Routine for A level study

[Teenageromance]

Can I ask those of you who have children that did well at A level - what was their study routine? How many nights/weekend days did they spend revising? Many thanks

My godson has just completed his A levels and done well.

He was told that he should be doing the same amount of independent study as taught hours.

So if he had 6 taught hours of English a week, he should be doing 6 hours of independent English work.

This was for English, History, Latin and French - not sure this would work with Sciences when you've got lots of lab hours.

That's helpful - thank you. So I suppose it is then up to them how they divide up that time. Dd thinks she can still go out most of the weekend but I'm not so sure.

It is up to them and you can't force it. It also depends on raw intelligence.

DS got 44 IB points and except for the last term partied hard on fridays/saturdays and kept up his sport.

DD got 3 A*s and grade 8 instrument with distinction. She is a quieter soul and works more steadily, including on Christmas day.

I wouldn't say either of themselves killed themselves though. Importantly they did it because they wanted to and were self motivated.

Depends how her timetable is.

I took four a levels and still had a fair few free periods which I used to study - on one day each week I only had three hours of lessons so would get the majority of study in during the college day when I wasn't in lessons.

Combined with half a day at a weekend and maybe an evening in the week this was enough other than in the run up to exams.

However I know a levels have gotten harder so there may be more contact time to counteract this.

Thanks this is all very helpful.

We tell our students they should be doing 5 hours study for each subject, per week.

DD did very little in Y12 - tha bare minimum! She pulled her finger out this year (Y13) I think its a balance between doing enough and working so hard that they are a bit burnt out by Y13. And they will increasingly be going out partying, so have to learn to balance that in too.

School says 18 hours a week!

We were told (separately, by 2 different schools, one per dc) that they need to be doing 5 hours of independent study, per week, per subject.

I suppose a natural genius might do less and those less academically inclined would need more, but it seems it is a good starting point.

Some of these of course can be done in study periods in school, as long as they discipline themselves to go off and work somewhere quietly and not play table tennis in the common room.

Does independent study include essays and homework or is it in addition to essays etc?

Buffalo I would say it depends on how long the student takes to complete hw/essay! I teach History A level; Y12 get 5 hours a week and they should really be doing an extra 5 hours a week on top of that. I would expect this to be wider reading/note taking/ensuring they have understood in depth the area we are studying. If I set an essay or hw I could live with them spending an hour or so on it - but if they take 4 or 5 hours planning/drafting/writing the essay then they should still be doing some reading in addition.

Any teacher is likely to tell you that Y12 is the hardest year you'll ever do in your life; the step up to A level from GCSE is massive - and students who think they can coast will regret it. Best to get into a good routine early on.

Thanks Bless DS has had a massive kick up the arse courtesy of his GCSE results and will need to prove himself at AS. We're discussing routines and appropriate work hours in advance so that's very useful.

Just done a levels. School said match school time with independent study (5hours biology class 5 hours biology revision) but in year twelve with 4 subjects with 5 hours of class per subject a week (so supposed to be 20 hours revision not including homework)
Homework took up three hours each night plus three or more hours on the weekend. 20 more hours just didn't exist!!
My Y12 rountine looked like this:
6:45 up
7:30 leave for school
8:30 arrive at school
9:00-3:30 lessons and frees (did what homework I could in frees)
4:30 home
4:30-5:00 snack and relax
5:00-6:00 homework
6:00-7:00 dinner
7:00-9:30 homework
10:00 bed
Revision more often than not did not happen until it was set as homework (i.e. For an end of topic test)
Now on Thursdays I had music lesson followed by choir meaning I had no evening to do work.
Put simply I don't know anyone who managed the revision recommendation and managed to do all the extracurricular you're supposed to do for your uni application. People just tended to work out what worked for them. Just make sure they have a desk and a quiet place to work. I worked on the kitchen table and people knew I was working so stayed quiet for me when possible. Working downstairs not in the bedroom also means parents could keep an eye making sure I was doing the work.
My rountine worked for me, off to a Russel group uni studying a science this month.
You can't make your kid do work you but you can make life easier for them. Good luck 😀

And on one weekend that I particularly remember I worked 3 hours on Saturday, 10 hours on Sunday. But other weekends it was just three hours total. Depending how much work you got. And I also learnt to and passed my driving and had another music lesson each week and had a part time job.

CanI My ds really struggles with organisation. (I know some MNers will say I shouldn't have needed to do this at 16, but, you do what you can....). I drew out a grid, showing the week (from 7am - 10pm) in 1/2 hour slots. Then I filled in things that would use time (travel, meals, showers, dressing etc). I put in where he had other commitments (work, Explorers). Then I helped him superimpose when he had lessons on to it.

After that, he could see how many hours there were in the week for him to decide how and when to work - use the 'frees' in school to study or socialise with friends? His choice.
Do a couple of hours every night ?
Have Sundays off or make it a long study day?
Want to play on the x-box?
Go away for the weekend?
All were fine - his choices - but it helped him visualise that, if, for example he was away at the weekend, then he needed to put those hours in during evenings. If he wanted Tuesday night off to go to the Match, then it meant putting in extra on Mondays and Wednesdays. etc.etc.
He was actually quite surpeised (after GCSEs) how much space there was in the school day for studying- if he chose to do it then.
He was still in control, but needed to see you couldn't keep putting it off for another day.

I would say that using your space at school is key. odd says that he/she had 20 hours timetabled a week. Many of ours do not have that, frankly. Some take 3 A levels. I certainly know that out of our 25 timetabled hours per week many of my Y12s only have 16 timetabled lessons. There is 9 hours they could be studying - out of the 15/20 independent study they need to do. Therefore an extra 2 hours study in an evening would give them their weekends predominantly free - provided they do actually work at school. 'Study periods' are intended to be that. Not 'frees'.

Frankly, I'd love 9 hours 'free' in a week. I get 4. And if you have an A level History essay to write - well I have 48 to mark...

Thanks for all these. I don't think that dd has quite realised how much she will have to work next year so this is helpful.