March 2026
Dear James
Now is the moment to write to Year 11 parents and tell them that it is important that their children revise right through the Easter holidays. There are a few reasons for this, the main one being that GCSEs start in May so there are few weeks left for Year 11 before then. Secondly, all the research shows that the Year 11s need to revise their notes at least three times before the exam. That is only possible if the Easter holidays are used.
Thirdly, the Easter holidays will be the last long interrupted period before the exams. They need that time to sort out their notes, fill any gaps and then commit the work to memory. You cannot commit work to memory by reading notes or even highlighting them – these things are too passive. They need to write out notes with a pen and then again by memory. It is the process of trying to recall notes that really has the greatest impact. But all that takes time and I would say working 9-4pm each day is a good amount.
For maths they should be doing practice questions. For French they should be memorising 30 words a day every day.
Fourthly, public exams are to some degree competitive. The grades are rationed. I know from my own experience that hundreds of thousands of Year 11s, especially girls, will be doing what I recommend. So those pupils who do not bother are falling behind.
GCSEs are the most important exams pupils in England ever take. So, given that the GCSEs will be over in June and then they are looking at an enormous summer holiday, sacrificing Easter is not so bad. To become motivated, Year 11s need to understand why GCSE grades matter so much.
In the past I have been criticised by commentators for these suggestions. They say I am making life too stressful for 16-year-olds. But I know I am right because of the many appreciative letters I have had, often from lazy boys whose prospects were improved by making this last-minute push. Exams are stressful but recent research showed that stress is quite a good thing in this context and there is no evidence at all that stress lowers exam performance. Quite the reverse.
This is all about memorisation. The shocking fact is that you can have a good teacher but if you have not committed the work to memory that teacher may have largely wasted their time. On the positive side, we now know that GCSE knowledge stored in the long-term memory can last a lifetime. It is untrue that everyone forgets what they learn at school.
Some pupils will still prefer to idle away the Easter holiday, but the head teacher’s letter stuck on the fridge is a useful weapon that parents often use.
Finally, I would want to stress that life is about more than exams and we know that the best schools devote a great deal of time to non-examined activities. But any school or any teacher who thinks GCSEs don’t matter is making a massive mistake.
By Professor Barnaby Lenon, Dean of the Faculty of Education at The University of Buckingham
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