Exams
Revision Support for Pupils
There is a wealth of support and guidance available to you as you begin your preparations for your GCSE examinations. Our teachers and the Academy as a whole will support you every step of the way and do as much as they can to aid you. Obviously the onus is on you, as pupils, to ensure you are fully committed to your success and are preparing in a way which allows you to reach your potential and enter your exams feeling confident.
Top Tips for Revision
Current research suggests two skills are most essential – testing yourself on your revision as you go along to reinforce and leaving enough time to distribute revision over a long enough period. Some others include:
1. Prepare – Make sure you have everything you need to revise organised beforehand. Notes, textbooks, revision guides. It is also worth making a list of the topics which you need to revise for each subject so you can tick them off as you go along – This is a nice visual reinforcement of progress! We would recommend using the checklists in the front of the revision guides.
2. Create a Revision Timetable – one which is realistic and can be kept to and achieved. This will help you understand exactly how much you need to revise and what key priorities are. It will save the last minute panic if you have paced your revision over a long time period. There are some excellent websites for this (https://getrevising.co.uk and www.revisionworld.com/gcse-revision). Make sure you include breaks in your revision.
3. Practice Papers – do as many as possible. These are a good way of ensuring you are as confident as possible with the exam paper but also that you are able to apply all of the knowledge you are revising.
4. Regular and focused revision – Ensure your revision is focused and you are not surrounded by distractions. Short, regular bursts of revision with breaks in between are more beneficial than an hour sat with a book in front of you but your phone and laptop next to you. Try the ransom technique – your parents keep your phone/another item that distracts you until you are able to show them you have revised a topic by answering questions/talking to them about it!
5. Add some variety – Try to make your revision as active and ‘exciting’ as possible. Sitting and reading notes is not normally effective for most people. There are some excellent revision games and podcasts on the internet and useful videos on YouTube.
EXAMS FAQs:
What if I forget to come for an exam?
You can only take an exam at the set time, so if you forget to come, you have missed the exam.
What if I am late?
If you arrive after the published start time you must report to reception and wait to be escorted to the exam room by the exams officer. Each candidate who arrives between 5 – 20 minutes late will be considered on an individual basis regarding late entry to the exam room. Anyone arriving late without good reason will NOT BE ADMITTED. Candidates will only be allowed into the room after 20 minutes in exceptional circumstances. You are entitled to have the full time allowed.
What if I am ill?
If you are ill, you must try to sit the exam. Your parents must telephone the school by 8.30am on the morning of the exam if you are not going to attend.
If you are unwell, but attend the exam, your parents must write a letter to the Examinations Officer explaining the situation, accompanied by a doctor’s note.
Special Consideration
The School can write to the exam board to ask for special consideration in exceptional circumstances, as long as you produce a letter from your doctor.
It is your responsibility to ensure that the exams officer is fully informed as to which exams you wish to make an application for special consideration. However, this will have very little effect on your final grade, as the MAXIMUM amount of consideration given is only 5%.
Candidates will only be eligible for special consideration if they have been fully prepared and have covered the whole course but performance in the examination or in the production of controlled assessment/ coursework is affected by adverse circumstances beyond their control at the time of assessment.
What if there are severe weather conditions like snow?
If school has to close due to severe weather conditions, the closure will be announced and publicised as early as possible on BBC Radio Kent and on the school website.
However during exam time if the school has to be closed we will do our best to ensure that the exams go ahead as timetabled. Students must make every effort to get into school if at all possible, but if students cannot get to school due to the severe weather conditions we will do our best to ensure that the students are not disadvantaged. Please contact the exam office as soon as possible to let us know if you are having problems getting to school.
If you need to contact the exams office, please contact Mr Howard on 01304 820126.
Exam Timetable Clash
It is not unusual for candidates to find they have a clash on their exam timetable. If there is a clash of two papers it is normal for the candidates to sit one paper, and then have a short break in the exam room (5mins) and then continue with the next paper. Where there is a clash of 3 or more papers throughout the day, we will arrange supervision for breaks and create an individual time table for such candidates. Please speak to the exams manager straight away to initiate the arrangements. It will be essential for the candidate to bring a packed lunch with them on the day; this will be kept secure until the specified lunch break.