I got into Oxford without knowing how to revise. Here's the half-term plan I wish I'd had.

When I arrived at Oxford to read Biology, the reading came in quantities I'd never seen before. I had no system for getting through it and no idea how to remember it afterwards.I'd had a private education and every advantage going. I hated it.

I taught Biology at Brighton College for 15 years, so I know that October half term is often when students first feel a smaller version of what I felt. 

They leave school on the Friday with a revision list and good intentions. By Wednesday, the list is still on the desk.

This is the plan I teach. It fits one week and it doesn't need a parent sitting beside it.

Start with the specification, not the notes

Every GCSE and A-level has a specification on the exam board's website, listing every topic that can come up. Print one for each subject and give your teenager three pens. Green means they could explain the topic to someone now. Amber means they recognise it but would struggle. Red means they don't know it. It takes about twenty minutes a subject and it turns "revise Biology" into a list they can work through.

Plan in blocks and name each one

A block is about 40 minute  and it should name the topic, the activity and the time. "Tuesday, 10am, flashcards on osmosis" is something a teenager can start. "Tuesday, do Biology" isn't.

Every block should end with something they've made.

That might be one timed exam question marked against the mark scheme, a two-minute voice note explaining a topic out loud, or everything they can remember about a topic, written down before they check their notes. If a block ends with nothing to show for it, it's worth asking your teenager what they did.

Four blocks a day is plenty. It's far better to do four than to plan eight and give up after two.

Check in on Wednesday

Plans fall apart midweek, so build in a check. On Wednesday, ask which blocks happened and which didn't and what got in the way. Then adjust Thursday together. A plan that changes midweek is doing its job.

Re-rate on Friday

Get the specification out again and re-rate it in a new colour. Watching red turn amber is the best evidence a student can have that revision works and it's the thing most likely to keep them going.

Keep something going after half term

Five minutes a day of recall with the book closed, plus two proper revision sessions a week, is enough to carry most students from half term to their mocks.

If you'd like me to run the week with them

StudyFest Online runs from 26th to 30th October. I teach the Monday and Friday sessions live and check in on the Wednesday and on the home days students work from printable station cards. It's £149 for the week, with 20 places.