Students need all the help they can get during the revision period leading up to exams. Teachers are well placed to give them that support. You can make a difference to their final performance by giving them support and practical advice during the lead-up to exams. It needn't be an ordeal for them or for you!

Why are teachers so important at revision time?

Revision time is a flashpoint in the relationships between most parents and their teenage offspring. Encouragement to revise may be perceived as nagging. Some parents find themselves treading the fine line between gentle nudging and what might be taken as incessant moaning, continuously risking out and out war. Delicate family dynamics can mean that, at this point in a young person's education, all most parents can do is sit back and wait.

Teachers can circumnavigate this emotional angst and provide a direct stream of reminders to revise. Although some students may appear to be disinclined to take note, teachers won't be battling with the emotions that parents are exposed to when helping their children prepare for exams.

Revision basics

Students may think that you're stating the obvious, but reiterating the basics with your classes will always be time well spent:

• Help students to draw up revision timetables. Careful advance planning that takes their strengths and weaknesses into consideration will help to reduce last-minute rushing. Encourage them to incorporate a reasonable amount of time off and to allocate time sensibly, so that they don't miss their favourite programme or study too late into the night. Aim to find a balance.
• Encourage them to sort out early on where they study best. This might be at home, at school or the local public library, or (sometimes) at a friend's house. Wherever it is, they should ensure that their study space is uncluttered and as free from distraction as possible, which means switching off mobile phones.
• Research the best revision guides and websites for your subject area.
• Encourage students to break down their notes into key concepts. These can then be written on postcards or single sheets.
• Get them to think about how diagrams can help. Almost every piece of information can be expressed in a visual, diagrammatic way, for example, as a spider diagram or map, a 'thought shower' or a brainstorm.
• Get them to focus on key words and definitions. They can jot these down and stick them up around the house and classroom, or record them onto tape and replay them as often as possible.
• Provide past papers for students to practise on. If possible, arrange for them to sit these in exam conditions.
• Make sure that they understand the importance of drinking a lot while they study. Plain water is best and plenty of it. They also need to eat healthily. A diet rich in fresh fruit and vegetables will help them concentrate.
• Stress the need to do some physical activity on revision days.
• Personal reward is important, so encourage them to treat themselves, even if this just means chatting to a friend or watching a film at the end of a day spent revising.
• Make yourself as available as possible to go over last minute concerns.  

Thinking positively

Encouraging a positive mental attitude will go a long way towards helping your students to get through their exams.

• Go over the whole exam routine with them, in full detail. Get them to rehearse in their minds exactly what they'll be doing on each exam day.
• Emphasise the fact that going into an exam feeling relaxed gives you the best chance of success. Even simple deep breathing can significantly reduce anxiety.
• Encourage them to visualise their success. Get them to imagine the exams going really well and seeing the grades they want on their results slip.
• Explain that even a fifteen-minute slot can be used profitably to embed a concept firmly in their minds. Apart from relaxation time, there's no time to waste. Every minute can help. It's never simply 'not worth it'.
• Keep calm, even if a student is clearly not giving themself the best chance. Take action to limit the damage. Some progress can always be made by setting realistic goals for the time available.
• Encourage students to define what they want to achieve in the exams. Do they want to get a particular grade, or simply to pass? Do they need certain results for the next stage of their career? Help them to see this as useful motivation, not paralysing pressure. Keep them firmly focused on the prize.
• Teach them to think in positive terms, such as repeating affirmations to themselves: 'I can do it', or 'I am calm and relaxed'.

Helping each other

There's no doubt that students can help each other when preparing for exams, whether this involves small groups of students studying together, or the more able helping those struggling with key concepts,

• Set up buddy groups for revision: twos or threes that can study together.
• Encourage them to get their families on board if possible. Parents and siblings can make great fact testers.
• Definitions come into a lot of learning. Get students to put key words and concepts on one side of a card and definitions on the other, and then test each other.
• Explain that fears, nerves and anxieties can rub off on other people. Students should only work with someone else if it's helping. If it's making them more stressed, then they should work alone.

Just before the exams

• Remind students to update their revision timetables. They'll need to slow down on some subjects and speed up on others.
• Explain that they need mechanisms for grouping information together. Some may do this through sound association. For example, listening to a particular track while learning, or 'singing' the information, perhaps by rewriting the lyrics to a favourite song. Others may prefer to use visual association. For example, thinking of a visual reminder, such as a drawing, that leads to the detail they need to recall.
• Encourage them to pace themselves. There's no point in studying so hard that they're exhausted on the day, or cramming in the final hours before the exam.
• Nerves are perfectly natural. Show them how to convert these feelings into self-motivation.

During the exams

Keep going through these drills with your classes: you can never repeat the information often enough. They must:

• Arrive in plenty of time.
• Read the instructions. Even if they think they know what to do.
• Read through the whole paper, making sure they know exactly which questions they'll answer.
• Check each page, so they don't miss a vital part of a question.
• Pace themselves, so they have enough time to answer each question without devoting too much time to those they can answer easily and not enough to the ones that they find more difficult.
• Use scrap paper to jot down key facts and notes that they know they'll want to refer to in their answers.
• Be clear about what each question is asking. They should only start when they know what direction the answer should take.
• Answer every part of each question in full. Highlighting key words in the question can help to avoid missing crucial instructions.
• Never waste time repeating the question in their answers.
• Show their workings or thought processes and plans.
• Write clearly in blue or black ink.
• Cross out any mistakes neatly rather than use liquid paper to cover them up.
• Save a few minutes at the end to read through their answers and make any last-minute corrections.
• Stay calm once the exam is over. There's nothing left to do at that stage, so panicking won't help.

After the exams

It's always a good idea for students to assess how well the exams went for them. Encourage them to think about their answers to the following questions, as this will help them when they sit future exams:

• What revision technique worked best for you?
• Did you leave yourself enough time to revise? Be honest with yourself!
• Did you pace yourself correctly?
• What did you find most encouraging?
• How did you respond when your family and teachers told you to revise?
• What is the single most valuable thing you have learned from the experience of taking these exams?

Beyond study leave

In May 2004, the DfES and the Specialist Schools Trust published Beyond Study Leave. This is a compendium of measures to help young people to revise, which are known to have a positive impact in schools. Beyond Study Leave was written by school leaders and has been endorsed by the Secondary Heads Association and the National Association of Head Teachers.

The strategies described in Beyond Study Leave include:

• Replacing traditional home study leave with supervised revision in school for targeted students, and master classes for high achievers.
• Subject workshops in core subjects before and after school, at weekends and during the holidays, for targeted students.
• Specific lessons in study skills practised over the school year to aid learning in lessons and preparation for exams.
• School-approved networks of mentors — teachers, classroom assistants, parents and professionals in the community — to provide individual support and encouragement to pupils revising for exams.
• Data-tracking systems to help schools know how each pupil learns best, and to tailor revision and study support programmes to meet their needs.

Further information

Beyond Study Leave: personalised approaches to preparing students for GCSE examinations — a guide for school leaders and teachers was published on 4 May 2004. Download a free copy

The 2004 student guide to AS & A levels provides a straightforward explanation of key aspects of the system, and may  be consulted online.