Preparing for A levels: 9 essential tips for parents
1. The right learning environment for A level revision
While some youngsters prefer to revise entirely at home, others find it motivating to study elsewhere, either with or without friends around. It might be called ‘study leave’ but your child may find working at school more productive, so see if it’s an option and which areas your school makes available – the library, sixth form centre etc – as well as the hours they’re open. To mix things up further, you could also suggest a public library or local coffee shop or café for a portion of their revision time. Meeting friends outside of the home to study together can form part of an effective routine and keep your young person’s social synapses alert.
2. Offer practical support
You might be new to this situation, but school will have seen innumerable children through revision and exams. If your young person is open to you helping them, ask their school for ideas on how you can support your child practically, eg drawing up a revision plan, helping them set targets and locating past papers etc. The teachers should have plenty of ideas and may even do a specific talk or workshop for parents around this in the lead-up to study leave.
3. Managing exam stress during A levels
Remind your child that exam time is stressful and feeling nervous is normal. However, if you notice it’s tipping over into something more serious, encourage them to speak to their teachers to get a bit of perspective and boost their confidence with praise (often more credible coming from teachers than parents). If they attend a very academic school, remind your child that it’s only their personal best that matters, not everyone else’s – and don’t be afraid to ask a teacher your child respects to reinforce this too. If necessary, find out if the school counsellor has any appointments.
4. School revision support and study leave
Encourage your young person to find out what their school provides by way of top-up revision in the lead-up to, and during, study leave. They may offer subject surgeries, additional marking and even one-to-one revision sessions for any areas your child is really stuck on. As there may be variations between subjects, they should be sure to ask each subject department.
5. Consider hiring a tutor
Tutoring can really help A level students get to grips with particularly challenging parts of the syllabus or gaps that have been identified during their mocks. While it’s obviously best to start as early as possible, many of the tutor companies we review have a number of exam-focused slots available with tutors who are skilled at stepping in last-minute. Ensure any tutor employed at this time has experience teaching the syllabus of the exam board your child is following and can demonstrate that they have successfully supported pupils at this stage in their education in the past. Ask for references.
6. Help your child stay focused
Your school will have plenty of ideas on how your child can spice things up with different methods of revision – reading, verbalising, mind maps, flash cards, watching videos and podcasts etc. Get your child to consider productivity apps too, such as Flora or Forest, which help them stay off their phone and build positive study habits.
7. Healthy routines during A level exam season
There isn’t a school in the country that would recommend round-the-clock revision. Nobody can be productive without regular breaks that allow the brain to reset. Encourage your child to build these into their daily routine, ideally incorporating exercise to energise them and help them sleep better, alongside eating well. At night, remind them that half an hour of unwinding (no screens), followed by at least seven hours’ sleep, knocks the socks off burning the midnight oil with last-minute revision. If they have achieved well consistently throughout the sixth form and mock exam results were on track, sometimes maintaining the pace they have been working at is better than burning out with long, frenetic days of revision.
Half an hour of unwinding (no screens), followed by at least seven hours’ sleep, knocks the socks off burning the midnight oil with last-minute revision
8. Stay positive
Be supportive, not critical, and don’t catastrophise. Your child is likely dealing with their own worries about revision and exams and they certainly don’t need to shoulder your anxiety as well. Let it go if their room is untidy, they haven’t done the washing up or they’re bickering with their siblings. Keep conversation light and chat about anything other than schoolwork unless they open the subject. When the exams kick off, be reassuring and upbeat, and after each exam let them offload if they need to – gently steering them towards focusing on what went well, rather than what they missed or found challenging.
9. Supporting a child with SEN during A level revision
Preparing for exams can be stressful for all young people, but for those with special educational needs and disabilities – who may face issues with processing, working memory and time management – it can feel unbearable. Use the school’s learning support department to help your child find the best revision methods to suit their individual learning needs, eg visual learning or auditory or kinaesthetic revision. Smaller chunks of learning, built into a realistic revision timetable, are helpful for those with SEN, as are low-stimulation learning environments.
