I'm really struggling at the moment to juggle revision and practice. Once I get playing I carry on for hours and don't stop, and the revision just gets left. How does everyone else manage to do both and still do well without it being too stressful ?

What works is that revise solidly for 30 minutes/1 hour/however long you can concentrate for, then use instrumental practice as the 'break'. It does serve as a good relaxing break from revision, and once you do about 10 minutes, get back to work... and perhaps do another 10 minutes after the next session. That does work (in theory).

Or else, if you feel uncertain about your GCSEs, I'd advise you to concentrate on GCSEs for the time being and put instrumental practice as a second priority (unless you have some pressing issues, such as exams or concerts). At the end of the day, you can take a break from music for several months and still carry on taking exams next year, but GCSE results will stay with you for life.

I'm guilty of using practise as an excuse to not do revision... what I don't get is how people can discipline themselves to work during the holidays. I have no problem getting my homework done in term time, but give me three days off and I'll never look at a textbook again!!
Anyway, I agree with what's already been said - use practice as a break from your revision, especially if you have a good practice that leaves you feeling good about yourself

Thats exactually like me!!!! I've hardly done any revision over easter. I find it hard to motivate myself if I know I won't get into trouble for not doing it.

When I do practise though I use music as a reward after I have revised for half an hour I practise for 10 minuites.

I have been given a simple awnser to that problem, now my trumpet is being repaird i have a few days where i can really pile on the revision, but i think when i get my trumpet back i will get in a muddle - i'll be so desperate to play it and the revision will just sink to the bottom of the pile, its so difficult to balance things, often i try to use a time table, but i can never stick to it!

Also, while everyone else's parents are bribing and bullying them into doing work, my mum is telling me to 'take the week off' (because we're going away, Tues till Sat) and keeps asking, 'But you don't really have to take any work with you, do you?'

There's encouragement for you.

I had that last week...my mum thinks I'm doing too much revision
I use practise as a break during revision, and do my practise before school so I can play for fun when I have a break.
However, having done no maths hw, am trying 2 do 4 maths papers in one day Eek...

It's 12 years since I did my GCSEs (that makes me feel really old... it doesn't seem that long ago), but I was DEFINITELY very, very, very guilty of using practice as an excuse for not doing revision. I would suggest that practice should take a back seat to schoolwork for a while... you need your GCSEs... any music stuff can be postponed for the time being.

Or make sure you've got an alarm clock in your practice room, set it for half an hour and then go back to your revision.

I used piano playing as a break from revision during GCSEs, A-Levels and my degree - it's a good stress reliever but do be wary of procrastination!

and maybe she's right? It is possible to over-revise and really not end up gaining anything from it. Bite-sized chunks is the easiest way to revise anything. To simply sit and passively read through piles of notes while trying to remember every word of it, doesn't really have the desired effect - ie. your brain absorbing that information. Learning a little bit and then getting someone to ask you a few questions on it, is far more constructive. You'll get through revision a lot quicker and have more time for practice.


For everyone who's revising at the moment, I would like to say:

True, but exams of any type aren't the B all and end all of everything in life. Learning is lifelong and there are lots of opportunities, so don't ever think you life is over if things do go pear-shaped and GCSE results aren't what you'd hoped for. There are thousands out there who left education a decade or more ago, many failed their school exams and were wrongly branded as stupid or incapable of doing anything academic, a lot of them have since studied part-time and gained a degree. This takes a huge committment, but employers applaud staff for having the tenacity and time management to do it. In fact, I sometimes wonder if it is better to live a little before chosing what you really want to do - if you haven't lived and experienced life outside of education, how can you be really sure you know how you want to spend your working life, it's easy to get bored these days...especially with the threat of an ever increasing retirement age!

Do the best you can in your GCSEs, but get a grip of the situation and keep a life at the same time.

Well there's the method I favour, where you don't revise, and use study leave as practice time. However, I figured that if I do absolutely no revision, I could end up looking stupid, so now I set aside every afternoon for 4 hours, and do 1 hour violin, 1 hour work, twice. I also started waking up before midday (sometimes) this holiday, so I can take advantage of an extra hour of something before lunch, and I go to bed when I'm tired (instead of staying up but being unable to do any real work).

On the other hand, GCSEs aren't actually that important. If I had just 3 spare hours in a day which I had to fill with music or work, I would always pick music...some stuff stays with you forever, I'll give up most GCSE subjects pretty soon - and really, as long as you're getting reasonable grades, how much impact on your future does 1 more A* really make?

My parents think I do too little revision and too much practise!!

I'm lucky that I've just done an exam so don't need to practise as much now so use piano as a break from revision...or I get too stressed

None at all. I think you've hit the nail on the head, bohemian!!

I have an excuse not to do revision in the holidays. After being to the doctor about my sleep disorder, he has said to do as little work as possible throughout my holidays during thew week, and then at the weekends I can do a bit more work. Come June half term I am allowed to do more work as hopefully I'll be a bit better by then. but until then I have an excuse not to work.

I got told I revised too much by my parents when revising for my GCSEs. But when my results came though (9A*, A), I was really pleased, and I know that if I had done less, I would have probably not been as satsified.

As I am paranoid, then I feel that I haven't started doing work early enough..but I couldn't have. Because of my paranoia, I often don't practice as much, or just play random pieces.

*goes back to work*

Yes, everyone has really high expectations for me, but I know that I have the highest, and there are some subjects where if I don't get an A*, I know I'll beat myself up afterwards for not revising enough. At the same time, I really can't seem to convince myself that my exams start in 5 weeks time.

:S 5 weeks *gulp*

Yes, I am a perfectionist...I actually "underachieved", but I was chuffed to bits. The perfectionism is the reason I am so worried about AS

According to my report for this year, if I don't get A*s in everything I will have underachieved. Apart from, my English teacher hates me and predicted me A's, but I will be really disappointed if I get A's, because I like English (or I used to, before her...)

My parents know that there is all this pressure on me to do well so I think they're trying not to add to it, but it doesn't really matter because most of it is coming from me

Yup, I was dead certain to get an A* in Graphics, but I just messed up the exam...I don't mind actually, but yes, at AS I think I can get 5 As.

*sigh* I think it's insane when people will be disappointed to get As... it's a terrible shame. When A*s first came in, they were supposed to be almost but not quite unachievable, so getting one or two was a huge bonus. Now teachers are pushing their star pupils to get lots, so As have become a lesser thing. Getting all As at GCSE (or even mostly As and a couple of Bs) is a big achievement. I know what it's like to be a perfectionist (I am one ) but it seems a bit sad to be worrying about getting A*s and letting other things fall by the wayside a bit...

Well I won't be disappointed with A's for most things - I would be disappointed with B's though. I suspect that once I have my A Levels I'll stop caring about what I got in GCSE's. But it would just be a shame if I got grades that I wasn't totally satisfied with, I and could blame myself for not doing revision (and I know I'm not doing enough - people are saying well, don't overload yourselves, but I really have done almost nothing these holidays).

You will stop caring about your GCSEs once you're done your A Levels... and yes, it's a shame not to do well when you can, but it's more of a shame to miss out on other things just for the sake of revision. GCSEs simply aren't important enough to bury yourself in stress for or miss out on other things for. If you're capable of getting all A*s then chances are you'd get all As and certainly all As and Bs if you did no revision at all.

By all means work hard and do your best, but don't beat yourself up about it, and don't revise yourself into the ground/neglect other things you love (like music) for them. No point at all.

I think I started revision when study leave started.....

Sounds very good to me! OK, now I have backup for my non-motivation.

Oops!

I got 8 As and 2 A*s by the way (ours was the first year to have A*s I think)... so it didn't do too much harm. Remember it is revision - you're been working on these subjects for almost 2 years, and probably before then for most subjects. All you're doing is making sure you have your facts straight, ensuring you know what you think about things, brushing up on vocab, reminding yourself of equations - select as relevant to subject. Don't feel "oh I have so much to learn!" - you've learned it - that's what you've been doing since the start of year 10. You're reminding yourself of stuff you've already been over. Don't stress. I bet that most of the people on here already know and would remember most of what they might need in an exam. Revision is a security blanket to ensure that you are confident. You've been working hard for 2 years - don't discount all that hard work - the whole point of it was so that you would pass these exams. You don't need to revise into the wee hours for months to do so, particularly if you're a bright student who's predicted high grades. Be realistic: is revising for hours and hours and days and getting stressed and not getting enough sleep really going to help you perform at your best? Figure out what *needs* revision, and do that - give yourself time to remind yourself of key stuff. RE-vision. Remember that!

I do find it ironic that it's the bright kids who always feel under pressure to revise when they probably don't need to unless they really want all A*s. *sigh* teachers want the school to look good, and they pass the pressure on to the kids. It's a real shame

My study leave starts on 19th May. My first proper exam is the 24th!

Umm.. same here I think. Can't be bothered to go and check though.

And my birthday is the 17th May!! What a rubbish time to have a birthday (or exams, depending on how you look at it )

EDIT: Actually, I think my first exam may be the 22nd...

That's whole days! Be real here, you've spent months and months learning this stuff. It's called RE-vision for a reason I'm not saying don't do any - I'm just saying you don't need to do months of the stuff.

I think we had aural exams in the week running up to the start of study leave... Honestly folks... if you're predicted As, then you don't need to stress yourself revising for months. You've worked hard. Revise, sure - especially up to the point that it makes you feel more confident. But select what you *actually need* to revise, and revise efficiently - don't revise every tiny thing (there are plenty of things you KNOW - you don't need to revise that 1+1=2 for an extreme example....) and if revision starts to stress you out then you're doing too much and you're not helping yourselves

I am lucky this year, my exams finish the day before my birthday (8 June) but last year I had 2 exams on it.

PS: I ain't trying to get at any of you. I just hate to see people so crazily stressed about exams and thinking they should be revising for months in advance. Just don't go overboard with all this. It isn't worth your health and it isn't worth you feeling like you're carrying the world on your shoulders for weeks and weeks, or giving up things that you enjoy and that de-stress you. Give yourselves time to relax and time to chill, and time to do things like music which you love. Your body and mind will thank you for it, and your grades are unlikely to suffer much if at all for it.

I could probably have done better at GCSE and A Level and probably my degree as well if I had worked harder and revised more... played in fewer orchestras... spent less time chatting in my friends' rooms... watched fewer videos late at night... not taken courses in NT Greek, Japanese, and sign language... not sung in choir... never gone to the bar...

As it was, I got 10 good GCSEs, 3 good A Level marks (D in art - d'oh!) and a 2-1. I can't say I regret any of the time I spent playing music, or making friends, or anything like that. In fact I regret not playing my flute very much at uni. And I wouldn't swap any of that music etc for a first class degree, five As at A Level and a whole string of A*s and this is a perfectionist talking.

I know it's a lot easier to give out this advice than it is to live it but it's sure worth a try

Those results are amazing well done !!! I'm the same about being satisfied. Whatever I get I always wish I had done more work and got an even better mark - even if I got a great mark anyway and totally worked my socks off to get it



My first exam is on the 3rd - my french aural. Already had my art exam before we broke up for easter.

Do you get study leave !!!??? No-one at our school is getting it, we've been told that the government has decided not to give study leave out anymore because its better for us to be working in the classroom and learning new stuff right up till the last minute

I hope you people are taking notice of what Sarah-flute is saying - she's been through it all herself not so long ago, and take it from me - she's one wise woman. You could do a lot worse than take her advice...

Violinia

Thanks for the sound advice, sarah. I think we all do know that exams aren't the be all end all (somewhere in our minds!) but as you say, it's a lot harder to not think about it when you're in the thick of it. I think it's absurd to give up music/sport/hobby whatever you have just because it's the 'GCSE year' or whatever, but I think it's fine to restrict yourself these last few weeks, revise really hard, come out with good results and relax afterwards.

Violinia - Sarah has some sound advice, and I do take notice of it, it is just hard to turn reading those words into actions.

My French Aural was ages ago! About half-term time. Was nice to get it over and done with. My French listening is on the 19th or something (?) which is my first, but our study leave wont start until after that because we haven't finished the syllabus in some subjects, and also when we do go onto study leave, it will be staggered by the day of your first exam! It's because of muck-up day, our year group has a well-deserved reputation as a load of mentalists, and they reckon we'll burn the school down or something if we all go at once, especially since so many are going to a new 6th form next year! So I don't actually know when study leave starts.

Sarah-Flute, you must be the same age as me! I was in the first year where you could get A*s and yeah, the idea was that they were extra-extra special.

I went to one of the top schools in the country (normally in top 15 schools in GCSE and A-Level league tables) BUT, very little pressure was put on us to get top top grades. We were always told it would be better to get 9 Bs at GCSE and have a well rounded life than get 9 As and have no other interests or activities other than your academic subjects. I took that advice to heart and got 2 A grades, 5 Bs and a C. We only did 8 GCSEs at my school and yet 25% of the Upper Sixth go to Oxbridge every single year. To be honest, no-one ever really takes any notice of your GCSE grades anyway. Universities are more interested in predicted A-Level grades and now they have your AS grades to go on, they probably barely glance at your GCSE grades.

Incidentally, the girl who became Head Girl from my year was the only person in our year to get a D at GCSE (therefore ruining our chances of a 100% pass rate!). She got grades similar to mine but she really threw herself into the life of the school. Like me, she did some music, some sport, some other activities (CU, debating etc) and was a general all rounder.

*blush*

Thanks


Oh I know - I do remember, and I do sympathise. Some teachers have the sense to let their students relax - others just keep piling the pressure on, and it's very hard, especially if one is a perfectionist at heart, to resist the panic that can set in.


Wooo - yes, I don't think anyone in our year really knew whether we would get A*s in anything, and our teachers didn't know the standard, and certain exams were actually in a different format - so it was all a bit vague and the A*s were a total bonus if you happened to get them. Much better that way - the difference between A and A* at GCSE to future employees or unis or whatever is so miniscule anyway, that all As (or even - gasp - Bs!) coupled with a well-rounded person and lots of extra-curricular stuff is far more impressive than all A*s and nothing else.


What an immensely sensible attitude from the teachers at your school - it's a shame more schools don't think like that, and encourage their students to as well.

Just an additional thing that I said to Nicki in an email last night... yes, there are probably things you don't know at this stage - and yes, revision can help remedy that. But there is SO much more that you DO know. It seems that most if not all of the people posting and worrying in this thread are people who have worked hard at their subjects, and are reasonably intelligent. Honestly, the chances of any of you actually doing badly even if you did no revision are slim. By all means revise - just keep it sane. You aren't making up for years of not working, you're polishing off years of working hard. So you don't need to revise for hours and hours and beat yourselves over the head with it. Easier said than done I know - but don't dwell on "there's so much I don't know", but reminds yourself that "there's an awful lot I DO know".... revise what you need to but be sensible: don't run yourselves into the ground, and don't revise stuff that doesn't need revising

My mum has a saying;

The kids who don't need to revise DO revise, and the ones who do need to revise DON'T.

Makes sense in my opinion.

Ever noticed how if a tecaher says to a whole group of people, "You need to work harder", it's only the people who don't need to work harder that feel insulted and so do work harder. The others just don't bother to listen.

Interesting.

Yup, true a vast majority of the time it seems. What can you do??!

Try telling my school that. They only care about league tables, so when someone asks a non-GCSE question they say "well that's not on the syllabus, so if you want to know then you'll have to take the A level". Honestly, all extra-curriculars stop at half term in case we spend time enjoying ourselves during exams. That includes music lessons for almost everyone! It's so stupid, we're just made to learn things to make the school look good, and it doesn't matter if we understand them or not, as long as we can churn the facts out in the exam. And that's why I will be using study leave for music practice And joining a new orchestra since the school one has to stop


That's lovely advice! I'll bear that in mind when I sit down in 5 minutes and start revising. Except in Chemistry, which I am going to give up on, not revise, and see how well I can do (even if I spent every day up to my exam working on it, a B would be an amazing achievement. I'd be happy with a D).

Y'know, that was EXACTLY what I was about to say! Every time the teacher nags about "You need to pull your socks up", "GCSEs are the most important exams ever in your entire lifetimes!" or "If you don't revise you won't do well" etc etc, it's always the ones that don't need to get worried who do get worried. I suppose it's because usually, the more intelligent people are more conscientious about their work and take study seriously, while the people who do need to revise don't because they have little motivation or find little enjoyment in work.



Oh, that sounds like one of our teachers, if not all of them. Regardless of how insightful or interesting the question is, they dismiss it if it not directly relevant to the specification.

It seems to me that education is just about passing exams these days, not learning for the sake of knowledge or for enjoyment (though maybe I'm just being too idealistic). Everything we do seems to lead to and finish with one national exam or other and if you don't tick the right boxes on the mark scheme (especially for subjective subjects like English & Literature), you don't get the credit for it. I believe that we are far too over-examined in this country - in some ways it is beneficial, because you get used to doing exams (and you have exams all your life) but it does seem to take some of the enjoyment out of secondary school life.

Incidentally, how many of you actually enjoy(ed) studying? Call me a geek, but I love the feeling I get when I learn something new, and I do enjoy studying (though I get terribly nervous for exams). Most people at my school doesn't seem to share the same view, though.

Sorry, I think I'm way off topic!

Well done you

Yes, it's annoying when teachers say "no, that's not on the syllabus"

I was very fortunate in GCSE science to have 2 out of 3 teachers who didn't really give a fig for the syllabus, as long as they knew we had at least covered it, and we learned masses that was well beyond what was expected of us, so when it came to the real thing biology was quite an enjoyable exam and our chem exam was positively easy. Too few of that sort of teacher around these days


Heh, chemistry was one of my best subjects at GCSE - I hope you revision for everything else goes well (and I hope you can manage not to get stressed with it.)


It's really sad/silly


I agree on all points there. I felt rather overexamined when I was at school sometimes, and since there there have been many more exams added till you're doing important/external exams about half the years you're at school - seems insane to me!

And I enjoy studying, depending on the subject and how well it's taught. I loved my work at uni. It was often hard but it was also often fascinating.

I agree 100%. It's really unfair on some people who are smart, but suffer from terrible exam nerves, or find the structure of the questions difficult. It's equally unfair that some people don't need to work to get good grades in exams, and hence are branded "smart" when in fact they just work well in exam conditions. Also, it seems like some exams are more a test to see if the teachers are teaching well, rather than if we are learning well - my maths teacher will always tell us how much higher our division's average is than any other, and if it's less than 10% she gets all stressed and says how we're letting her down!


I love learning! Unfortunately I'm selective about what I enjoy, and most stuff we have to do at school doesn't interest me, and we're not allowed to go into the good bits in depth, so it makes the whole thing a lot less interesting, as you don't know much about anything, but a little bit about a lot of things. When I understand something in Physics, I love that feeling (physics is cool), it all clicks into place and makes you feel clever for understanding it I like learning by myself, without a teacher, it's the feeling of being able to do something by myself without anyone helping. I'll happily spend me free time researching random things (usually political, religious or historical) just because knowing stuff is good.

Don't get me wrong - learning is cool! School, however, is not.


Edit:
I forgot, I get told to revise, and I need to. I just don't. I must be the exception to the rule...

I wouldn't worry too much about the amount of revision that you are doing I am certain that it is enough if you care enough o be worrying about it. I did my GCSEs a few years ago and I remember feeling the pressure and it was not because of anything other than GCSEs being the most important exams I had done so far. You will be fine and think of the summer ahead, mine was one of the best summers I ever had. Lots of people say that practice is a good escape and I do agree, however, I am sure people have felt that practice can be hard work. Make sure you take the brain resting breaks for important tv like Neighbours!!
Good luck!