her confidence. (Bottom of the class in a selective school can be a tough place.)

We used OXSS. It’s in Oxford but you can pay extra for residential. DS found very helpful and also enjoyed.
https://www.oxss.co.uk/

https://www.pmt.education/courses/a-level/
Easter online Physics revision courses, can recommend as DS did one last year

Mine liked Seneca online free revision tool for physics

We leave same area as you and use Justin Craig? My DS had an unexpected (and latterly unexplained) disaster in his GCSEs having been predicted 7-9s for all his STEM subjects and getting 6s. We won’t trust teachers anymore, even though he is somewhere different and they all seem great.

He has a tutor for each A Level subject, including maths and physics and is booked on their revision courses in London. His end of topic tests have moved him from Cs when he was unsupported to As and Bs in maths and physics recently, so we feel it is really helping as they ensure he really has understood the topic at a deep level and knows that the questions are actually asking as he does lots of past exam questions. Am hoping the reviews re the revision courses reflect our experience as DS is as a college that insists on AS levels being done in Y1so he has formal exams in May!

I have think Reigate College might host revision courses you can pay for over Easter.

I’ve just looked at OXSS for my dd - she is in year 12 at the moment. So considering a residential this summer

I have had experience with a few revision sites and so far ALevels.ai has been the most engaging. Similar to Duolingo in its model- it offers past paper questions, quiz questions, personal note taking / flash cards. All the usual things, and all linked to the relevant Board/specification. It really supports revision - I think mainly because it tracks student progress, identifies weakness/ strengths and offers the same sort of motivational feedback you see with something like Duolingo.

I don't know if they do short crams, but you might want to see for yourself, Mander Portman Woodward are excellent. They got me through my A levels a few decades ago (when Woodward was still there in person...)

My son is doing AQA A-Level Physics, and it’s been a really tough year. He’s struggled to revise properly, partly because the content is so challenging, but also because his teachers have been off sick on and off all year. It’s left him floundering, especially with the more complex modules.
I came across ALevels.ai on LinkedIn - it's not particularly well-marketed as a revision platform, but it’s made a genuine difference to his revision.
He’s been using their blurting tool, which is basically a way of actively recalling knowledge for each module in the specification. You can drag the note box, expand it, add diagrams and so on. He writes down everything he knows for each module, and the platform offers prompts and instant feedback. The feedback is honestly clearer and more consistent than anything he’s had from school this year.
The whole platform has a bit of a Duolingo feel – it’s interactive and slightly gamified. It’s taken something that used to feel like a total slog and made it seem achievable—and even, occasionally, enjoyable.
The platform has all the past paper questions available for whatever board you are doing and the AI gives accurate feedback in real time. There are other features that you'd expect, but it's the quality of the feedback and the structure of the questions that have stood out. This site has been a bit of a revelation.