Exams

THE PARENTS’ GUIDE TO EXAM REVISION

The next 4 months period is one of the most important times in a student’s life. It

is the culmination of 12 -13 years of school education. The grades achieved this

May/June remain with a student throughout their life no matter what else they go on to achieve. More frequently we are seeing colleges, employers and further

education institutions declining applications from people that do not have at least

a C grade in English, Math’s and Science at GCSE, even if they are applying as a mature student.

Our young people can rarely achieve their best independently; best results are

always achieved when a partnership is formed between student, family and

school and your support as parents is fundamental to success.

The aim of this document is to give you some useful information that will help you

as you become involved in the revision process over the coming months.

It is worth remembering that an examination is a test of learning, not memory. It

is important that the Revision process starts early.

Learning Styles:

For a person to learn effectively, it is important to understand how we learn. In

general, there are 3 learning styles:

1. Visual – learning by seeing: reading, making notes, spider diagrams,

watching a film/documentary, pictures, graphs, reading past paper

questions and answers.

2. Auditory – learning by listening: having something explained, listening to a

recording, talking about the work, being asked questions and talking the

answer through.

3. Kinesthetic & tactile – learning by doing: making revision cards with words

and pictures, use of revision games, making spider diagrams, making a

game from past paper questions and answers.

Most people learn in more than 1 way. The following will help you identify your

child’s learning style:

This chart helps you determine learning style; read the word in the left column

and then answer the questions in the successive three columns to see how you

respond to each situation. Your answers may fall into all three columns, but one

column will likely contain the most answers. The dominant column indicates your

primary learning style.

Study Skills For Students (and Parents) – getting work patterns right:

Where to study
- Create good conditions that help you study
- Find a quiet place to study.
- Make sure it is well lit.
- Keep background noise to a minimum
- Avoid studying in an area where there will be distractions (like television!) music can help some learners, especially auditory learners.
- Have everything you need to do your revision to hand before you start

2. How to study

There is no ‘right way’ to revise, as long as the method you choose enables you

to gain a solid grasp of key facts and strengthen your knowledge. Some students

are happy to read their classroom notes from start to finish, others prefer to

simplify the information as much as possible, turning everything into skeleton

notes, or diagrams. In practice, most students find that mixing techniques suits

the varied nature of the subjects being revised, and provides essential variety

when studying. Know how long you can concentrate – if it is 30 minutes, then

take a short break after 30 and then come back for another 30 minutes – lots of

short blocks may be better for you than a wasted 3 hours.

Turn your notes into revision tools;
make sure that you know exactly what has to be learned – do not

waste time on things that will not be examined – check with your

teachers

· write ideas and facts on to cards to use as ‘prompts’ - what you

write you will have to learn so make sure that you get the main

points only

· create memory aids such as diagrams, initial letters to make a word

you need to remember or SMART objectives: (Specific;

Measurable; Achievable; Realistic; Targets). These will help you

remember key facts

· write key facts/notes out and display these around the house where

you will see them

· record yourself reading notes to listen to

· Study with a friend and test each other’s knowledge, but remember you

are meeting to revise rather than to chat!

Work through past question papers – and use a watch to time them so

that you can practice timing your answers

Choose study and revision guides sensibly. It’s not hard to find help with

revision – as well as established published revision guides, there are

hundreds of websites offering help and advice. You will need to judge

which is the best one(s) for your needs. Save valuable time and get

recommendations from your teachers and/or friends. Make sure that you

tell us about the good ones you find. ln school we have signed up to Sam Learning.

Remember course notes are also a valuable source of extra help
Keep yourself more alert by changing revision methods during a session.

For instance, try switching from note taking to memorising; from reading to

asking someone to test you

Attend any revision classes that your teachers are running at school

and get their advice on revision methods

Look after yourself – Sometimes revision can become a competition – who

stayed up latest, who worked longest, who’s worrying the most. But the

more tired you are the less efficiently you’ll work. You need to rest as well

as study, eat well, drink lots of water and make sure you pace yourself

If you find you are losing concentration, stop, take a break and come back

when you are ready to concentrate

Revision Plan/Timetable:

Our top tip - make a plan to avoid wasting precious revision time.

Our top tip - start your revision at least six weeks before your exams begin. It is

helpful to look at your exam dates and work backwards to the first date you

intend to start revising.

List all your exam subjects and the amount of time you think you will need

for each one. It is unlikely that the amounts will be equal. Many people find

it advisable to allocate more time to the subject or topics they find the

most difficult

Draw up a revision plan for each week – think carefully about the times in

the day when you concentrate best – put new or more difficult topics in

these slots. You will get more done at weekends – plan to use these

Fill in any regular commitments you have first and the dates of your

examinations

Use Revision Checklists for each subject as a starting point. Look at what

you need to know and try to identify any gaps in your knowledge. (A good

way of doing this is to look at past papers or tests you have worked

through)

Divide your time for each subject into topics based on the units in the

revision checklist, and make sure you allow enough time for each one

Plan your time carefully, assigning more time to subjects and topics you

find difficult

Revise often; try and do a little every day
Plan in time off, including time for activities which can be done out in the

fresh air. Take a10 minute break every 40 minutes, go for a short walk or

make a drink

You may find it helpful to change from one subject to another at ‘break’

time, for example doing one or two sessions of maths and then changing

to Geography, or alternating a favorite subject with a more difficult one. It

helps to build in some variety

Write up your plan and display it somewhere visible
Adjust your timetable if necessary and try to focus on your weakest topics

and subjects

· Positive thinking is important! There will be times when you are not in the

mood or it just is not sticking. Don’t panic! Take a break…keeping thinking

about the next task rather then everything. – all the bits will come together

at the end

· Keep drinking water

Last-minute revision tips:

Try and prioritize; do what you can.

· Use your revision tools (prompts, diagrams etc) to check final facts

· Keep calm and consolidate your existing knowledge rather than trying to

learn new topics

Don’t stay up all night revising; being overtired will not help you to do your

best

Revision Resources:

With all additional Revision Resources it is important to know the Exam Board

and Syllabus that has been taught – the subject teacher will be able to supply

this information.

• A Revision Timetable Template is available:

www.bbc.co.uk/schools/planners

• There are many web sites available to help with GCSE revision, eg www.samlearning.com Centre ID FY4PH username and password dob and initial example 030696bs

www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/

www.technologystudent.com technology website

• Revision Books can be found in any bookshop Letts Revision Guides are

always popular, but again the subject teacher will be able to advise the

best for their subject and some faculties you can buy direct from the school.

English and Math’s have purchased a free revision guide that will be given out to students to use.

And finally, Good Luck, we look forward to working with you and most

Importantly we look forward to Thursday 25^th August when we will see, with

pride, the fruition of everyone’s hard work.