In a small gallery in Penzance there is a charming Victorian painting entitled The Lesson, in which a child is depicted seated in a cottage window opposite a young woman who is wholly absorbed in teaching her pupil. The expression of total concentration on the child’s face could be said to epitomize the philosophy of the Easter revision course: enabling the participant to gain confidence and raise the level of their game through intensive instruction over a limited period.

There are a number of reasons as to why revision courses are so valuable: post-GCSE euphoria frequently leads to wasted time during the lower sixth year, when the vital foundations of the AS and A2 syllabuses are laid down; English may have sounded an attractive option at the end of the fifth form, but on discovering after a few weeks in the sixth form that the teacher is not to their liking, the unforgiving teenager will often have withdrawn cooperation in the learning process, working only to the minimum level and refusing to do the essential reading around the subject, with obvious consequences.

The amount of teaching time in the sixth form is deceptively short – effectively, only five terms that are further reduced by time taken out for AS examinations at the end of the lower sixth. Teachers are constrained by the need to cover a syllabus and must therefore keep up the pace to achieve this within the allotted time frame. It is therefore almost inevitable that even the most able will find that there are gaps in their knowledge that need to be addressed before tackling the A2 examination.

Seizing the moment
In recent years an enormous amount of research has been dedicated to ascertaining precisely how we absorb information. According to Piaget, an acknowledged leader in this field, repetition, seeing the point of the exercise and fun are all essential ingredients to successful learning. Easter revision courses could be said to fulfil each of these maxims. In the case of maths, for example, they can provide the opportunity to develop efficient strategies for problem solving; in languages they can increase their familiarity with the use of the subjunctive mood, thereby demonstrating the value of revisiting areas in which the student is insecure.

Even the brightest and most diligent of students will be affected by that pre-exam buzz – the moment, towards the end of the spring term, when that distant exam date becomes a horrifyingly immediate reality. It is at this point that the adrenalin starts to run, that the powers of concentration escalate and that the ability to absorb and retain information is heightened. Students become fully focused; the desire to achieve that precious grade which was (perhaps optimistically) entered on the UCAS form, gives them a renewed sense of purpose. It is precisely for these reasons that the Easter revision course can be so effective – by capitalizing upon the student’s positive mindset and working alongside him or her to sort out any difficulties, but also by providing that all-important psychological support, which prevents any panic element from disintegrating into intellectual meltdown.

The specific content of any revision course must, of necessity, be determined by the demands of each subject, but a number of overriding principles are common to all. First and foremost, it should be the duty of the course leader to identify the problem areas of each individual student. Time is of the essence and there is little point, for example, for an English candidate who has mastered Shakespeare to spend hours re-reading Othello if Chaucer remains a foreign field. Exam technique, including interpretation of questions and identifying the salient points, planning, and time management are clearly of paramount importance for all subjects.

Thinking imaginatively
In the white heat of coming to terms with specific aspects of any given syllabus, be it Disraeli’s domestic policy or the study of enzymes and photosynthesis, students frequently fail to gain an overview of the essence of the subject. This can represent a considerable handicap in an A2 examination when, in order to achieve an A grade, students are expected to demonstrate to the examiner not only that they are wholly familiar with the material, but also that they are capable of thinking imaginatively beyond the immediate. Reports on candidate performance published by Examination Boards voice a recurrent theme:

‘Many candidates did not read the questions correctly and many of the answers given were simply a “brain dump” of everything they knew about the topic being examined’ [OCR, 2003]

‘The best candidates ... came up with creative answers.’  [Edexel, 2003]

The revision course should, therefore, provide students with the vital opportunity to prove their mettle in the examination by enabling them not only to feel secure in their knowledge, but also, and most importantly, to crystallize their views on any given aspect of the subject, so that they can avoid the ‘brain dump’, look beyond the immediate and develop their thoughts into the cogent and imaginative responses which are the key to a top grade.

Whilst the material will, clearly, vary between subjects, the ability to stand back and gain an overview of the main issues is paramount, both for arts and science subjects. In history, for example, this could involve reassessing standard concepts such as ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’ and examining them in the light of specific political regimes. In physics, it is essential to promote an understanding of the inter-relationship of the various disciplines in order that they be perceived as different aspects of the same physical world. In subjects such as economics and media studies, where there is a considerable cross-ruff between theory and practice, it is vital that students know how to bridge this gap.

Value for money
Some parents will complain – firstly, that revision courses are counterproductive, lulling students into a false sense of security and thereby encouraging them to slack during the academic year – and secondly, that they are an expensive option, particularly when they may already have mortgaged their very souls to fund private education.

Judas-like, we may deny it, but we all have a tendency to be intellectually idle: when I took my Law Society finals, which were held, for some inexplicable reason, in the Alexander Palace, a gaunt Victorian building in North London, I must admit to having absorbed many a legal case with the notes on the front seat of my car as I struggled up there.  But this was long before the intrusion of traffic cameras and such like!

Finally the issue of cost, which I believe must not be perceived solely in financial terms. I return to the question of ‘fun’, as mentioned by Piaget. The overriding benefit of a revision course is, perhaps, the fact that it provides students with a structure to their revision programme. At the end of the Easter term, the student will be physically and mentally weary and in need of a break. If a revision course is planned for the second week of a three-week holiday, this will enable him or her to relax over the first week, to work very intensively in the revision week, to take a few days break over Easter and then to move into top gear again immediately thereafter. The A2 examinations are, in themselves, a marathon and it is vital firstly that the student sets down a structured revision plan and secondly that the student does not reach intellectual ‘burnout’ by the second week of May.

A proper revision course will take care of these problems, but will also offer the parents some peace of mind and eliminate that miserable teenager/parent conflict over lack of application to work. It may be expensive, but for this and for the avoidance of a ruined gap-year and the prospect of further expenses for funding a re-take, revision courses are well worth the money.

It could be said that the old maxim ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’ perfectly reflects the underlying ethos of the revision course: not only does it encourage the student to structure his time, thereby working to better effect, but by the introduction of that essential work/play balance, it prevents Jack from becoming stale and enables him to produce the spontaneous, imaginative and in-depth response required by the examiner and thereby achieve the much-coveted top grade.

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