How to Help Your Child Revise for GCSEs

GCSEs can be stressful for students and parents alike! You want your child to do well, and you want to help, but it isn’t always easy. Dealing with daily life, teen angst, and a lot of unknowns can lead to some frustration. Knowing how to help your child revise for GCSEs can be tricky. You don’t know the subject content, time is limited, and you may get little info from your children. What you need is a clear, structured roadmap to guide your teen through the most important school exams they’ve faced so far. 

This guide provides you with revision and motivation strategies, tips for creating good study routines, and signs of stress and burnout.

Key Takeaways

• Focus on being a coach: your role isn't to teach subjects but to provide practical help with revision timetables and a calm study environment

• Encourage active revision techniques: it’s about quality over quantity of study hours 

• Balance support with independence: let your children take ownership of their GCSEs

• Monitor stress levels carefully: watch for warning signs. Don't hesitate to seek professional support from school pastoral teams or GPs if you think you need to

Why GCSE Revision Feels Overwhelming

GCSEs are a significant step up from anything students have faced before. It’s pretty intense. Most teenagers will sit between eight and twelve separate GCSE subject exams. Each involves multiple papers, often testing two or three years' worth of content. The sheer volume of material to revise is a lot to handle. Add to this typical teenage pressures around friendships, identity, and independence.

Teenagers are acutely aware that these exams could shape their future paths. As a GCSE teacher myself, I know that they hear the word “important” all day every day! A parent's calm, supportive presence matters so much during this period.

Universities, colleges, and apprenticeships focus mostly on A Level results. GCSEs can be used to help shortlist candidates. They may look at them for an overall picture of your child’s academic record. 

For more information, have a read through our article Are GCSEs important?. 

The Role Parents Can Play

Don’t worry - you don’t need to understand quadratic equations or remember Shakespeare quotations. You are an expert, though. You know your child best. They come to you for structure, calm encouragement, and a listening ear. Above all, you can provide a steady routine, a peaceful study environment, and emotional support. 

Let’s break down what effective support really looks like. 

Helping Your Child Build a Revision Timetable

Creating a revision timetable together can transform overwhelming chaos into manageable tasks. Start by:

• Mapping out how many weeks remain until exams, then work backwards to allocate time for each subject

  • A timetable imposed by parents may not get followed, but one created together feels more like their own plan

  • Display it somewhere visible and treat it as a guide rather than a contract

  • For example, you may need to add more time for a more challenging subject 

  • Maybe your child notices some gaps after a particular mock exam

  • Our GCSE revision timetable can help

• Encourage your child to be realistic about how long they can concentrate effectively

  • Most teenagers work best in focused sessions of 25-45 minutes rather than marathon three-hour stretches

  • This is called the Pomodoro revision technique

• Build in regular breaks, ideally after every study session, and have days off 

  • Research (opens in a new tab) suggests leaving a day between sessions strengthens performance

Encouraging Effective Revision Methods

Not all revision is created equal. Hours spent passively rereading notes or highlighting textbooks creates an illusion of productivity. The most effective techniques involve actively retrieving information from memory.

Encourage your child to use:

• Active recall: this means testing themselves without looking at notes first. 

• Flashcards, whether physical or digital, promote active testing

• Past papers are one of the most effective revision tools available

  • Our full set of past papers and mark schemes align with exam boards

Using these principles lets you steer your child towards effective methods. No more wasting hours in their bedroom and accomplishing little!

Ways to Support Without Knowing the Content

Remember, you don't need to teach subject content to help your child prepare for GCSEs. Here’s a list of things you can do to help without knowing what the answers:

• Read questions from flashcards whilst your child answers

• Time them whilst they complete practice papers

• Listen whilst they explain a concept aloud

• Help them organise notes by subject

• Create a distraction-free schedule, or check in on their planned revision for the day

• Ensure they have stationery and relevant resources

Creating the Right Environment for Studying

A calm, organised study space is key. This doesn't require a dedicated home office. A clear desk or kitchen table and a bit of quiet works perfectly. Adequate lighting, comfortable seating, minimal visual distractions work well. Having everything they need within reach helps avoid those wanders around the house or to the fridge! 

Smartphones can be distracting and notifications hijack attention. Teenagers know the impact! They may know better than us because they learn about it at school. Rather than outright bans that create conflict, discuss strategies together: 

1. Put phones in another room during study sessions

2. Use apps like Freedom (opens in a new tab), AppBlock (opens in a new tab), or SelfControl (opens in a new tab) that block social media temporarily

3. Keep phones on silent and face-down

Similarly, laptops can be necessary for research but also distract. Browser extensions like StayFocusd (opens in a new tab) limit certain websites during study hours. 

The goal is helping them build the self-discipline they'll need for independent study at college or university. 

Here, you’ll find more top tips on How To Avoid Distractions While Studying. 

Staying Motivated Without Pressure

Keeping up the motivation across months of revision is tough for anyone. It helps to acknowledge progress and celebrate small wins. 

Small rewards after achieving revision goals can help: a favourite meal, an episode of a programme they enjoy, or time with friends. These shouldn't feel like bribes but rather appropriate breaks that refresh them for the next study session.

Notice when your child has stuck to their timetable, got through a difficult topic, or improved their score on a practice paper. Try specific praise like "you worked hard on that chemistry revision today" rather than generic encouragement.

Avoid adding pressure by constantly asking about revision or mentioning how important these exams are. Try to let your child know that revision is a manageable part of life, not an all-consuming crisis.

Spotting and Managing Stress

Recognise the signs that stress has tipped into something more serious: 

• Significant changes in sleep patterns

• Persistent tearfulness

• Withdrawal from family and friends

• Constant talk of being unable to cope

• Physical symptoms like headaches and stomach aches

Some anxiety is normal, but when it interferes with daily functioning, intervention is needed.

Encourage proper sleep. Tired brains retain information poorly and anxiety worsens with exhaustion. 

Regular exercise, even short walks, helps manage stress hormones. 

It sounds obvious but skipping meals or eating a load of snacks can affect mood and concentration.

Direct your child to our Free Exam Anxiety Relief Kit for practical strategies for managing exam-related pressure.

Sometimes professional support is needed. School pastoral teams, GPs, or counsellors can help when things become unmanageable. Seeking help is a sign of strength, not weakness.

When to Step Back & When to Step In

It’s hard to find that balance between breathing down your child’s neck and distancing yourself too much. Sure, teenagers need to develop independence and take ownership of their learning, but they're not adults yet. Sometimes intervention is needed. 

How can you do it without causing conflict?

• Step back when they're managing their revision effectively, even if their methods differ from what you'd choose

• Allow them to learn from consequences

  • Performing poorly on a practice paper because they didn't revise enough is hard to handle but it does build responsibility

• Step in when revision has completely stalled or when they seem paralysed by anxiety

  • They may be struggling but unable to ask for help

  • Gentle conversations open those slammed doors!

Trust your instincts as a parent. You know your child best and can usually sense when normal stress has crossed into something more concerning.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many hours a day should my child revise for GCSEs?

This varies by student and how close exams are. Generally, Year 10 students might manage one to two hours of focused revision outside homework. Year 11 students might work up to three or four hours daily in the final weeks before exams (especially during study leave). Quality matters more than quantity. Two hours of active recall beats five hours of unfocused note-reading. Ensure they're taking regular breaks and having complete rest days.

Should I ban their phone during revision?

Work together to establish boundaries. Remember, they feel their own guilt when they’ve been checking their phone instead of revising. Support them with better habits. Self-regulation is a skill needed beyond GCSEs.

Do mock exam results matter?

Mock exam results don't directly count towards final grades, but they're valuable for several reasons. They identify weak areas and prepare students for exam conditions and timing. They also predict grades for university or college applications. Think of them as diagnostic tools showing where to focus before the real exams. 

What are the best online GCSE revision resources?

Look for resources that match the exam board your child is following, whether it’s AQA (opens in a new tab), Edexcel Pearson (opens in a new tab), OCR (opens in a new tab), or Eduqas (opens in a new tab). Remember that each subject may follow a different exam board. The school website usually tells you the exam board for each subject.

Find out whether your child prefers videos, quizzes, or note-taking. A blend is the best way to keep motivation up. You can even play revision games with them!

Check out our article on the best revision websites available. 

Final Thoughts

These months of revision are challenging. But they also offer opportunities to develop resilience, time management, and self-discipline. Your steady encouragement helps them see revision as a series of achievable steps. Your presence, patience, and practical support during GCSE revision matter more than you might realise.

Stay calm and stay present. Exam results, whilst important, don't define your child's worth or potential. Your role is to help them do their best whilst keeping everything in perspective!

Want to know more? 

Read through our expert tips on how to Find Your Perfect Revision Routine for GCSEs. 

Save My Exams offers comprehensive GCSE Revision Notes, Past Papers & Exam Questions written by expert teachers across all major exam boards. 

An SME membership means your child can access high-quality materials independently, whilst you can see their progress and support their learning without needing subject expertise yourself. Our resources are written by real examiners and expert teachers, and designed to match your exact exam board. 

In a 2025 survey of 1917 students, 94% of members say Save My Exams helped them save time revising.  

References: 

Long gaps during revision 'better than cramming' - BBC News (opens in a new tab)
Freedom App (opens in a new tab)
AppBlock (opens in a new tab)
SelfControlApp (opens in a new tab)
StayFocusd Website (opens in a new tab)
AQA (opens in a new tab)
Edexcel Pearson Qualifications (opens in a new tab)
 OCR (opens in a new tab)
Eduqas GCSE Qualifications (opens in a new tab).