September is all about settling back into the school routine and gearing up for a new year of academic challenges.
But, it’s also the perfect time to wrap your head around what’s coming up and get some perspective on the school year ahead. From revision time to key exams and time off, it can be helpful to start thinking about your teen’s learning timeline now.
The new school year serves as a great opportunity to think about tutoring, too. By matching your teen with a supportive tutor, you can help them stay on track, tackle tricky topics as they come up and avoid any last-minute panic.
Here, we share our 2023-4 exam year map including the key milestones, so you and your teen can be ready for anything…
The Autumn Term 2023
This is the time to help your teen build good study habits. Encourage them to stay as organised as possible with their note taking, worksheets and assignments. You could even help them create a folder system for specific subjects and topics to make it easier to access and revise when the time comes.
The Autumn term is perhaps the most valuable learning period, as it’s when teens take in the biggest part of the curriculum before exam fever begins to take over. So, while it’s important to help them focus, it’s also a good idea to highlight the importance of relaxation and downtime.
Some schools schedule mocks now too – your child can check with their teachers.
The Winter Holidays 2023
At the end of this term, there’s no doubt your teen will want time to sleep, eat, watch Christmas TV – and repeat. And while they should definitely do all of the above, making time for some studying will help them kickstart the new year in a good place.
You can support them by setting up a quiet learning space at home and helping them factor a little study into their days.
It might be worth finding an online tutor to help them recap the term and get ahead of any challenging topics. This will help them step up and face the next academic challenges with confidence.
The Spring Term 2024
This period is all about getting through the rest of the curriculum for the year. It’s also a good time for your teen to identify any development areas or learning gaps – and work with a tutor if you feel they need a learning boost.
Then, it’s all about gearing up for the exams ahead. Encourage your teen to ask their teachers plenty of questions and remind them that asking for help isn’t a weakness but a big strength when it comes to their learning development.
If you think your teen might need help flexing their exam technique skills before mocks, a tutor can run through practice papers to help them get familiar with working under exam conditions.
The Spring Holidays 2024
This break is probably your teen’s first uninterrupted chance to start revising for summer exams. By now, they’ve likely handed in their coursework and covered the syllabus, so it’s time to make a solid revision timetable, try out different revision techniques and get stuck in.
Balancing study and rest is key, especially as teens can experience academic burnout around this time. It’s also important your teen takes proper breaks in between study periods to help them reset and refresh. Check out our ultimate guide to balancing revision and downtime during the Easter holidays.
The Summer Term 2024
This is peak revision time and your teen might be given study leave to properly knuckle down. Study leave can sometimes be a bit isolating and your teen might feel anxious going from one exam to the next. So, tuition during exam time can be a lifeline for stressed teens.
They can help to keep your teen accountable when it comes to their revision schedule and you might even consider pre-exam lessons to help summarise your teen’s knowledge and avoid the last-minute panic the night before.
GCSE and A-Level exams tend to start around mid-May and finish by the end of June, with teens getting their results around mid-August. You can keep an eye on exam board timetables and we have an up to date blog with all the 2024 A-level and GCSE exam dates here.
And that’s the whole 2023-4 exam year! Good luck!
Think your teen might benefit from a tutor? Tutoring can build your child’s confidence as well as help with learning gaps and exam revision. Find the right one for them here.