How many hours a day should a GCSE student study over Christmas?

[gscenitemare]

A quick search on Google showed me at least 400 hours of studying would be required for 8 subjects, so 3 hours every day for revision at least 5 months before the GCSE exams. I even hear some DCs study 5-8 hours a day over Christmas. That sounds insane to me. I can't imagine my DC studying for 3 hours every day, let alone 8 hours! Am I being too naive thinking like this? Is that amount of time of studying really necessary for GCSEs? If so, I need to start thinking of rescheduling his activities. Currently, he has no time for studying that much...

Ha ha whip or no whip, not going to make any difference.

My brother is currently doing his GCSEs- my parents have absolutely no idea if he is working or how much he is working (I suspect he is doing fuck all atm). I can’t believe how much some parents can intervene in the work schedules of their 16 year old children! Not saying it’s a bad thing, just surprised.

During lockdown I have encouraged my sons, Y13 and Y11, to revise existing content and to learn new content. This has been out of necessity to give them a fighting chance in 2021. These are unparalleled times, and my ‘cracking the whip’ is more to do with the playing the cards dealt to us, and managing accordingly.

Hm sansasnark, not experience of my DC, both found a levels more work and certainly more difficult.
Yes dc is such 8 and 9 student, and yes of course she did work at home. but 8/ day at this stage
is too much in my (and DC) opinion.

Because Sansa some students are brilliant. I taught one a few years ago who decided on the day of the A level exam that he liked the questions on a different text better than on the one we'd studied. He came out with his A* anyway. He is a gifted student. I have one this year who will cruise very happily to a grade 9. Also gifted.
Also in my opinion amadeus.

@portico

During lockdown I have encouraged my sons, Y13 and Y11, to revise existing content and to learn new content. This has been out of necessity to give them a fighting chance in 2021. These are unparalleled times, and my ‘cracking the whip’ is more to do with the playing the cards dealt to us, and managing accordingly.

Well, we'll see. It's not a 'necessity' for our family, I assure you.

@MrsChristmasHamlet

Particularly at GCSE, the students who get the best grades are those who work the hardest. They need to be building up their stamina and work ethic now. That's simply not true.

Yes, lots of naturally very able children coast along doing very little and get good GCSE grades, whilst some children do have to work very hard to do well. A levels do require more effort though, so can come as a bit of a shock to those who've never had to work hard.

None for my DD she has just finished her mocks and she needs a break. She will hopefully get good enough grades to study sciences at A level,despite severe dyslexia- not even a little bit stealth boast

@MrsChristmasHamlet

Clearly a very low ability pupil who works hard is not going to outperform a lazy high ability child.

But if you have two DC of identical ability or even one with slightly less ability- the one who works harder will 99 times out of 100 perform better.

As I said earlier, DH is from South Korea. The DC there work unbelievably hard- education is a huge priority. My Dniece and Dnephew who are very similar ages to my own DC will study for 16 hours a day during exam periods.

My DC are very aware of their cousins' work ethic and I suspect they are less reluctant about doing their revision as they know how easy they have it in comparison!

DS2 (year 11) has started doing zoom study sessions with his cousin in Korea. I suspect this will have an enormous impact on his motivation and work ethic.

Last year my son studied over the Xmas holiday because he had mocks starting the day he went back to school in January. If he didn’t then he probably wouldn’t have done much.

My elder son has his mocks the first schoolday back in January - the work has to be done

"Litpeach: As I said earlier, DH is from South Korea. The DC there work unbelievably hard- education is a huge priority. My Dniece and Dnephew who are very similar ages to my own DC will study for 16 hours a day during exam periods."

I am from Singapore but have lived in the UK for 2 decades. Culturally, I believe Asians place less emphasis on natural intelligence and ability. The belief is that if you work hard, you can do it. If a naturally intelligent person takes 1 hour to learn a topic but you need 3 hours because you are less gifted intellectually, there is no shame and even expected that you would put the 3 hours in. The less clever person might only end up with a B and the first person coasts to an A, but it does not mean less clever person just puts in 1 hour and ends up with a C because you should not tax yourself and should be relaxing instead.

There is a large amount of content to learn in GCSEs, much of it is memory work. It is quite different 4 years ago but since 2016, the GCSEs have become significantly harder and much more to take in. Don't underestimate the amount of work the dcs have to do even at this stage.

They don't need to be revising but they should be getting their notes together and organising their files at the very least to ensure they cover all parts of the syllabus - not all schools end up teaching the entire syllabus. The parent should be buying revision books and workbooks from Amazon. I spent time printing off past year exam papers. My dd went from a B/C to an A in her 3 Sciences and Computer Science. She worked very hard. In preparing for the GCSEs, she also learnt to how to study for her A levels. Dd is not very organised. For some children, the method of studying for exams almost needs to be taught as much as the subject itself.

Of course a (bright) student will have even better grades with harder work. And both my DC did GCSE after 2016. But if they need so much work now, how are they going to manage with A levels and uni?
I did a medical degree decades ago, and did see fellow students flop because they couldn't cope with it.
I tell my children they have to "worry" when they are adults, not now when they are children.
ps my children will deny the above and say I do hassle/shout at them a lot about needing to studying...

@amadeus1

If you need to study so much to get good grades for GCSE it worries me how you are going to manage good grades at a levels and uni

Luckily hard work still has its rewards. The need to study hard isn’t because you’re dim or struggle to assimilate knowledge. It’s to feel secure going into an exam, to learn how to learn, to gain the joy and resilience that comes from success.

GCSEs are just a stepping stone to later success. They set you up for the next stage. Do well and you get a wider choice post16. Do less well and choice is reduced. Not getting an 8/9 in certain subjects may restrict A level choices. Not a problem if you’re set on hairdressing but definitely an issue if you are wanting to be a vet.

Same as A levels and degrees. Get four As at A level and you have plenty of options. Scrape three Cs and your options are reduced. That might be fine for a few but if you’re not able to follow the career you want because you didn’t put the effort in early enough, you’re life may be very different to the one you wanted. Can’t believe some parents are so short sighted to think ‘having a break’ is more important that achievement that impacts their futures.

I’m quite proud of my Y13 and Y11 sons, as they virtually completed all of the syllabuses since February this year. Elder is bright and coasts, younger one is lazy but not bright, and will avoid doing work and will only do it when pushed. Spending a great deal of time learning new content and being able to tackle exam questions successfully should surely be lauded rather than having scorn poured on it, in these unprecedented times. What’s wrong with working hard to get knowledge in your hard, and being able to apply it. Lockdown has been a relegation for me to see my sons flourish, using online learning. My sons play well, work hard and sleep well. I say it’s a win/win.

Relegation, not relegation

@bumblingbovine49
We don't know his grades in History and English yet as his handwriting is so poor it can't be read. We are transcribing the scripts at home at the schools request so they can mark them after Christmas.
With my examiner hat on, please rest assured that if you can't convince him to use a scribe or computer, we do our level best to decode the writing. It would be hugely beneficial for him to be able to use an access arrangement if he's entitled though.

It doesn't just depend on how much you want those 9 grades, it also depends on how mentally healthy you want your child to be. I could facilitate my DD dong 3 hours of study a day and she would be totally miserable.

In the holidays she will be doing the work set by school, plus a couple of hours a week with a tutor in a subject she's struggling in (plus the work the tutor sets her). Anymore she couldn't handle.

Some kids can study all day everyday and happily achieve good grades.

Others like DS1 can do absolutely nothing and achieve good grades.

It's all about what's right for your own child, not what anybody else is doing. I actually had to be reminded of this by my own DD when I said "well X is doing lots of revision this holiday). DD pointed out she is not X, she doesn't care what X is doing, and she is doing what's right for her.

@portico

I’m quite proud of my Y13 and Y11 sons, as they virtually completed all of the syllabuses since February this year. Elder is bright and coasts, younger one is lazy but not bright, and will avoid doing work and will only do it when pushed. Spending a great deal of time learning new content and being able to tackle exam questions successfully should surely be lauded rather than having scorn poured on it, in these unprecedented times. What’s wrong with working hard to get knowledge in your hard, and being able to apply it. Lockdown has been a relegation for me to see my sons flourish, using online learning. My sons play well, work hard and sleep well. I say it’s a win/win.

That's twice you have talked about 'unprecedented times' - but you've also said you are taking exactly the same approach with your younger son as you did with the one who took his GCSEs in totally normal 2019. Fine if that works for you. But don't assume that those of us who are somewhat less military with our support don't 'value' education as much as you think you do. We've been putting the work in, subtly, positively and constantly, since they were born - there's no need for us suddenly to get the big sticks and stopwatch out because they happen to be taking external assessments ( I hope!!) this year.

Multivac, my approach works. It’s been proven to a certain degree in the mocks. I know the learning styles of both my sons and play to that. I I purchased gcsepod for younger days, and that has been a godsend to self learn. Practising actual topical exam qns for 11 subjects has still been done the same for the elder one and younger one - certainly at GCSE.

@LynetteScavo

It doesn't just depend on how much you want those 9 grades, it also depends on how mentally healthy you want your child to be. I could facilitate my DD dong 3 hours of study a day and she would be totally miserable.

In the holidays she will be doing the work set by school, plus a couple of hours a week with a tutor in a subject she's struggling in (plus the work the tutor sets her). Anymore she couldn't handle.

Some kids can study all day everyday and happily achieve good grades.

Others like DS1 can do absolutely nothing and achieve good grades.

It's all about what's right for your own child, not what anybody else is doing. I actually had to be reminded of this by my own DD when I said "well X is doing lots of revision this holiday). DD pointed out she is not X, she doesn't care what X is doing, and she is doing what's right for her.

Indeed - except educational achievement is strongly linked to improved mental health. Yours is still working, to be fair.

It rather depends on whether you buy in to the myth that not doing anything much is in someways healthier. It’s like exercise really. If you sit around on a sofa all day because you ached a bit from running, it wouldn’t be reasonable to correlate sofa slumping as the healthier option, would it?

@portico

Multivac, my approach works. It’s been proven to a certain degree in the mocks. I know the learning styles of both my sons and play to that. I I purchased gcsepod for younger days, and that has been a godsend to self learn. Practising actual topical exam qns for 11 subjects has still been done the same for the elder one and younger one - certainly at GCSE.

Yes, you've said it 'works'. For both your boys, each of whom seems very different in terms of their attitude and aptitude. And yes, of course forcing a kid to spend 7-8 hours a day doing exam practice will likely make them better at answering very specific types of question in a very specific context, resulting in a higher grade. I value education rather differently; our metrics are fundamentally different.

* ....educational achievement is strongly linked to improved mental health.*

No. There's a correlation between poor mental health and lower educational attainment. That is not the same thing.

Multivac
It’s only since 1 Dec I impressed the 2021 exam urgency upon the boys. Told them to aim for 2019 grade boundaries as a benchmark. Yes, I guess our metrics are different, but mine work for the use-case that interests me - namely getting them into skilled highly paid jobs later in life!