Any tips on how to make year 11 kids care about GCSEs and do the revision they need to do.

[Wh0leCl0ves]

Bright kid, mocks not great, got a lot of ground to make but ds still not knuckling under. Did a couple of hours a day for a week during the holidays after nagging but not covered everything he should have. Says he can’t make himself work. It’s like watching a car crash happening in slow motion. Fed up with nagging and don’t think I can do 5 months of this. Wants to do Alevels but still not getting that he needs to put some hours in.

I think 2 hours a day during the holidays if he's already done mocks sounds like loads!!

DS also did not well (appallingly) in mocks, but taking the whole of the Christmas holiday off felt necessary so he doesn't burn out.

Does he have a revision plan? That's (sort of) helped DS to understand how much he has to cover in the time.

Talk to him and listen to why he is not getting on with it. Dd was overwhelmed with the amount of work and so chose instead to avoid the stress by avoiding the revision. Reassure him that there is still plenty of time. Find out what help he wants from you. Would he like you to help plan a revision timetable, show him how to revise best or to push him to get on with things?

Talk to him. See if he can draw up a revision plan. Make sure the plan is achievable and sensible. Agree on "study rules" (does listening to music help/hinder? Can he study with friends? What privileges may he get if he sticks to the plan on a weekly basis?). Essentially all if this has to come from him. You can help guide him, but it's his responsibility.
As an aside, some kids end up doing great in exams despite crap revision and seemingly not caring, others mess it all up. However, it's all a learning curve. There are other paths to A-levels later on in life too.

I strongly advise going to local colleges and 6th form open days to look at plan Bs ( btecs? Apprenticeships?) as well as A levels. Particularly important if his plan is to stay where he is and just drift into A levels at the same school. Ds could not visualise the next step. Visiting other providers made him think about it and get a feel for what doing A levels really meant and whether it really was what he wanted. He then had a clearer focus on getting what he needed to get for the next step. He also found a suitable plan B if things went wrong.
The main thing is to make them think about what they want to be doing in 9 months time and begin to take responsibility for getting to that point. Ds still needed help with organising revision timetable and sourcing revision materials etc but was much more receptive to it once he could see where it was going

I strongly advise going to local colleges and 6th form open days to look at plan Bs
Our local area may be completely out of step with the rest of the UK for all I know, but all the school sixth form open evenings here were in October and November, plus the deadline for applications has already gone by for some. The colleges still have upcoming events, however.
On the other hand, to have had GCSE mocks already by the end of the autumn term seems early to me - is this an indie / grammar?
Wh0leCl0ves. what does 'not great' actually mean in terms of results in mocks vs predictions of what should be achievable based on prior attainment and what he normally achieves in class etc? Did he revise much/ at all for the mocks?