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GCSE Revision Aids

Daddy

Dear all, 

My son, is first year GCSE student at a mainstream secondary comprehensive school. He has autism. The school arranged a presentation for parents, to make them aware of the main curriculum, exam mock  papers, revision tips  and  intended to raise awareness so child can be supported at home. Not surprising, it lacked information for parents on a considerable number of SEN students the school has, while SENCO was present if parents wanted to discuss anything.  The school also provided an estimated minimum grade for parents. 

Revision tips included recommended revision aid books, practicing past papers, flash cards, developing a timetable for revision. 

With my son, his estimated minimum grades were 3 (he is foundation level for all of his subjects and he is doing a few level 1/2 subjects as well). My aim is for him to aim for Grade 5, which would be an amazing achievement for him. 

I went on-line to check if there were revision aids for SEN, and there are non. All revision aids appear to be written for neurotypical students and none for neurodivergent students, I can buy revision flash cards, but he may find them overwhelming, but I guess I won't know if I try. 

Motivation is a big challenge with my son, but when he puts his mind to it, he can fulfill any task. He attends after school homework club, and likes to chill at home. I am trying to explain the concept of revision with him, and practicing past papers. I would be prepared to pay tuition for him (online or face to face), if I could find the right one who has experience with working with SEN children. 

For parents who have been through the GCSE journey, is there any tips you can recommend for revision? Are you aware of any revision aids and resources for neurodivergent children? Perhaps blank flash cards for him ti write his own (but I am unsure if that will work, as he may just copy without thinking about what he is writing). Is there any approach that has worked for your child's revision? 

I have discussed this with my daughter who is doing her A-levels, and what approach would work. She is busy with her studies with final year A-levels, and both myself & wife work full-time, so time in the evenings can be challenging (as I am doing a Masters at work), but I would be prepared to explore new approaches and make sacrifices  so  that he can fulfill his full potential. 

I am struggling with this, as this is my first experience with a neurodivergent child. Just want to hear from other parents what worked for them with revision techniques and any resources that can help. 

Thank you in advance .

Regards

Wajid (dad)

Parents

  • 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! 

Reply

  • 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! 

Children
  • in reply to Ann :)

    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.