Extract from The Guardian: The Easter Revision Parade
If pre-exam nerves are high, an intensive revision course may be the answer, says Simon Midgley
Should your children be getting nervous about their prospects in this summer's public exams - GCSE, AS-level or A2 - then perhaps the time has come to consider enrolling them on an intensive Easter revision course. These week-long courses, which run from late March to the third week in April, are offered by independent sixth-form colleges, a growing number of private schools, such as Sherborne, Clifton, Wellington and Harrow, and even the odd university, such as Bradford.
In the past, perhaps, such courses tended to be taken by weaker or less well prepared students seeking to avoid outright failure in their exams, but today they also cater for high flyers seeking to maximise their grades and optimise their chances of entering the best universities. Their key characteristic is that they offer very intensive, focused tuition in small groups.
Dr Norma Ball, secretary to the Conference of Independent Further Education (Cife), the professional as sociation for 24 English independent sixth-form colleges, says revision teaching differs from ordinary teaching in that it tends to concentrate on gaps in students' knowledge.
Clive Denning, principal of Duff Miller College, also in South Kensington, says that often students are not good at structuring their time. A week spent on an Easter revision course, he adds, is better than a self-devised revision programme at home where they could be distracted by television, music and friends.
