It’s well known that regular exercise boosts brain health, and a fit brain is generally able to learn, think and remember better. However, during GCSE/ A Level exam season, many students abandon regular exercise or choose other ways of unwinding from revision. For those students that want to maintain their exercise routine, the most common question is whether it’s better to exercise before or after studying.

Here’s a quick summary of the latest research on why and when students should incorporate exercise into their revision schedule.

Timing of Exercise

Although many individuals will have their own personal preferences on when to exercise, recent research provides some interesting insights as to the impact of exercise timing n recall. The key finding was that timing a workout for a few hours after a study session is likely to result in better retention of the information just learnt. Whilst not yet fully understood, exercise seems to increase the production of biochemical in the body and brain related to mental function. Experts think the crucial component is physical response. Exercise energises the body in much the same way an emotional experience does – emotional memories are well known to be the longest lasting. The researchers caution, however, that at most exercise can have a supportive effect – the important thing is to study well first. Find out more details on the research findings by reading the NY Times article here.

Build Revision Concentration

In addition to the benefits for mental function, developing a good exercise routine helps build stronger “will-power”, helping students to return to their studies at times when they are tired or concentration is failing. For example, you probably know from experience that students find it really difficult to do homework or study after a school exam/test. Instead, they want to unwind as their will-power and energy has been depleted by the exam. Exercising helps by building endurance, stamina as well as boosting energy levels.

Exam Stress Levels

Exercise also helps with stress/anxiety and makes you happier. When you do a physically-demanding endurance exercise (running/swimming-yes, weightlifting-no), a large amount of endorphins are released by your pituitary gland. These block sensations of pain and produce feelings of euphoria, making you feel happier and more relaxed. In terms of the type of exercise, it doesn’t have to be high intensity; research has shown that it’s regular exercise that matters and that more gentle activities, such as yoga or a brisk walk, can also be beneficial.

As GCSE/ A Level revision and exam experts, we know that students benefit from regular exercise both academically and emotionally. Hopefully, you are now better placed to explain those benefits to your son or daughter and can encourage them to incorporate exercise into their daily or weekly study routine.

Poor exam technique can leave even the brightest GCSE and A Level students with disappointing results.

Even if they have followed our revision tips and have an excellent grasp of the content, many students fail to achieve the results they deserve as a result of misreading questions, running out of time, failing to elaborate on points or misunderstanding command words.

At Justin Craig, we are experts in helping students improve their exam technique.  Whilst each subject differs slightly, here are our top tips for GCSE and A Level students:

Think like an examiner

Doing past papers is key to perfecting your exam technique. Ideally, revise a specific topic first and then answer an exam question focusing on that area.  In the early stages of revision, it’s good to get teachers to mark your papers and give you feedback. If possible, ask your teacher to provide you with model answers and to run through their thought process when answering the question.

As revision progresses, you can gain real insight from marking your own past paper questions. Not only do you have to read and understand the mark scheme, you can learn a lot from analysing your answers and thinking about how many marks you would award yourself and why.

By reading the examiners report, it’s also possible to identify and, hopefully avoid, the pitfalls that students sitting that exam fell into!

Ensure you understand the meaning of command words

Many students fail to answer questions properly due to a lack of knowledge and/or understanding of the key commands words and how they relate to that subject.

For example, whilst many students panic when they see the term “suggest”, it is important to remember that the examiner simply wants you to come up with an idea by applying your knowledge and does not expect you to necessarily know the precise answer.

Use acronyms to help structure long-answer questions

Whilst you may be familiar with acronyms like PEE, PEA, PEAL, which have been used for many years to help students structure essay answers, GCSE and A Level exams have placed increased emphasis on subject specific vocabulary and terminology. The result is a new acronym, PETAL: Point ; Evidence ; Terminology (ie key vocabulary or terms ); Analysis; Link

Practice time management and question planning

One of the key challenges for many students is trying to get all their points across in a limited time.   Rather than diving into the first question of the exam, allocate time to think and prepare. Use past papers to practice and challenge yourself to work quickly and effectively. So before writing anything:

• read over the whole paper at least once and decide the order you want to answer the questions in – answering your best questions first can really boost confidence
• having highlighted command words and key terms, make a few notes for each question (eg key points you might want to cover; how much time you have for that question).

For essay questions, the next step is to write a quick plan, including everything you can think of to answer the question.

If additional points come to you after you have started writing, just add them to the plan so you don’t forget about them!

Start with a short introduction outlining your direction/argument and then work through your essay plan. Keep an eye on time and try to be as succinct as possible to help ensure you have time to cover all your points.

Once you’ve written as much as time allows, close off your essay with a conclusion and move onto the next question.

In the case of STEM exams, be sure to show and explain your working, where applicable. Not only could this get you marks even if you get the answer wrong, it may even be required to get the full marks available.

And talking of the answer, make it clear to the examiner! Cross out any errors and put a line under or circle around your final response.

For multiple choice questions, try coding the paper as you scan it and highlight questions into three categories:

a) definitely can do (do these first)

b) tricky/lengthy but doable questions (do these second)

c) tricky/lengthy and not sure about (do these last). This will help prevent you getting hung up on questions.

Don’t leave early!

Whilst tempting to leave early, don’t! Use any spare time to read through the whole exam again and check:

● for any spelling or grammar errors

● whether what you’ve written makes sense or does it need clarification/rewording?

● whether it actually answers the question? Can it be improved in any way?

In the case of calculations, check your working again and make sure it matches your written answer.

Lastly, help the examiner by cleaning up your paper – make it easy for him/her to navigate by crossing out mistakes and highlighting your final answers.

Download our guide for Why Exam Technique Matters – 2024

My Justin Craig Course Experience

Sceptical, would have been the word to describe my mood halfway through a four hour coach journey to Finchley Road, followed by tube to Watford station.

As a seventeen-year-old boy who has been out of formal education for seven months, an intensive three-day course consisting of eighteen total hours of tutoring seemed daunting and overwhelming. I was studying PE, a topic which I did well at GCSE (grade 7) but was struggling with getting to grips because of a lot of the more detailed and complicated areas of the specification.

My experience, however, was completely different from what I anticipated.

The Study Centre

Watford Grammar School for Boys was a fantastic location to host such a course, had wonderful classrooms, large space for throwing a ball around or sitting on the many shaded benches to enjoy lunch.
The location was within 10 minutes of both a Tesco and a Tube station which provided the option for me to buy fresh lunch at a reasonable price and, as I was staying a few stations down, the short walk to the station was incredibly convenient.

I stayed at my mum’s flat which was a very pleasant hour’s walk away along canals and through lovely countryside. Many of the other participants either commuted locally or stayed at a nearby hotel, particularly the Premier Inn located a ten minute walk away from the campus.

The Course Community

There were around twenty to twenty-five students at the centre and initially I was worried about being a northern loner. However, this wasn’t the case as there were many people I could converse, and with who I eventually became good friends.

The community feel was amazing, initially awkward but that’s natural and it only took about half the day for people to become familiar with each other. Large sports games were played and according to Wesley, the Course Assistant on my course, this isn’t an uncommon occurrence and almost every course eventually becomes a 3-day community.

Speaking of Wesley, he was in charge of making sure everyone felt involved and were enjoying themselves in and outside the class, by playing games and ensuring the tutors had all the resources they needed. I felt the addition of a Course Assistant was a really great idea from Justin Craig as he operated as a both useful asset for teachers, and someone which we could come to speak to if we felt there was something wrong.

The Learning Experience

Whilst community feel and location are important, the actual learning experience is what you’re paying the money for. And obviously, before I say this, I am one boy, on one course, in one centre, with one experience. I’m sure you could find people with different experiences and I’m not guaranteeing that your child will emerge from the 3 days as a genius. However, the learning experience for me was the best of my academic life!

My overall knowledge and ability to apply that knowledge to exam questions have been catalysed to a new level thanks to the Justin Craig’s Tutors and Format.

The 4×1.5h lessons were academically testing, but not so long to feel painful. As a student with both ADHD and Dyspraxia, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to cope, but my amazing tutor Rhiannon was incredibly accommodating to my learning disabilities and made the learning so valuable for me.

The class size varied between two to eight and, for me, I found it perfect as the tutor could really give me a large amount of attention compared to that of a twenty or more sized class. It felt a lot more personal as a process and the tutor really understood what worked and what didn’t for each individual student.

It wasn’t just me who experienced this. Other people I spoke to said their experience was great and their tutors were incredibly knowledgeable. I have an unconditional offer to an American university, which can often make me feel very demotivated, but I never felt flat or demotivated whilst on the Justin Craig course.

The Challenges

Obviously, not every course is perfect, and I wouldn’t be giving a fair reflection if I didn’t acknowledge what I personally found challenging. These are very minor challenges however.

The last half an hour can feel very long and if there was any point where I struggled, it was then.

As an extrovert, I found very easy to fit in however I don’t know if that was the case for everyone and I didn’t ever see some people at lunch.

Finally, and this is another if, if you were to get a tutor who you didn’t get on with or you didn’t like their teaching style then it may not be quite as productive a week. Having said that, Justin Craig seemed to be very good at selecting adaptive and engaging teachers.

The Course was outstanding!

To conclude, the Justin Craig experience was outstanding.
They treat you like adults, but still provide you the guidance when you need it. I loved my experience and if I was given the choice to do it again, I would jump at the opportunity.

It actually was such a great experience that I will be applying to become a Course Assistant in order to make other children’s experience just as special as mine.

I understand people may be hesitant to fork out the money – and I’m not telling you to go and get a loan just to attend a course – but I think its possibly the best decision you could make regarding your child’s academic future.
Justin Craig is the best academic choice for your child.

“Your child isn’t revising but you can almost hear the clock ticking down the seconds until their exams. You’re tearing your hair out,  sick to death of nagging them to just get on with it. And you’re worried! Worried that your child is going to do much worse than they should and that “doors” will close due to poor grades.”

Our guest Lucy Parsons is an experienced academic coach and has put together this post, with five strategies to motivate a reluctant reviser so that they start making progress and your stress levels drop.

1. Make sure they know how to revise

An alarming number of students have absolutely no idea how to revise. They’ve heard that you can make revision notes, create flashcards or draw mind-maps but they actually don’t know what to put down on the paper. Maybe they’ve tried, in a half-hearted kind of way, to make a few flashcards, looked at them twice and dismissed them as a strategy that doesn’t work.

When you nag them to start revising they get all defensive, shout at you and start slamming doors.

The trouble is that they won’t start revising because they don’t actually know how to do it. Your first step is to make sure that they know.

My simple process for revision is:

• Understand – it’s a great deal harder to memorise something if you don’t understand it. So, make sure they’ve taken the time to read their class notes, a text book or looked up a YouTube video so that they truly understand what they’re trying to memorise
• Record – Once they have their understanding, they then need to record it. This can be as notes, on a mind-map or poster or on flashcards. The important thing is that it’s an aid to their memory and that it’s in their own words
• Repeat – memory is gained through repetition. It’s the same for all human beings. So, they need to keep going back to the resources they made in step 2 to repeat, repeat, repeat. Twice is not enough.

 2. Show them how long it is until their exams

Many students will say that it’s too soon to start revising – their exams are ‘ages’ away. What’s far more urgent is their Whatsapp or getting on their PS5.

To counteract this, sit down with them and create a plan that shows exactly how much time is left until their exams. If you block out things like school trips, weekends, bank holidays etc and then think about how much they can realistically study in the time left, it should give them a real shock and get them to start expending some effort.

3. Bribe them

In an ideal world you wouldn’t have to bribe your children. But, exams are looming and you haven’t got time to waste on idealism.

Short-term bribes tend to work better than long-term bribes. So, instead of promising they can go to that music festival if they get certain grades, tell them they can have an hour watching Netflix if they do 2.5 hours revision this evening, or that if they complete 15 hours of independent study this week you’ll pay for a horse-riding session at the weekend. I call these ‘mini-motivations’.

The important thing here is that you never give the reward unless they’ve done what they needed to do to earn it. You need to be 100% consistent and stick to your word.

4. Prove to them that revision is necessary

Some young people think that revision isn’t for them because they’re a) too clever and they know everything already or b) they’re not clever enough and no amount of work will ever make any difference.

With the ones who think they’re too clever, test them. For example, sit down with a biology text book and quiz them. Or, ask them to reel off 10 quotes from Romeo and Juliet that they could use in an English Literature exam. If they don’t come up with the goods, you’ll have proven that they need to do some work.

With those who believe that no amount of work will make a difference to their grades get them to do an experiment. So, for example with the English Literature quotes get them to focus on learning three over a weekend in a concerted way. They must try. I bet they’ll know them better by the end of the weekend and you’ll have improved their confidence in their ability to revise as well as in their ability to improve.

5. Uncover their big ‘why’

Some students will say it’s not worth revising because they don’t see the point of the exams, anyway. They may not have any clear direction or goal.

In this day and age it’s hard to pin-point a career and work tirelessly until you achieve it. After all, most of the jobs our young people will end up doing don’t even exist yet. But, they will have some idea about what they’re good at, what they’re interested in and what kind of lifestyle they want to lead.

Start helping them to break this down so that they can see that there is something for them to work towards – even if it’s not terribly concrete at the moment. In my experience saying that you have to work hard ‘to get a good job’ is simply not enough.

We hope you’ve found these tips helpful. If you’d like some more advice on helping your child to reach their full academic potential, download my free advice sheet, 10 Steps to Exam Success.

Lucy Parsons is an academic coach, author of The Ten Step Guide to Acing Every Exam You Ever Take, and the host of The School Success Formula podcast. Visit her website, lifemoreextraordinary.com.

Our expert tutor, Margaret-Mary, talks both students and parents through some examples of stress, with strategies to help. Using her knowledge from a tutor and a student viewpoint, Margaret-Mary uses real-life examples and situations.

“Students deal with stress. If you are a parent or teacher, or even a student yourself, you will know exactly what I mean. So, let us focus on where we can manage our own stress and teach our stressed-out students how to manage theirs.

The Circle of Control.

The circle of what you can control, and the circle of what you can’t.

Another way of putting it, accept what you cannot change, and change the things that you can. Accepting what you are unable to change brings serenity and changing what you can requires courage. Knowing the difference is wisdom, but the handy circles diagram helps with that.

The Circle of Influence

We can only control ourselves. How we choose to act and speak, and the attitude we adopt, will have an influence on what happens to us to some extent.

An example:
A teacher sent a student out of her lesson for being rude to her when she asked him to stop talking. He was very angry and stressed.

We looked at what he could control, the stuff in the centre circle, and we came up with alternative approaches he could make to the situation. He said it wouldn’t really matter because he would have a detention anyway. I agreed, maybe he would, and he had no control over that – only his response when his teacher came out to talk to him.

When she did come out, he apologised immediately for his rudeness and acknowledged that he was out of order. His teacher was surprised at his about turn, and so pleased that she excused him from the detention!  Choosing a different attitude and making right his mistake influenced the outcome.

The Circle of Concern

The outer circle contains the external factors we have no control over. But we do have a choice. We can focus on them and put our awareness and our energy there. Energy flows where attention goes. That leads to anxiety and stress.
Alternatively, we can accept them, and put our awareness into those things in the inner circles where we have control and influence. That leads to a greater sense of serenity because we can feel improvements in our situation as a result of what we do. Try to make a version of the Circle of Control that is personal and specific to you.

Stressed out Students and Meditation

Meditation for Relaxation

There are a lot of guided meditation exercises for relaxation and they are very easy to find on the internet. Find a time, put headphones in and allow yourself to fall into one. You will feel the difference immediately. Do it habitually, and you will feel more relaxed as a general state of mind.

Mindfulness of breathing is a simple meditation to do anywhere. Be comfortable, close your eyes and count either your in breaths or your out breaths up to ten, and then start again from one. When you notice that your mind has wandered, and it will wander, just start again from one.

“Meditation is concentrating the front of your mind on a mundane task so that the rest of the mind can find peace.”

Example in action:
A Year 12 student I taught always did well in class, but when it came to tests, she did badly, often barely scraping a grade. When I commented on it with a view to identifying the problem, she burst into tears. I suggested a meditation technique.
In the next test, she improved to a B grade, and after that, she hardly ever missed an A, which is what she finally achieved in her A level Chemistry. Her stress was getting in the way, quite definitely and she was able to manage it, she could do what she was capable of and wanted to do. Awesome!

Meditation for Learning

Learning as a bit like collecting information during the day, and then when we sleep at night, it all gets filed away in the brain. When we meditate on it, it is as if our brain “office angels” are collecting the relevant files and putting them on our desk ready for us to use when we need them.

The night before an exam, when you’ve done as much revision as you can, meditate on the subject. Lightly pass your mind over the subject, the lessons, the notes and questions. The trick is to not try to hold onto anything or work it out. It is to let what you have been learning in that subject drift into your mind. Sure, it doesn’t eliminate exam nerves, but it brings about a feeling of readiness.

The Panic Zone

When students get stressed, they can often find themselves in the panic zone.  Dismissing it as overly dramatic reaction is likely to make it worse.

One strategy to bring the panic-stricken person back into the present is to focus them on their body and what they can physically sense. It is an effective technique that I have used with stressed out students to calm them before their exam,

The Five Senses Grounding Exercise.

Insist on eye contact and hold it throughout.

1. What do you see? – prompt them, ask them to describe colours, shapes, objects….
2. What do you hear? – prompt, stop talking, encourage listening, prompt
3. What do you smell? – breath in deeply yourself as if catching the wind. They will probably mimic you.
4. What do you taste?
5. What do you feel? – temperature, clothes, textures etc.

Describe as much as possible. As a parent, ask them questions. Breathing starts to slow down and energy settles. It takes around five minutes to feel calm.

It is only natural that students get stressed out by school, studying and exams, especially when there are high stakes like their whole future involved. However, there are steps we can take to help them learn to manage stress.”

Experience of Justin Craig Courses

We think our courses are fantastic, but we always encourage our students to tell us what it is really like for them. Our student, Leonardo, wanted to share his experience of being on a Justin Craig course so it may help other students, and their parents, decide what is best for their studies:

“I cannot speak highly enough about my experience with Justin Craig Education. This tutoring company has been a game-changer for me, not just academically, but in so many other ways. It’s hard to put into words just how much they’ve positively impacted my life in terms of social growth, independence, and knowledge enrichment.

Academic Support

First off, the academic support they offer is amazing.

Whether I needed help with Maths, Science, or English, Justin Craig’s team of expert tutors were always there, ready to provide great guidance.  For example, our Math tutors gave us simplified methods for word problems. This supported me as I managed to understand a broader range of topics that I couldn’t get my head round.

Subjects

The range of subjects they cover is impressive, making it easy for me to find the support I needed. Their tutors were also very helpful and kind, and understood my learning needs, as well as the others in my group.

The subjects I chose were all cores. The reason I chose these subjects was due to the fact that being a higher set student in science and a foundation student in maths, I wanted to achieve higher grades. These courses enabled me to do so.

Tutors & their advice

The tutors don’t just hand you the answers; they empower you with the skills and confidence to think critically and approach your studies independently. This approach has had a good impact, not only on my academic performance, but also on my overall outlook on learning.

One very important skill I learnt was to look over a question more than once and sometimes that the answer can be found hidden somewhere in the paper. Also, if there is a question which I don’t understand, instead of wasting crucial time I moved to another question. I learnt that coming back to it with a fresher mind would let me spend more time working on it.

Personal & Social

I’m now more self-reliant, more determined to tackle challenges, and more capable of facing complex problems head-on. This independence is a skill that I’ll carry with me throughout my life.

Moreover, Justin Craig understands that learning extends far beyond the classroom. The social opportunities they provide are very enjoyable. Through group study sessions and extra-curricular activities, they’ve created a vibrant and supportive community. One of the social opportunities was that after every day of learning we were all taking part in activities such as rounders, or swimming. This allowed us to be put into teams where we were introduced to new people, expanding our social circles.

These sessions have not only allowed me to interact with my peers, but also facilitated peer-to-peer learning with fellow students. This has been instrumental in enriching my social life, and led to some lasting friendships.

Individual Learning Support

The flexibility offered by Justin Craig is another reason why I can’t recommend them enough. They understand that everyone’s learning journey is unique. Whether I needed extra support during stressful exam periods, or a more relaxed schedule during the summer, they were always willing to adapt.

I noticed this when I was struggling on a particular problem, but all the students in my class understood it. They were set independent tasks, whilst the tutor went through the question with me and made sure that by the end I could understand it. This flexibility ensured that my educational experience was always positive and tailored to my individual needs.

Communication & Development

The communication and feedback systems at Justin Craig are truly exceptional. Tutors are not just content with teaching; they’re eager to provide constructive feedback on your progress. They pinpoint your strengths, and also areas that may need improvement, which is invaluable for tracking your academic growth.

In a world where educational support can sometimes feel transactional, Justin Craig Education stands out by genuinely investing in the good development of its students. Their emphasis is on independence, social growth, and academic excellence. They haven’t just helped me excel academically, but they’ve also significantly contributed to my personal growth and intellectual development.

5 Stars for Justin Craig Educational Experience

In conclusion, Justin Craig Education is absolute amazing! Their wide range of subjects, focus on independence, and dedication to social development make them a remarkable company. I wholeheartedly recommend their courses to any student looking for a transformative and enriching educational experience.

They’ve not only helped me in subjects, but have also shaped my journey towards greater independence, social enrichment, and knowledge. Justin Craig Education deserves every bit of praise and every one of those 5 stars.”

To find out how Justin Craig can help with your child’s studies, do call our friendly team on 01727 744340.

When should you start revising for GCSEs and A Levels?

For a generation of students used to updating their Instagram status every few minutes, the summer exams may seem like a long time away. But add up everything that needs to be done between now and then – from rereading (or just reading) Great Expectations to perfecting French verb conjugations – and suddenly leaving revision until the Easter holidays doesn’t feel so wise.

So the big questions are: How and when to begin revising? How to get the most out of revision time? And, most importantly, how to end up with the best grades you can?

Fortunately, decades of research carried out by psychologists about learning and memory has produced some clear advice: Start early, learn in short bursts, test yourself regularly and space out your revision.

Start revising early

There’s no simple answer to this – it all depends on your age, maturity, motivation and concentration skills. However, you should aim to start revising as early as possible, and make sure you have time set aside to keep going. The real key is to make sure that revision sessions are goal rather than time-oriented. Setting a goal – like learning imperfect verb conjugations for French – makes the learning process much more efficient, as you’ll find yourself focusing on only the most relevant material.

Learn in short bursts

As mentioned in an earlier version of our revision tips, it’s important to be organised to make the best use of your time. For example, you’ll want to create a realistic timetable which includes time for past papers, relaxation and plenty of breaks. Our advice is to start with shorter sessions – of around 15 to 20 minutes – as it’s much better to have shorter periods of effective revision than hours of daydreaming.

Test yourself regularly

Using the exam specification, it’s worth doing a quick self assessment of how confident you are on each topic; we’ve found a simple ‘traffic light’ system works well. You can also use this as the basis for preparing your revision timetable and working out how much time you need to spend on each topic.

Space out your revision

While it’s generally accepted that more work leads to better grades, it’s also important to acknowledge that the brain needs rest and that your memory  works best when revision is spread out. Instead of cramming or pulling all-nighters, our advice would be to start sooner rather than later and to use a timetable to make revision more manageable and maintain motivation.

For many students, however, spreading out revision, rather than cramming, is easier said than done. Commonly students find it difficult to think ahead, being focused on the immediate demands of school work, extra-curricular activities and/or their social lives. However, no matter the reason, if you are organised enough, you can spend less time revising and remember more.

At Justin Craig, we have scheduled our courses with that knowledge in mind, running subject specific revision courses during all of the school holidays. Our courses are a great opportunity to give students a revision boost; either as a pick up after recent disappointing mock results or to help prepare for mocks and school assessments.

In addition to addressing knowledge gaps and/or exam technique concerns, students really value the opportunity to share information and revision strategies with other students. Access to expert tutors also provides students with invaluable insights and tips, as well as helping them sharpen up their approach to revising and tackling exam papers.

With over 40 years of experience, we also know that student learning styles, concerns and motivations vary significantly. Not knowing how to approach revision is frequently a deterrent to students starting at all. With this in mind, we offer revision courses to help students understand what will work best for them, together with strategies and techniques to manage exam stress, maximise exam performance and help with revision planning throughout the year.

Why you shouldn’t skimp on Christmas holiday revision

It’s the end of a long, hard term. We’re in deep winter. Everyone else is getting ready to kick-back and enjoy the Christmas festivities – but you’ve got mocks to revise for, or mock results to ponder. The temptation is to forget about the revision, relax on the sofa and gorge on Quality Streets. But, you might end up regretting this more than the extra chocolates on Boxing Day.

Why mocks are always important

Mocks are an important learning opportunity. It’s not just about learning the stuff you need to know to get a decent mark in an exam. It’s also about learning how you revise, and seeing where you can improve for the ‘real thing’. When you take your mocks revision seriously you learn things like:

• What times of day you revise best, and which should be avoided
• How you can motivate and incentivise yourself to keep going
• How long you can sit for without getting bored and distracted
• Which revision techniques work for you – and which ones don’t
• The amount of time it takes you to learn what you need to cover

You simply can’t learn this stuff without doing it yourself. And, if your mocks are in January, now is the moment to find these things out. After the exams you can do an exam season review to capture what you’ve learned from your mocks and how to move forward from there.

Why mocks are important this year

This year, mocks are even more important than ever. With the grading of summer exams now returned to pre-pandemic grading, it would be wise not to ditch mock exam revision because you’d rather be watching Netflix over the Christmas period. Take your revision seriously and you’ll be looking after your future in 2024.

How to stop mocks from ruining your Christmas holiday

If you want to be conscientious about your revision, but also deserve a break (you do, by the way), this is how you stop your mock exams from ruining your Christmas holiday.

1. Schedule days off
2. Focus on the topics that will make the biggest difference to your overall grade
3. Make a revision plan
4. Do revision power hours
5. Use a timer
6. Incentivise yourself by promising yourself treats and rewards for doing the revision throughout the day
7. Make sure you’re using revision techniques that work for you
8. Remove distractions (say bye-bye to your phone – just while you’re trying to focus!)

So, the message is – yes, you need to revise for your mocks. But, you also need to relax and enjoy your Christmas. By balancing the two things you’ll set yourself up to reach your academic potential in 2023, and beyond.

Lucy Parsons in an academic coach, author of The Ten Step Guide to Acing Every Exam You Ever Take, and founder of The Extraordinaries Club where she teaches families the study skills, mindset and communication strategies to get through the exam years successfully. Find further information here: lifemoreextraordinary.com.

If you are concerned your child is not getting ready for their mocks, look at Lucy’s Kickstarter Workshop.

Our expert tutor, Mike, offers advice on how to effectively transition from Year 12 to Year 13 Chemistry. However, many of the points that will be discussed can be applied to most, if not all, of your studies at this level.

As you will have been made aware, the transition from GCSE to A-level is a sharp learning curve, especially in subjects where the models (the ideas you are taught) grow in their complexity. This is especially difficult within Chemistry – the ideas change from day 1 and this is usually a big shock to the system.

Does it get any harder when moving from Year 12 into Year 13?

In short, the answer is yes. The models do grow in complexity and require you to have a firm grasp on the ideas from the previous year. How can you prepare yourself in advance, bearing in mind that you also have your UCAS applications and UKCAT exams for people hoping to get into medical school?

Here are some ideas to help you make that transition as smooth as possible:

• Complete a set of timed AS papers all from the same year and mark them so you can baseline your own ability. This will highlight any areas that are strong and weak.
  • Note what soft skills are needing to be improved.
  • Are you showing all of your working on calculations, using the correct number of significant figures and are your units of measurement correct?
  • Most importantly of all, do you fully understand the topics being assessed?
• With this information, RAG rate (Red, Amber, Green) the Year 12 specification. This will focus your attention more on the areas that need to be developed.
• When you have this information, writing out revision notes and reading around the subject can and will deepen your understanding.

How to make practical notes:

• Take a sheet of A3 paper and put a topic in the centre, and in a black pen write all you can remember (without using a revision guide) about the topic making links in a spider diagram.
• Using this you can then use the information to practice answering past paper questions.
• Then mark the questions and add any extra information that you have missed off in a different colour pen.
• Repeat this process until all of the information required is on your diagram.

This does a number of things. It gives you a revision document to use, but also highlights the areas that need learning so you can spend more effective time revising i.e. the information you have added in different colours.

Using Diagrams for Revision

When utilising the diagrams for revision purposes the key here is little and often. Psychologists will tell you that effective revision comes from repeated rehearsal, i.e. revising in small chunks.
I refer to this as ‘guerilla revision’. For example, carry around in a plastic wallet containing one of your revision diagrams, read it through and try to recall parts of it.

Think about this – when listening to music to a song you like, how long does it take you to learn the words? Do you go out of your way to learn them or do you learn by repetition?

This may only be a 10-15 minute exercise, but if completed 7 times a week, this can result in nearly 2 hours of revision. Think of all those times where you waste 15 minutes scrolling through social media, looking at cat photos, getting yourself ready for college in front of the mirror. Why not put your revision diagram up on your mirror and multi task?

Exploit the examiners reports

Every year, the Chief Examiner for specific papers will write a report about common mistakes that students make on each question. Incorporate these onto your revision diagrams as well any specialist language that you need to successfully answer the questions.

Attempting the calculations

In Year 13, the calculations often come as multi-stage longer affairs, often requiring you to calculate one thing to be used in a further more advanced idea.

These carry larger tariffs of marks on the paper, and are a lot easier than they look. You just need to be clear and logical in your approach to them.

Remember that the examiners are trying to give you marks (their brief), so make it easy for them to see where you have worked out the answer. This allows them to mark your answers more efficiently and with greater accuracy.

Above all, practice them. Be familiar with the buttons on your calculator and use the same type of calculator – you get used to how they work.

Year 13

In conclusion, Year 13 is often a very stressful year with all of the things that are going on and this is also enhanced by the pressure that you will put on yourself.
If you begin your revision process early (I advise October half term), then you will be better prepared for your exams the following year. And don’t forget that Justin Craig offers a wide range of revision classes and courses to further boost your confidence.

Good luck and work hard – its ultimately worth the extra effort!