Developing a student’s ability to self-regulate and take ownership of their own study is crucial in helping them to succeed – not least in their examinations.
The Education Endowment Foundation’s Teaching and Learning Toolkit cites metacognition and self-regulation approaches as providing, on average, seven months’ additional progress across a year (EEF, 2021; Quigley et al, 2018).
Metacognition and self-regulation support students to think explicitly about their own learning, giving them specific strategies for planning, monitoring, and evaluating their learning. As they become increasingly more adept, they can then self-select the most suitable approach for the task at hand.
Over the last couple of years at my school, Uppingham Community College in Rutland, we have developed our students’ ability to self-regulate by equipping them with effective independent study skills. I have already written about this work in a previous SecEd article.
One element of this focused on embedding an approach to revision that centred upon year 11 students using metacognition to select their best methods for learning.
Rather than revision being an add-on towards the end of year 11, we developed a comprehensive year-long study and revision programme which became an integrated part of their educational provision.
We were also aware that parental engagement plays a large part in student success – again the Teaching and Learning Toolkit tells us that it can offer, on average, four months’ additional progress (EEF, 2021).
A large part of our revision approach concentrated on making parents more aware of how they could best support their year 11 child at home.
Focused from day one
While our students are taught independent learning skills throughout their time with us, the focused study and revision programme begins in the autumn term of year 11.
We start by inviting parents to an information evening which covers how students learn, explains a variety of revision methods, and offers suggestions for how parents can support their child at home.
This is complemented by including information on post-16 options so that students can begin to consider pathways and applications. All this information is also posted on our website.
Just after half-term I then deliver a year 11 assembly which includes approaches to revision, the importance of early preparation, organisation and focusing on their wellbeing, as well as information about their upcoming mock exams.
This is followed with a six-week programme of form time sessions led by tutors and covering “how to revise”, including:
- Creating a revision timetable.
- A self-audit of strengths and weaknesses.
- Explaining revision methods.
- Exploring different revision resources available.
To support students at this stage we provide them with a booklet of revision and wellbeing strategies alongside a blank revision timetable. This booklet explains:
- Deliberate practice (spaced and retrieval).
- Mind-maps.
- Dual-coding.
- Thinking skills.
- Exam vocabulary.
- Useful revision websites.
We also invite the parents of disadvantaged or underachieving students to a revision skills workshop to give them an opportunity to ask questions and receive further support on how to help their child succeed.
Trial run and learning from mistakes
In the January of year 11 we run our mock exams – called pre-public exams – over a two-week period with all subjects offering at least one exam. During this time we run a hybrid of normal lessons and revision sessions in class, alongside form time sessions to promote mental health and wellbeing strategies.
Exam results are given back to students in their lessons, allowing the class teacher to discuss their specific strengths, areas for development, and next steps.
Students then use form time to reflect on their performance with their tutor, completing a reflection sheet which asks them to evaluate their revision, identify where they could improve, which strategies worked best for them, and what their post-16 plans are. This is shared with our lead teacher for post-16 and careers so they can help support students through their next steps.
Immediately after the pre-public exams have been marked, we ask our heads of department to identify students who are not making expected progress. These students are invited to a series of after-school revision sessions which run for six weeks between February half-term and the Easter break. All subjects are expected to offer a session and the same students are expected to attend each week.
Inevitably there is always overlap with different subjects targeting some of the same students. When this happens, we identify those with the greatest need in certain subjects and compromise, with students either attending a proportion of sessions for each subject or attending on multiple days.
The content of each revision session is determined by the head of department and students are usually grouped by the grades they are aiming for, e.g. 3/4 or 6/7 borderline students.
Just before students leave for the Easter break, we run a collapsed timetable day where all year 11 spend the day with an external company concentrating on revision skills and wellbeing strategies, helping to focus them for their last few months of study.
At the same time all year 11 receive another assembly from me explaining the study programme which launches after Easter. This assembly offers an opportunity to refresh students on a range of revision strategies and to remind them that they should by now be revising consistently in order to be fully prepared for the summer exams.
The final push
The Study Programme is our final level of support for our students. It runs from the date of the first GCSE exam in May until the last exam in June and brings together a universal revision offer open to all students with elements that are also personalised based on an individual student’s need.
The first two weeks include all students in school. After the May half-term, approximately half-way through the exam period, we allow some flexible study with the option to revise from home for most students. This offers a good compromise between those students who would prefer to revise at home and those who would complete little study if not in the school environment.
It is also a decision that is well received by parents who appreciate the flexibility. Some ask for their child to stay in school right up to their last exam and there is always provision for this with a dedicated revision room each lesson.
Students are given a Study Programme booklet which includes:
- A reminder of revision strategies to be using.
- Mental health and wellbeing tips.
- A week-by-week view of all exams and study sessions being offered with details (times, rooms, teachers).
- A timetable of private study rooms for those students in school and not in an exam or revision session.
- Hot tips – this is a 10-minute presentation from the head of department delivered to all students before they go into their exam. It offers a chance to focus and be reminded of key knowledge and exam timings.
- Subject-specific revision sessions. These are run after-school during May and during the day in June when normal lessons have been collapsed. Students can drop-in to these sessions (labelled as “recommended revision”) or they are invited based on need (labelled as “compulsory revision”) – this decision is made by each head of department.
- A leavers’ form asking for parental consent to allow students to leave the school site during June after an exam or revision session.
We send a letter home to parents outlining the Study Programme and directing them to the student revision area of our website where all resources are posted.
Throughout the exam period we also have staff from our Wellbeing Hub on hand to support those students who are struggling.
As year 11 leave we ask them to evaluate the provision. All of them value the extra revision sessions, the Hot Tips, and the work done throughout the year on developing their understanding on how to revise. Students also appreciate the level of autonomy the Study Programme offers.
The impact of our focus on independent learning and study skills is seen in both their increased confidence when going into their exams and their successful results in August.
Final thoughts
Learning how to revise is not something that can be done quickly and at the last minute – it needs to be embedded throughout year 11 to have the biggest impact.
Students need to be explicitly taught how to revise and time spent on this outside of lesson time (e.g. in form times) is time well spent.
Engage with parents right from the start. We all want the same thing – for students to do well. A lot of parents are just as worried about the upcoming exams as their child is, but often do not know how best to support them. Guiding them through a range of strategies will pay dividends.
Clare Duffy is deputy principal (teaching and learning and CPD) at Uppingham Community College in Rutland. Follow her on X (Twitter) @ClareHDuffy and find her previous articles for SecEd via www.sec-ed.co.uk/authors/clare-duffy
Further information & resources
- EEF: Metacognition and self-regulation, Teaching and Learning Toolkit, 2021: https://tinyurl.com/z48sryj9
- EEF: Parental engagement, Teaching and Learning Toolkit, 2021: https://tinyurl.com/y8vnzf6x
- Quigley, Muijs & Stringer: Metacognition and self-regulated learning: Seven recommendations for teaching self-regulated learning &metacognition, EEF, 2018: https://tinyurl.com/mr3cpp6w