GCSE revision

[notreallytired]

I am trying to gauge how much revision is needed per subject for GCSEs? My son is barely doing 2/3hrs a day over the holidays for the mocks and not sure that's enough for the grades he wants for his main topics (7+).

The key thing is how on top of the work he is already. Schools tend to do a lot of revision as they go along and they will also spend time in class revising closer to the actual exams.

If he's been progressing well and understands the topics covered already, 2-3 hours per day in the holidays sounds plenty for mocks tbh. He needs to have an actual break as well!
If he's badly behind, then this is a different question.

My dc has done absolutely no revision over the holidays. I have seen a few suggestions that two hours a day is a minimum, which I doubt my dc will do until about a month before actual GCSEs.

Thank you both. He is on top of things on the subjects he is taking up for A levels but not so much with others. Shall I worry?

A bright child who focusses in lessons with a good memory can get away with a lot less revision than a less able child with a poor memory even when they also try hard in lessons.

If you ask him 'random' questions on subjects that aren't his A level ones, can he answer them?

@notreallytired You can revise effectively in small amounts of time. Can you quiz him on anything? Does he have flash cards? Does he know quotes from the English texts or the poetry? Could he tell you the form or structure of one of the poems? Can he tell you what order things happen in in the English books, especially Shakespeare? For History does he know dates/events? Same for Geography.

What does he know? His mocks this year will tell him his level at the moment, but his year 10 end of year exam papers are also a great way to know if he has now learned from what he got wrong. Does he have those? If he was asked the question he got wrong back then does he get it right now? Have you looked at any past papers online to see the kinds of questions they ask? The mark schemes are also on there.

I say this a lot, but he is competing on an unfair playing field. There are parents out there who have spent tens of thousands of pounds on their child's education, he will be measured against them. He will be measured against great state schools (where mine attended) who do everything in their power to ensure their children get great GCSE grades and Progress 8 scores.

Get him to think about results day, what would be a great set of exam grades for him? Is he willing to work now to ensure he gets those?

It really depends on the child OP. As pp says, a bright child who pays attention in lessons can definitely get good grades doing 2-3 hours per day. See how he does in the mocks before starting to worry.

Hi. What year / age does the child need to start preparing to get 9s in GCSE?

GCSEs are typically 2 year courses, so at the start of Year 10.

However some children will never get grade 9s and some children will get grade 9s without really putting in much work beyond what they do at school.

So this is an impossible question to answer really.

@Positivealwayss Why is it important to get Grade 9s? As pp says, it's an impossible question to answer. Is this parent led or child led?

What do you mean by start preparing? Do you mean going to school and doing their homework? I wouldn't have thought they would do anything beyond that till a month or so before the actual exam.
Dds are at a grammar, and I think they aim to finish the courses in year 10, to spend all their year 11 in school doing past papers etc.
I'm not too fussed about dds doing anything extra for GCSEs outside of school, their time will come in alevels cos the jump is mahoisive.

As others say, there is no easy answer to this.

Talking about a child "preparing to get 9s in GCSE" makes it sound as though 9s are within every child's ability if they only prepare properly.

But of course they are not and that's fine btw. Vanishingly few children gain all grade 9 in all their GCSE subjects - in 2019 (kind of the last reasonable year to consider) fewer than 1000 achieved this (if we take "all" to mean 7 GCSEs and above).

When should a child start working towards the best grades they can achieve? As soon as they start the course in yr 10 (or earlier in the case of linear subjects), by completing classwork and homework and revising topics and themes as they go. That applies whether their best grade is a 4 or below or a 7 and above.

There's no magic way a child can start some specific prep which will lead them to gain all 9s - not a year before, a month before or a week before.

Didn't go to school in the UK and hence these questions. Thank you all for getting back to me. So are A levels more important than GCSE?

GCSEs are a stepping stone onto the next stage - whether that is A Levels, BTecs, CTecs, other qualifications or an apprenticeship. It's also generally considered a benchmark to achieve Grade 4s in maths and English GCSEs and this is something that may be asked for at multiple points in later life.

So GCSEs are neither more or less important than A Levels - they are a qualification at a different level. GCSEs become less important if you have A Levels, but you need them to enable them to get A Levels in the first place.

yes what @shepherdsangeldelight said. Any student should try to get the best GCSEs they can, bc they will open doors to A levels (most schools ask for a 6 or 7 in the GCSE to study the A level). They are also looked at by unis as they are the only actual grades at time of applying, as a rule.

And many jobs require xxx GCSEs or a pass (grade 4) in maths and English - teaching for example, even after you have your degree. In fact most degree courses require a pass in eng and maths as well.

Yes the better the grades you can achieve at GCSE, the more doors will be open to you. But not getting all 8/9 is not the end of everything.