Year 10 parents — what are you actually doing to prep for GCSEs?

[WaryHam]

DS/DD is in Year 10 and I'm starting to feel the GCSE panic creeping in already. Everyone seems to talk about Year 11 prep but nobody mentions Year 10 — feels like we're either too early or already behind, can't tell which.

Just wanted to ask other Year 10 parents:
What are you currently doing (if anything) to help them prep? Tutoring, websites, apps, past papers, just leaving them to it?

Anything you've paid for that was actually worth the money?

Anything that was a total waste?

Honestly — do you feel like Year 10 is the time to start, or is it fine to wait til Year 11?

Trying to work out what's overkill vs sensible. TIA.

We didn't do anything in year 10 for GCSEs. But then we didn't do anything specific in year 11 either. The school provided access to subject websites like Seneca and Maths Genie and past papers.

The last few months of year 11 are a real slog so there is a real risk of getting bored/overwhelmed/burnt out.

Y10 (and y12) parent here.

Absolutely nothing explicitly for GCSE prep, except encouraging him to do all the homework - some expected, some is optional. And when he has tests in class, revising properly for them rather than winging it.

My dc is autistic and has always struggled to cope with mainstream demands (although doing well academically). So supporting wellbeing and lowering demands as much as possible so that she can actually make it in. Constant advocating for her with school. Goal is to get through with mental health intact and hopefully a stash of GCSEs.

ex year 10 parent here (way past it now).

What we did:

1. Ensure that end y10 exams were taken seriously. Proper revision notes made (that can be reused for the real thing), and a revision timetable made and attempted to be followed. This is the time to see what revision schedule works well and is achievable, to try out revision techniques etc. The better the y10 quality of revision the more will come back quickly for the real thing.

2. By the end of the summer holidays ensure that all content (including content that wasn't part of the end y10 exams content) has got respectable revision notes / mind maps. They'll be pleased about it later.

3. If there was any subject that was a disaster in end y10 exams, then put some extra work in over the summer holidays to try to recover

I am a parent of older children who excelled academically at GCSE because we did exactly what @TeenToTwenties did. Year 10 is half their GCSE content, flash cards were made and revision timetables to see what worked before doing it for an actual certificate. They are going to be tested on it so might as well treat it seriously.

They also used year 10 summer to consolidate anything they needed to work on using their end of year exam papers as a revision tool. They could also walk through an English Lit text, so know what happens and in what order. Same with the poetry, they chose 6 to know really well and chose ones that covered all the themes. This is in the front of the CGP revision book which school provided free of charge and they used in class. They also practised unseen poetry with me but I have a degree in English Literature. You can also use song lyrics to break down what it may mean.

Better to do it now than rely on doing it all in year 11 when the pressure is on and they are covering year 11 content plus referring back to year 10 content. Mine went to an outstanding state school and they also had to prove they were taking revision seriously to their teachers, Ds took in his flashcards from year 10. They also looked at past papers but that is harder when they haven't covered all the content.

This may sound like it was all work, work, work, but it isn't if they have been making flashcards for end of topic tests all the way through year 10 which was part of their homework. There was plenty of down time. If any parent of year 9s is reading this, find out what texts they will be doing for English and which set of poems and spend year 9 summer reading them, watching the plays online and looking at what themes are covered for GCSE.

Helping your child learn how to revise and what works best for them. Is all we did for DD in year 10 and we'll be doing the same for DS. Flash cards are all very well but this type of revision doesn't work for all students.

DD found flash cards useless, she would do mind maps and make writen notes. It's more important to fine what works for your child.

Agree that flash cards don't work for all.
The thing is to find out in y10 (or earlier) what does work for the individual and deploy that.

A further thought

Being a dinosaur (I did O levels) I'm not convinced that everything online is the way to go. How do you quickly skim through to calm nerves, or highlight the 10 things you want to focus on and have them to hand, or get Dad to test you on if it is all online?
Also if you are online for revision it must be way harder to stop yourself being distracted by other things online.

DS had mocks in year 9, which we took seriously and revised for. Since then he’s been doing a little bit of maths and Spanish (vocab flashcards) most days. We have the Cgp workbook for his maths board and he does a handful of questions as part of his normal homework routine. It’s worked really well. He just had his year 10 mocks. He was able to put into practice the things he learned about what revision methods worked for him from last year and he’s definitely seen an improvement.

Great question, @WaryHam

DD’s Y10 exams are in less than 5 weeks’ time, but DD’s school (a girls’ state grammar) barely seem to have acknowledged them yet, presumably as they know many parents at this school are pushy enough! Which means I was just starting to wonder whether I should be supporting DD a bit more. Some useful advice already – thanks, everyone!

In terms of resources, the school sold some CGP guides at good prices, so we bought the relevant ones, but the list wasn’t comprehensive and DD recently asked me to get an extra one. We’re not planning on getting any tutors – there is one science subject where DD has a weak teacher, but she’s confident she can fill in the gaps herself at home.

DD is going to print out some quotes for RS and stick them around the house, but there was a useful thread on here recently about quotes for English which said that rote learning of quotes isn’t the most helpful use of time, so instead she’s going to make lists of themes for her English tests, to discuss (and, if time allows, try writing some essays...)

She is not the biggest fan of flash cards or revision clocks so I’m not sure how easily accessible her old notes will be – a few teachers have set ‘make a revision resource’ as homework, as @weedscanpartyiftheywant mentioned, but by no means all, and DD has not been rigorous with ‘writing up’ each topic.

I suspect I won’t have to get too deeply involved as DD is straightforward and keen to do well, but if I can help her with some planning and have an idea myself of what type of work is helpful for each subject, it’ll help a bit. The advice from subject specialists on Mumsnet is so helpful!

I’ll be awaiting his mock exam results in 3 weeks and then we’ll be having a massive argument and he’ll be spending his summer holidays consolidating year 10 content for at least an hour a day. This will all be done offline so he can’t waste time watching TikTok shorts FML. He’s a great boy in many ways but his academic effort is lacking.

I should have added that school held parent revision nights to talk us through things like Assessment Objectives for English and History, they have them stuck to the inside of their school books so the students know what they are but they have to mention all things listed to get higher grades. It was about understanding what gets marks, same with science, specific descriptive words.

Past papers and their mark scheme were shown so we could see what was listed under AO1, AO2 and AO3 for the Shakespeare question. They actually cover the text in year 7 so everyone is familiar with it then it is the GCSE text. The same for English Language, walked us through a past paper so we can then in turn help our children at home ace out their grades.

They had a GCSE pack for Memrise to learn the vocabulary. All free, the same as the revision books and used in class.

I know a lot of parents will say they are hands off but this is not a level playing field. Some parents will be paying tens of thousands of pounds ensuring their child gets a better education than others. There is a grade curve at play. I wanted my children to excel so that all doors are open to them, every subject available at A level, all universities open to them too if that was the path they were choosing.

It about finding out what works for your child and better now than scrambling in year 11 to make revision notes on something they covered in September of year 10.

@weedscanpartyiftheywantI completely agree with you.

I have a year 11 and I agree with PP that if they do flashcards/notes/mind maps and revision to consolidate topics from year 10 then it is work 'in the bank' for year 11. Taking end of year 10 mocks seriously and priority revising and creating resources for them is great prep and practice. For things like Eng Lit there will be texts they won't come back to now.

I have recently paid for MarkMe for my yr 11 at her request. I didn't read about it but she was using the basic non pay version and wanted the premium because she finds it really helpful for past paper questions and model answers.

Our school provide a very clear structure with breakdown of topics to be revised and when. Now in year 11 they also do catch up and revision sessions in lunchtimes and after school. We are following their lead and ramping up the workload with them. Dd is facing 22 exams in May/June and it does feel like a marathon so I wouldn't ramp up too early as they will burn out.

Just started getting and English tutor, as DS just has total block for writing in tests, though he's not actually bad at it when he does it, just very slow! Hopefully this will also support English Lit and History for essay questions.

His school does tests every term - as he was getting stressed by 'help' (well, specifically from DH) to revise, we tried seeing what would happen if he was left to it at the start of Y10 and the answer was he was more relaxed, and didn't bug out on any tests (except oddly maths, which he had been fine at until then) but he also scored very poorly on most of them. DH has been intermittently re-teaching him maths (he has ADHD so although he's good at maths when he remembers what to do, the remembering is the hard part) but now DH has started a job after a while working on his own project, he can't do it which may be just as well, TBH.

So we are trying to encourage him, but not too intensely, to revise. Every now and then he gets focussed and gets down to it on his own, but usually he needs chivvying. He will likely have to retake a few subjects at the start of next term follow the upcoming round of tests and even if he doesn't we will try to get him to do some work over holidays when he's at home, and maybe see if there's any summer courses, especially in English.

Here in Wales kids do half their GCSEs in year 10.

Be grateful you a) have another year and b) don’t have to do it twice!

Year 10 here and we have 5 actual GCSEs in May and June.

Changes in GCSEs mean English is now a double award covering Language and Literature - instead of them being separate subjects. Module 1 exam is mid May.

Maths is three papers - they are sitting one of them in June this year. Not sure if there will be one in November of if the other two will both be next year.

Double award science they are doing a paper for each science this year, and the other paper for each science and the practical next year.

Music performance is also this month.

Not sure of all schools do the same, or different schools do things in different ways, but I don't think doing some at the end of year 10 is that unheard of. I know the school did it last year.

Part of me feels it is too soon, and part of me feels that it is some out of the way so less to think about next year ( especially the English). Also good preparation for next year.

Not doing anything specific other than giving encouragement. Will help if asked to look something up or give an explanation - where I can. Music we have arranged a longer lesson with the music teacher before the performance (have been learning an instrument out of school for several years) . Have bought the study guides suggested by the school and print out anything sent on the school app.

Already bought any stationery that was asked for ready for mocks earlier this year and the preparation for the mocks will be built on for the actual exams.

Will still have around 13 written papers next year, plus coursework/NEA for 3 subjects, 2 science practical, 2 language ( listening and speaking) assessments, and 2 other English modules with NEAs (although one of those starts later in year 10). That doesn't include the art portfolios/exam.

It is a long time since I sat GCSE's and I did 9 so not quite as many, but I honestly think the amount of subject matter they cover is much more than we did. However, we had less exams, but they were longer -a lot were three hours, but I don't think many seem to be that long now.

Ours took their maths, English lit, Welsh lit and one paper for each of the sciences in year 10 so after January mocks they were quite focused.

we do things quite differently here in Wales though. The rest of the GCSEs are done in year 11, followed by AS levels in year 12 (count for up to 40%) of the A level grade so need to be taken seriously followed by A levels in year 13. I think as long as they study steadily, and take all class tests and mocks seriously, there shouldn’t be any need to go mad as the exams approach.

We also have annual testing in reading and numeracy from years 2-9 so we don’t get the SATS hysteria that I read about in English schools.

I'm realising that I think I need to provide some basic scaffolds for DS's revision as he won't be able to do it himself just yet like his sibling could - as in buying him folders and dividers to keep his revision for each subject in and I think a '7-day' whiteboard for outlining what he has to do each week will help so he has a visual reminder.

My dd is in y10 and I am not helping her at all other than facilitating the time, space and snacks to make study effective.

Her only struggle is English - she was on track for an 8 until she got her y10 teacher who is letting the class down, so I think we’ll be getting a tutor over the summer to continue thru y11.

Yeah, we didn't have to do anything for oldest DC other than what you did. I'm wondering how we're going to cope with the next year, especially as I'm liable to take on a more stressful job so we can pay oldest's uni living costs from autumn.

Year 10 is the right time for habit over heroics — 15-20 minutes a day on whatever the weakest subject is, every day, including holidays. Boring advice but it's the bit that actually moves the needle. For maths specifically we've landed on mathstutor.me What made it stick for our DS wasn't any clever feature, it was just that it's short enough to do after football without being a whole thing. Past papers for science and CGP books for English still pull their weight.