Free masterclass for parents
Turn Their Science Revision Into the Grade They're Capable Of
Where your teen's science marks are going, and the five steps that bring them back.
Every summer I mark A-level Biology papers. Every summer I watch capable students lose marks they should have kept. The habits behind it start at GCSE, and Year 10 and 11 is the easiest time to change them. In this hour I'll show you what to look for in your own teen's revision.
Saturday 7th November · 10am UK and 2pm Gulf · Live on Zoom · 60 minutes · Free · Recording sent to everyone who registers
Save your place
By registering you agree that I may email you the joining link and information about this event, plus occasional emails about upcoming events. Unsubscribe at any time.
What I see marking every summer
These students knew their science. They'd been well taught and they'd worked hard. Their habits let them down.
The right answer to a different question
Asked what they can conclude, they evaluate. Asked to evaluate, they describe the data. It's good science. It just isn't what the paper asked for, so it earns very few marks.
One slip, every mark gone
Without working, a wrong answer to a calculation scores nothing. With the working shown, the examiner can still give marks for the method. Units catch them too, often right at the last line.
Half an answer to a six-mark question
The long questions usually want two things. Show what you know, then use it. Most students write everything they know and stop. That's three marks out of six from a student who knew the science.
Revising the smaller share of the marks
Only around 30 to 40% of a GCSE science paper tests whether they know the content. Most revision goes there anyway. The rest of the marks reward what they can do with it.
What you'll leave with
Specific to GCSE science. You can use all of it at the kitchen table the same week.
Where your teen's marks are going
The habits that cost the most marks in science, and how to spot them in a single past paper question. You'll know which one to fix first.
The five steps we use with our students
How we take a teenager from working out where they really are to writing answers an examiner can credit. I'll show you what each step looks like at home.
What to do with the other 167 hours
Science sticks when it's practised little and often. I'll show you what five minutes a day looks like, so the content stays put and revision time can go on exam skills.
The maths hiding in the science
Depending on the science, maths is worth 10 to 30% of the paper. Students rarely notice it's maths they already know. I'll show you where it turns up and how to practise it.
Who this is for
- Parents of Year 10 and Year 11 students taking GCSE or iGCSE science
- Anyone who has heard "I understand it in class but I don't get the marks"
- Parents whose teen works hard and has a grade that doesn't show it
- Anyone whose teen revises by rereading their notes the week before a test
- Families in the UK and the Gulf, where a Saturday morning works for both
It's written for parents. Your teen is very welcome to sit in.
Who's running it
I'm Kate. I read Biology at Oxford and I mark A-level Biology papers as an examiner. I spent fifteen years teaching in top UK independent schools.
Marking changes what you notice. Year after year I see students who know their science and still lose marks. The habits behind it formed at GCSE, when nobody had time to point them out.
This hour is what I'd tell a friend whose teen was working hard and not getting the grade.
And at the end
I'll take about five minutes to explain our small group programmes in Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Maths. Each group has up to six students. Every week there's a live lesson with a specialist teacher, practice in our app between lessons, a weekend quiz and marked work with examiner feedback.
I'll flag it clearly before it starts, and you're welcome to leave first. If you never speak to me again, you still go away with a plan.
Questions
Is this for me or for my teen?
My teen is in Year 10. Is it too early?
We're in the Middle East. What time is it for us?
Can I watch it afterwards instead?
Which sciences does it cover?
My teen is on a different exam board.
Is it really free, or an hour of selling?
These habits form at GCSE. It's the easiest time to change them.
Saturday 7th November, 10am UK and 2pm Gulf. Sixty minutes, live and free. Recorded if you can't make it.
Save my place