Easter revision – how to revise better at Easter

Good grades are more important than ever

Getting Easter revision right is crucial for high A-level grades. With more graduates competing for fewer jobs, getting into a good university makes a real difference later on, and admissions requirements for those top courses are going up every year. High grades at GCSE are important too: good universities don't look at students with poor GCSEs.

Easter is crucial revision time

For good results, exam revision needs to start early. However, fitting in a serious revision programme during term time is not at all easy. Going to class and doing 'routine' home-works take a major chunk out of the day. Personal revision has to be fitted in on top, and that makes for long hours and much general stress.

You can ease the pressure in two main ways. One is by making revision as efficient as possible (see our Revision Advice for ideas). The other is by using the Easter holiday to get the revision process fully under way.

The Easter holidays offer both opportunity and challenge. The opportunity is pretty clear: it should be possible to revise for five to seven hours a day for a ten day period. Putting in that sort of effort can make a huge difference. The amount of work covered is valuable and so too is the effect on morale and momentum. You will find it so much easier to cope with the final term if you've got revision well under control before term starts.

Can't manage 5 hours a day for 10 days, need one last holiday before the big push? You must do what you can, but one thing is certain: if you do no work over Easter your exam results are very likely to suffer.

Sticking to revision during a holiday is a major challenge and needs thought and support: thought in planning time to get the work done, and support from family to make it as stress-free as possible. It pays to work out a plan before the holidays start. A timetable of work (and leisure) up on the kitchen wall makes it easier to keep going. It  can also reassure parents and reduce interruptions and nagging !

An Easter Revision course can help

An Easter Revision course can be an effective way to kick-start the whole process, providing structure, revision, exam practice and support in one handy package. Revision courses have grown considerably in popularity over the past ten years. They make a difference, and at between £400 and £700 for a week (around £120 more if residential), they are affordable. Most students who take them are already up to pass standard and are looking towards As and Bs rather than scraping through.

Although an Easter Revision course cannot convert five terms of neglect into a grade A, it can make a major difference. There is no secret to how this is done. Intensive work in a small group, focusing squarely on exams and lead by an enthusiastic and experienced teacher can fill important gaps, develop exam awareness, and will give plenty of past-paper practice and feedback on what examiners want.

Above all, it will get the revision process firmly under way and establish a real feeling of momentum and confidence. In the words of one student aiming at a place to read medicine. 'I was worried about Biology, always my weakest subject. The course was incredibly useful. It really got me excited about my subject and gave me the push to get the A I needed.'

Choosing a good Easter Revision course

The best courses are run by people who have direct experience of exam-orientated courses. This is why choosing a college which belongs to CIFE makes good sense, not just because of the guarantee offered by membership of a professional organisation, but also because CIFE colleges have long experience of intensive and successful student-centred exam teaching. Easter courses work, and by shopping around it should be possible to find one which provides just the right environment for success. Look at the CIFE Easter revision course comparison for more information on individual courses: dates, subjects, costs, teaching format etc

Choosing a good Easter Revision course involves asking the right questions. Two key ones are ‘What will this course actually provide ?' and ‘Who teaches it ?'. Although students are likely to come from a variety of schools and will have differing needs, a good course should be able to deal effectively with individual differences. Find out which syllabus and options are covered. Ask about the extent to which the course is ‘tailor made' to the participants, and about how course time is split between teaching, exam practice and work with each student individually.

Ask about the staff: some organisations rely upon teachers recruited from outside while others use their own staff. Visit the college if you can to meet the people who will be teaching you so that you can see whether you are going to get on with them. If you are considering a residential course, find out about supervision: hard work during the day is unlikely if the evenings turn into one big party...