How long to spend on homework? Y10

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DD is very conscientious, works hard in lessons and spends a very long time on her homework too. So far this academic year, she has been spending almost the entire time from 5 o'clock until bedtime doing homework - that's 5 hours (and sometimes longer). Last night she had a meltdown, unsurprisingly.

She is predicted to get A* in pretty well every subject she's taking (13).

She's spending far too much time on homework. I have suggested she times it, and gives herself X time for each piece. But we don't know how long! 40 minutes? 1 hour?

Trouble is its not really x per piece - at this stage they may have some short tasks and some extended pieces (which they're not necessarily supposed to do all in one night). And it will depend what subjects too of course. 5+ hours every night seems too much - they are actually meant to be able to have a bit of a life too (they said so at the info evening we had last week)

My DD is same stage, doing 11 - not quite so many A* predictions but pretty good - she's not doing that much homework (can't tell if she's doing enough yet of course). She has to start heading to bed bt 9:30 as she needs to be up before 7 so she simply doesn't have 5 hours anyway. There have been some nights when she's said she doesn't have any homework at all.

I think it might be as well to contact the school for some guidance.

You need to ask the school. No-one else can tell you and they all organise it differently.

You are right, that is far far too long to be spending on homework - an hour or two at most would be normal IME, so three pieces of 30 mins each for example.
What is she doing all that time? If she is predicted such high grades, how come it is taking her so long - she must be able to work to a high standard much more quickly in exams?

Go to the school and ask for help in sorting in this out and getting to the bottom of it. Good luck.

My yr 10 dd is at boarding school nut comes home most werkends at the moment. She is also doing 13gcse's And vvery studious.

The boarding house has a 90 minute set prep/homework session every evening. However already this term dd has done additional on top of this in order to keep on top of all the work. I would say some evenings she does about another hour on top of the set session.

Last weekend I picked her up on Friday night after the set prep session but she was stuck on her bools fot a good 3 hours on Saturday and 1 1/2 hours on Sunday. She also asked to be dropped back at 6pm Sunday eve so she could go the Sunday evening prep session.

I too am wondering if she is over working. She slept in until 10am Sunday which is not like her at all, she normally rises at 8 to 8.30.

I meant stuck in her books.

Thank you all.

I had thought of the exam point, too. Obviously doesn't get that much time in them!

I think she's being very very thorough, and that's what's taking the time. She does want to get homework done on the day it is set (this is a new departure! Heretofore she's done what I think of as rush jobs the day before it's due in - still, her rush jobs seem to have worked v well for her!).

I don't think she's factoring in how many pieces of work are intended to be spread over a number of sessions.

I shall phone the school today for advice.

Its probably a very good idea to get hw done on the day its set if its a single-homework sized assignment. If the due date is weeks off then they're supposed to schedule it. You may find that your DD finds herself with a lower workload for a while after this as she's already done the extended pieces, so it may balance out.

DS, yr 10, goes to one of the most academic schools in the UK and he does about an hour a night. Maybe two or three at the weekend.

We've been told in no uncertain terms that students shouldn't make homework a three act drama. That it will increase over the next two years so their needs to be some 'give' both in terms of time and energy/enthusiasm.

She will burn out if she tries to keep that up. Definitely speak to the school about expectations, and perhaps try to help her organise her work better.

As a maths teacher in Y10 I set homework that should take about half an hour. Closer to exam time I might set exam papers that take longer, but I would give a few days or a week for them to be done.

My DCs school recommended that year 10 & 11 should be doing 10-15 hours work after school per week. that means homework, but also making revision notes and doing past papers.

She also needs to get some exercise, and learn to relax.

In your DDs case I would talk to the school. If she can't reduce it without showing increased signs of stress then I would take her to the GP.

I agree with wordfactory and noble giraffe. My dc at a very academic school and have never had this much. Is doing 13 GCSEs her choice? I can't see any way that is in her interests - there is nothing you need more than 9 or 10 A* for and there is no advantage to having more. She does need time to grow up, be a teenager, relax, get some exercise, have rows with her family......Doing 13 and doing them well will, however, up the school's average point score.

I don't understand why she is doing 13 either? Why did you agree to this? If she is spending this amount of time,she cannot be doing much else so I would worry about her being a rounded individual. Does s he do music, participate in drama at school or do anything to show she has a vibrant personality as wells as being a workaholic. Most really bright people do not have to work like this. Are the predictions causing her to work like this?. I had no idea what my DD was predicted. Less pressure but still did well. I would speak to the school, urgently, and get this sorted. Can she drop a subject or two?

I went to a parent forum last year at my dd's school and a couple of parents of Yr10s were saying "they are doing 3, 3 and 1/2, sometimes up to 5 hours some nights" and the HT and DHT said they shouldn't be doing anywhere near that amount. They said it would vary, but generally they shouldn't be doing more than 2 - 2 and 1/2.
I now have a dd in Yr 10, and she's not doing the 2 and 1/2, tbh.