Do your children get exam leave for GCSEs?

[Inncogneetow]

Round here hardly any schools have real exam leave.
I think the logic is that most students are unlikely to do much work at home.

They stay in school full-time until all the core exams are over. If a particular subject has finished (exams all over), then they continue to attend and are supervised by that teacher, but can revise other subjects.

I think it's a good idea: ds1 is still 15 and doesn't have the maturity and motivation to do hours and hours of independent revision unsupervised at home.

Apparently ds1's HT is keen to send students home on exam leave earlier rather than later. The Heads of Dept are objecting: some are still teaching the curriculum material. I hope she gets over-ruled.

If your school does have exam leave:
a) When does it start?
b) What sort of school? (state, independent, selective, etc)

ds (took his GCSEs last Summer).
State, comp, boys' school.
They had to go in until May 1/2 term. If their timetable had a subject on it they were still awaiting an exam in, then they had to go to that lesson ~ depending on teacher, some did sturctured things and some let them revise / ask questions about what they wanted, but they were all there for the dcs. If they had finished exams for that subject, then they could go to any free workspace and revise whatever they wanted.
I was very relieved - as you say, my 15yr old ds would have done nothing at home, but felt he didn't have a choice as he knew no different from going into lessons

DS is staying in school until he breaks up for half term towards the end of May. The exams start before then, but they have been told that any subject lessons where they have done the exams will be used as revision sessions for other subjects.
This is the first year that Yr 11s have stayed in school this late - they used to break up in mid May. Not sure why they changed it.

no study leave for Y11s at our school, they come in each day until their last exam and then only come back for speech day at the end of term (independent)

DS's school (state comp) got rid of exam leave for GCSEs about 5 years ago. I was a bit sceptical at first as I thought DD2 would have revised quite well independently (DD1 used her study leave to catch up on sleep ) but the whole thing worked really well.

There was a lot of flexibility in how the lessons were organised with either teacher led revision or private study and it meant when there was a morning exam DD2 was still in the routine of being up and ready without it being a major drama. Having teachers around to answer last minute questions was really helpful and seeing friends at school meant we didn't have any complaints about being stuck in revising.

I think DS will be better off in school, he doesn't have a date for finishing yet but its normally some time after the May half term when the bulk of the exams are completed. At least I don't have to do what my friend did - she took all the cables to the xbox to work every day her DS had exam leave because she couldn't trust him not to spend the day on it!

No Exam leave for DD. But it is a flexible timetable based around exam subjects.

After exams they will still be in school F/T until the end of term as the HT thinks that the obligation to stay in education till 17 means that they cannot finish early. They will have a mix of taster AS sessions and other educational activities.

There has been a bit of a debate on this, and some are really unhappy, but as DD has ASD it is perfect for us

DD finishes school on 10th May and then is only in for exams. It is a super-selective girls grammar.

No real exam leave here. My daughter finished last year once most of the major exams were over and then she did study at home, but she only had about three papers left.

She said that, at first, still having lessons was good but as more and more didn't need lessons or even study time as the exams passed, it started to become chaos. That's when the Head actually fixed a date to finish - I think she only had about five days notice in the end.

The reason given is to ensure study is done, to have access to teachers of subjects still with exams to sit and to be fair to all (including those who travel in by bus and only have two travel times available per day).

DS is at a grammar school and the year 11s officially leave school a couple of weeks before half term. They only go in for exams.

They have to apply to go into the sixth form and this is dependent on them getting the minimum requirement (7 Bs). So no school for DS from mid May until September (apart from exams).

At my school (where I work I mean) the yr 11s are all at school until half term, unless their exams in a specific subject are very early.

They continue to come in for the lessons in each subject until they are done with the exams in that subject.

Thus last yr the exams for one subject I teach were right at the end of the summer (June 27 IIRC) and the students in the end were just coming in for those lessons and no others bless them!

Yr11 DD at state comp,oficially finishes 20/5 (only one exam before that day.).

I think there will be various study sessions to go in for as well as exams, but no timetable yet. Only got the Easter hol one a week before.

Have already stopped official maths lessons as taken in Feb/Mar. They can either use time to study other subjects, or join a group that has started the AS course. She has done the latter, although unlikely to be staying at that school.

No exam leave here. Once a subject exam is taken, that lesson is used to revise for impending other exams.

Sorry, that is an indie school ^^

DDs have exam leave still but it is optional, you can opt that your DD works in the school library and has to sign in each day.
Its an independent, girls, academic school though. I can see why many schools opt for no leave as it takes very motivated teens to actually get much done.
DD works well revising alone and unsupervised, just popping into school to meet with teachers if she has any areas she is stuck in. I know some of her friends struggle though and so go into the school or public library each day to focus.

Realise her school is a bit of a bubble of girls who definately don't represent the population though. DS, despite being at a similar type of school, would've done far better staying in classes until the exams.

My DD is allowed exam leave in her school, but I want her to take it in school.

We are not giving exam leave in my school. The students are off-timetable but will be supervised in school as they revise.

Students studying for GCSEs go back to school for two,weeks after Easter and then go on study leave. They either study from home or can stay at school and work in the library.

I was talking to a ex-headmaster I know and he said he was against study leave because teachers should oversee revision and be available to help,any student who needed it. Equally it made life difficult for families where there wasn't a parent at home to oversee any study leave - their child either had to be at home unsupervised or had to work in the school library which wasn't always well supervised.

He also said it was unfair for his GCSE teachers to get time off when teachers of other year groups didn't. Something I hadn't thought about.

The school I teach at (state) doesn't do study leave anymore. Students come to lessons until they have finished all exams. Some do vote with their feet though, especially the less academically inclined

DD's school have study leave as of the beginning of May.

However, they are free to go to school and certain spaces are made availabale to them. The teachers are available too.

A lot of the girls do a bit of mix and match. Monday is a popular day to revise at home .

Dd's school finish for study leave in less than 4 weeks - she has a long weekend and then her exams start.

DS finished about May for his and is now pretty much done for the IB.
DD will have study leave from early May next year but on exam days will have to go in for a full day because she relies on the school bus.

DD (State Comp) took her GCSEs 5 or 6 years ago, and it was the first year her school cancelled study leave. She freaked as there was a lot of mucking about going on in the revision classes and she was adament she would do more at home. Got really worked up so I phoned the school and they said- "Ah, Milligirl - let her stay home" so she did and everyone was happy.
I do believe that most kids will do more work at school though.

DS, boys Grammar, had to stay at school until the exams actually started, then they just went in for their exams.

Ds school starts 9 may for years 11 and 12 and 2 weeks later for year 13. However ds always goes to school to the revision sessions or to work in the library and I encourage that. It means no ps/tv and then he gets a break and lunch.