It’s that time of the year again when Year 10 and Year 11 students find themselves amidst a whirlwind of emotions and expectations. Preparing for GCSE exams for some comes easily, while for others, there could be nothing worse. In this blog, we delve into a couple key strategies for students to prepare effectively and how Cardiff & Vale Tutors can support young people in these final days prior to GCSE exams.
Set aside time for revision.
Similar to the concerns raised about excessive screen time which we discussed in our previous blog, students must strike a balance between their academic pursuits and other essential aspects of life. While it’s vital to revise, neglecting physical health, social interactions, and leisure activities can undermine overall wellbeing and those aspects could contribute to how well students do in exams too. We suggest setting aside an hour or two for revision in the evenings. It’s even better if that time can be focused and without distractions such as a TV playing in the background or casually scrolling TikTok while trying to solve simultaneous equations. That way students can get more done, and by doing some revision feel accomplished which could potentially lower levels of stress.
Attend school and revision sessions.
Many schools do after-school revision sessions, or breakfast revision before morning exams. We encourage students to attend those sessions as much as possible. It’s also important to attend all that is left of timetabled lessons for students in Year 11. It may seem like the final days of school do not matter and that those final lessons won’t help anyway – but they will! Evidence shows that there is a link between attendance and grades achieved. In the last few weeks of school, it does matter if your child is attending or not. School teachers will be able to provide specific guidance and lessons tailored to the needs of students using data from mock exams, which means everything students do in school from now up until their exams is targeted and can help to raise grades significantly.
How can Cardiff & Vale Tutors help with exam preparation?
Our qualified tutors can support revision by helping students stay accountable for their studies. It can be difficult to get on with revision by yourself, however, having a tutor to guide you can make a significant difference. As our tutors are familiar with the curriculum and best exam practice, they can create lesson plans for tutees which can target the students’ key areas of weakness within a subject. Cardiff & Vale tutors can also support students with revision resources, marking of past paper questions and then providing useful feedback, and tutors can help with the creation of revision plans and timetables.
In conclusion, it’s important for students to attend all school days, create a focused atmosphere for revision and set aside time to revise. If your child is unsure how to revise, we have written about this before here. We wish all students the very best in their exams, and we are here to help with last minute revision supported by our fantastic tutors!
Written by Aleksandra Dul
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