Week 2 of the new academic year may seem a little early to start thinking about revision. GCSEs are 8 months away, the Kent Test a whole year, so why focus on revision now?

There benefit of repletion in learning is well documented and leaving revision to the last-minute misses this crucial step, but what can your child do to start the process that will give them the best chance of success in their exams?

I’m a great fan of file cards. Noting key points from each topic as it is covered at school means your child will have a bank of quick revision guides, to flick through regularly to keep the topic fresh. As an English tutor, I recommend a file card for each poem studied, including notes on structure, imagery, and themes, together with brief quoted (just a few words, not whole rafts of poetry that your child will never remember). For novels, I recommend a similar system with separate cards for main plot points, themes, setting and each character. I like to colour code my cars with a different colour for each book/play and the poems all sharing the same colour.  The method may differ slightly for other subjects – in maths I’d include a worked example of each topic.

I suggest students read through the cards they’ve made once a month and ‘traffic light’ the topics (a green mark at the top of the card if they are confident, orange if they need a little more practice and red for any subjects they need to ask for help with). The aim is to see all the cards finally marked with green

If you want to see examples of the file cards I make with students, feel free to message me, either through the website, or on social media.

For Kent test, it’s a little different. Our 5-session bundle can be used to highlight any areas that need some extra work. This can be delivered in 5 one-hour sessions or can be purchased separately.

If you think we can help, get your child started, please give us a shout.