GCSE Revision Aids

I am autistic myself. I would just like to say that, in retrospect, all the 'make or break' exams that I took (I pursued education as far as a PhD) and agonised over, were not. I have friends who did not shine academically at school who went on to be hugely successful in life. 

My two children, one autistic the other an ADHDer, had very different approaches to revision. The autistic one was enormously diligent, putting a lot of effort into very structured revision. The ADHDer did not seem to have a clue as to what revision was or how to go about it. He just winged it, relying on native wit to get through exams. In the end they both achieved 1st class degrees. Sometimes you cannot change the fundamental nature of your children, and sometimes it does not matter.

When I was younger, "exam revision" was one of the most pointless activities I ever had to do. If you don't understand something, you don't understand it. Flipping through a textbook or writing notes on colourful paper and sticking them to the wall will not help you learn something. The best thing I did was doing past papers and reading the marking scheme - it gives you practise at understanding the questions being asked and how the examiner wants them answered.

Thanks Ann for taking the time to respond back and sharing your lived experience - really appreciated. It is so wonderful to hear from real life cases and people who are neurodivergent, with their uniqueness. Great to hear about your education journey, and my very best wishes to you. 

Thanks ArcaeC - really appreciate your advice. Very useful. 

Thanks Trev - really appreciate the time you took to respond back and very useful advice. 

I always found that if I was interested in something I did well at it, but when I wasn't very interested it was a struggle to learn, so if you can get him interested in the subjects he is working on maybe via how they relate to a special interest he has that might help.

When I was doing some Chemistry, Biology and Psychology at college (one each year and just for fun) at 'A Level' equivalent I found that having a range of different books on the subject in question helped as in most cases the same topic would be explained differently in each book, sometimes making it easier to remember, although as I was only doing the courses because I was interested I found it easier to remembered most of the detail without too much trouble.

Have you looked at BBC Bitesize as I found that useful for learning/revision before I started the Chemistry as I had forgotten most of what I did at school and jumping straight in at 'A Level' was quite a steep learning curve.

There are also videos at GCSE level on youtube although some of them are a bit boring - our lecturer in Biology liked "The Amoeba Sisters" and they do GCSE level Biology as well as 'A Level' Biology videos.

As a former teacher, I would add to the information from Ann by suggesting your idea of blank flash cards to begin.

Your son will need to understand and use subject specific language. It’s a skill that many students trip up over, so if he could work on that it could help him understand what the examiners are asking of him and give him the confidence to move forward. The information on the flash cards could be in the form of photographs, drawings, text, dates, numbers, or anything else that would help him understand and use the subject specific language. 

Break revision tasks down to manageable chunks of information. Timetable multiple breaks into revision periods. 

Good luck!

The other point that just occurred to me is that the environment I studied in is hugely important for me- I was only ever able to work at my desk in my room at home whilst at school as that was my study space- I would not have been able to work during study periods at school- the environment was wrong and it was only a short block of time and I always needed a several hour long block of time to get going on anything. I’m not sure what it is like for your son but where you study makes a big difference due to sensory issues and it is also worth thinking about whether longer blocks of study time vs shorter blocks work best. 

Hi! It’s been a long time since I did my GCSEs and IB (I’m doing a PhD now) but I did well and I’m also autistic and I can share my experiences. I think it’s important to find a way to study that works for him and I wouldn’t be scared to ignore some of the mainstream advice if it doesn’t seem right for him as that might not be suitable. I know teachers often advise to study a little for each subject each day and to make a revision timetable- for me that does not work at all and I have never had a revision timetable in my life and I also cannot study multiple subjects in the same day. I don’t do well with task switching so I would always study the same subject for several days at a time and I went with what I felt like and liked most. I also know that I quite like learning in a bottom up way- I like focusing on the detail and then letting all the details build into a bigger picture over time. At school I quite liked to make my own version of notes on a topic which usually meant compiling extra detail to clarify things and make it interesting- I actually find that more information makes it easier for me to remember things as I it helps me understand things and connect them. I also sometimes liked to make these notes in a hybrid notes/ flash card way - so I would use regular sheets of paper but I might just put a question/ prompt on the first side and then write the notes on the second side as it helps later to test yourself. Along side detailed notes I also liked to keep a separate summary sheet for key formulas or facts to memorise. I also quite like diagrams especially for subjects such as biology or sciences. Mindmaps too sometimes to help connect concepts. For maths while making notes on a topic I liked to find relevant practice questions and exam problems to do as well and I would incorporate interesting ones into my notes. Like I mentioned before, I had to take it one subject at a time so that I could get into deep focus mode on it and actually process the information. This might be in contrast to typical advice but it is essential for me as task switching is hard and my strength is in focusing deeply on one thing at a time. In addition for me more detail and context helps. I need to make myself feel interested and engaged by something and I need to understand it and more information helps with this- this can create extra work but the process just becomes much more interesting and I’ll be much more likely to remember it and be able to apply the information. I think this could be an autistic trait. I personally also preferred usually to learn the material in detail first rather than going straight to exam problems and then using that to identify gaps, but that’s just how I liked operate. Once I have gone through things in detail and made my notes then before the exam it’s much easier for me to just quickly remind myself of it and i quite liked to test myself on it with the hybrid flash card/notes method. Sometimes explaining something to another person can also help to deepen understanding. My advice would be to make the revision interesting and to play to your son’s strengths- you mention that when he puts his mind to something he excels at it so if  a topic he needs to revise can capture his interest, he should be able to do well at it- I’m not an educational professional and this is purely based on my personal experiences but I hope it can give you some ideas!