Revision Help For Gcse's Please.....

[Smowball]

My son takes his GSCSE's starting in weeks time but he is getting in a right tizz over revision . He has passed every mock so far but he really needs good grades to get into the 6th form that he wants . The school is telling him he should be raising two hours a day but he can't cope . I've told him to just do what he can and if he doesn't know it by now he never will to try and take the pressure off but he is still stressing. He's tried watching videos , making notes and bullet points, audio but says he isn't retaining anything. Any ideas???

[Old_Geezer]

He can't cope with two hours work a day ?

Revise as if a normal working day but keep sessions short with breaks in between to let things 'sink in'. Write out things one needs to recall/understand in one's own words. The actof ggetting stuff down on paper highlights areas of doubt and also helps recall.

[woofgang]

He needs to STOP. Seriously if he doesn’t know it now then all the revising in the world won’t help and he’s pushing himself too hard IMO. Tell him at this stage in the game he should be working on his physical and mental health which is the other (bigger) part of exam technique so excellent diet, open air exercise, sleep, gentle mental stimulation like crosswords, sudoku, whatever will practice thought, problem solving and concentration.

[pastafreak]

I don't think telling him that if he doesn't know it by now,he never will. That's his fear,and that's what he's panicking about. Encourage him to revise in small daily increments...maybe 15 minutes at a go. Remind him that he's basically been revising for the past few months,and has probably retained quite a bit.

[pastafreak]

I don't think *it's a good idea* telling him..."

[grasscarp]

I came across some notes I prepared for these exams in the days when they were called GCEs. I took sheets of paper and drew on them e.g. there was a map of a geographical area with notes in areas on it - some in colour - some highlighted - of things that needed remembering. It is easier to remember a picture than a block of writing and it helped me to sort out what I needed to know. Just an idea.

[rockyracoon]

He's probably just panicking (like most of them are at the moment). Break the 2 hours down into manageable sessions, say 20 minutes each and have a rest, watch TV, listen to music. Are there any after school revision classes that he can go to? My kids' school do loads at this time of the year.

Tell him that if he is a bit shy of any grades he needs for Sixth Form, he should still submit his results and ask if there's anyway they'll take him. There may, just may, be a bit of a dip come results day which may force schools etc to lower their entry criteria.

[Smowball]

Sorry something came up yesterday so couldn't reply. I mean he is regularly going in to school early to do work before school and then staying afterwards till 5/5.30 doing extra revision but school are saying two hours as well when he gets home. He is a bright kid but has no confidence in his ability. He loathes all the sciences and didn't revise for any of them and still managed a C and two B's so if he could manage to revise a bit........

[Cloverjo]

Can he get any past GCSE papers from anywhere? I used to find past papers to be the best revision aid while I was studying. If he works through a couple he might find that he can do them quite easily and stop panicking. Or if he doesn't find them easy at least he'll know what areas he needs to work on.

[Old_Geezer]

Thanks for the clarification. In which case it sounds like the school might be expecting too much. Although I don't know how early he gets in and how long he is there.

In any case the advice is much the same. Despite his belief nothing is being retained it sounds like he is trying the right things. It's possible that he's over-cramming. But the idea of studying for a while then taking a break is still valid. Maybe he just needs to chill a little.

I agree with Jo. Being able to do the last few years past papers and understanding why the correct answer is correct would be a help. Tested subject areas change but any subject has a limited number of areas and know what went on in previous tests will give a good grounding in the subject. I took it for granted that schools ensured these were passed out anyway.