Average reading time: 4 minutes
Half term is done and dusted and exams are coming up fast. But there’s still time for your teen to get on track with their revision. If they start now, they can walk into exam season feeling confident and ready. Below we’ve got 6 tips to help you support your teen’s learning– so that they make the most of their time before exams.
Let’s dive straight in!
- Encourage them to reflect on their learning.
- Help them set goals between now and exams.
- Reach out for extra support.
- Help them get organised.
- Guide them to helpful revision resources.
- Check in with regular chats.
1. Encourage them to reflect on their learning.
At this point in the term, your teen will know where they’re smashing it out of the park, and which subjects need more attention. To help them zero in on areas where they could use more practice, encourage them to look over past tests, quizzes, projects and essays–any work where they’ve received feedback from their teachers. They can also go through their course syllabus and put tick marks next to topic specifications that they feel confident in, and question marks next to those they’re still not sure about. And they can use sticky tabs on their classroom notes and textbooks when something isn’t clear to them. Encourage your teen to jot down all these points in a journal as they go along, so that they don’t forget!
2. Help them set goals between now and exams.
Once they know where they should focus their revision, your teen can set revision goals. Goal templates are a handy way for your teen to keep track of what they want to achieve. They can ask themselves questions to make sure their goals are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound).
- How long will it take to reach my goals?
- Can my goal be broken down into smaller steps?
- How will I know I’m moving in the right direction? (Tip- a revision timetable is great for helping them stay on track)
- Do I need help from someone else–a teacher, sibling, tutor?
Once they’ve got their goals sorted, you can help them put their plan into “action”.
3. Reach out for extra support.
If your teen’s got gaps in their learning, it might be a good idea to get them some 1-1 support. This can be from a teacher, an older sibling or a relative who’s a whiz at Chemistry– if your teen needs extra help in that subject. Or you can get the support of an expert tutor for more tailored learning. Our online tutors are just a few years ahead in their education, so they double up as role models. Because they’ve recently sat their exams, they know how to get good grades and they know what their students are going through too. Apart from the obvious benefits of achieving better grades, tutoring helps boost teen confidence too. In lessons, they can go over difficult topics at their own pace with their tutor encouraging them and helping them believe they can do it.
4. Help them get organised.
It’s hard for teens to stay focused when there’s clutter all around them. If they’ve got room for a desk, help them turn it into an inviting study-friendly work space. Set up a cork board near their desk so that they’ve got a place to post important things like their revision timetable and goals. Colourful folders to file away their papers are handy for keeping revision organised. Highlight tabs with fun designs and different coloured pens for note-taking, are other simple study hacks. Colours not only add a bit of life to revision notes, they can also help them categorise by subject and topic (and even remember better).
5. Guide them to helpful revision resources.
Your teen won’t always have the answers to their study questions. But luckily, there are lots of valuable learning resources available at their fingertips. Here we’ve got some of our favourite revision and study resources:
- MyTutor’s huge bank of study help answers from A level and GCSE subjects
- Past GCSE exam papers for practice
- Helpful step-by-step videos that explain how to solve tricky problems in a range of GCSE subjects, like our explainer videos on the MyTutor TikTok account
- Exam prep tips on Youtube and Instagram
- Revision APPS like Mindmeizer and ExamBlue flashcards to help teens consolidate and remember
- Timetable planner APPS and goal setting templates that help your teen get organised
- Blogs, APPs and social media accounts focused on teen wellbeing– because revision can be stressful
6. Check in with regular chats.
Exam stress can have a knock-on effect on your teen’s wellbeing. Clinical Psychologist, Dr Louise Egan says that your child’s mental health is influenced by how others around them understand and respond to their thoughts and feelings. As a parent, you’re the best person to be there for your teen if they’re having a hard time with their studies.
You can put them in the driver’s seat by asking them what they need from you. If you touch base on a regular basis (chatting in the car, or at a café), it might make it easier for them to share when bigger things come up– like if they’re worried about failing a subject.
Revision can feel overwhelming if it’s put off until the last minute. Encouraging your teen to start now with these simple steps gives them time to get organised, absorb information– and walk into exam season feeling ready.