Revision
course must be chosen carefully
February
10, 2008
By
Sian Griffiths. Additional
reporting by Victoria Neumark
‘Three times
this year? I didn’t know I was going three times!”
James Hart, 18, has just been told by his mother that he’s
booked in for a series of private revision sessions before
his A-level exams this summer.
With E-day just three months away, crammers, private
schools and online sites are cranking up to deliver their
lucrative Easter holiday courses to anxious teenagers.
Across the country, parents will part with hundreds of
thousands of pounds between now and the early summer exams
in a bid to boost the grades of their offspring. Even
schools – both fee-paying and state – are paying for
borderline pupils to attend independent revision courses.
But how do you know if your money is well spent? Critics
warn that nobody inspects the plethora of colleges and
courses, precise success rates are hard to come by – and
horror stories of cowboy operators abound.
Marilyn Craig, director of courses at Justin Craig
Education, one of the oldest operators in the market, which
will this year teach about 4,000 pupils, warns: “This is
not a shark-free zone. It’s not regulated. Anyone can set
up tomorrow, you don’t even need to be a proper teacher.
It’s astonishing how many people see a course advertised
and book without asking any questions, or opt for the
nearest place to where they live regardless of the
quality.”
She advises parents to ask questions before parting with
any cash, including checking the qualifications of the
teachers, the size and duration of the classes and asking
for evidence, such as surveys or repeat bookings, that
previous users have found the course valuable.
As proof of the quality of her company’s courses Craig
offers up Hart, a pupil at King Solomon high school in
Essex, for interview. He is attending a course at Justin
Craig for the third year running.
In Easter 2006 the then 16-year-old enrolled for its
revision courses in GCSE history, business studies,
sciences and maths. He says that it paid off, he got his
best grades – three As and one B – in what were previously
his weakest subjects.
This year he will be attending to try to ensure that he
achieves at least his predicted B grades in A-level
business studies and history. The cost? £330 for 2½ days at
one of the company’s centres, revising one A-level.
“There are so many distractions at home. The telly, the
internet, friends. But when you are there it’s much more
difficult to be distracted. I would never revise at home
for the eight hours a day I revise there,” says Hart.
Alan Smithers, director of the centre for education at the
University of Buckingham, did not use revision courses for
his children. His solution when his daughter’s school
biology lessons needed supplementing was to send her to an
evening class at the local further education college, which
had been recommended by other parents.
But, he says, courses can play a part in “imparting the
rules of the game”.
“Doing well in exams is a skill in its own right over and
above how well you understand the subject,” says Smithers.
“It is well worth honing exam techniques and these courses
can help with that.”
However, he adds, parents would be well advised first to
check out the websites of the various exam boards, where
past papers, guides and mark schemes are available – all
excellent sources of advice on how to excel at a specific
test.
For not everyone’s experience is as positive as Hart’s –
and sometimes even a school recommendation of a revision
course – which encompass books, online sites, residential
courses and hourly tuition – is no surefire guide as to
what will help your child.
When, a few years ago, the staff at Tessa Holroyde’s
children’s school in Newport Pag-nell suggested a home
tuition kit for those struggling with English and maths,
Holroyde, whose son Tom was about to begin his two-year
GCSE syllabus, promptly signed up. The course cost £2,500
in monthly payments over two years.
Tom, then 14, was at first keen enough to do the half
hour’s work each day and send off the weekly assignments.
Keen enough for two months. Reluctant for another month.
Then he flat out refused. There were other difficulties,
too. The revision course used different maths methods from
Tom’s school, which he found frustrating.
“What made me really upset,” says Holroyd, “is that no one
ever rang up to see what was happening. We got a couple of
letters – where is your work, Tom? – and if we rang up the
helpline, which we did a couple of times, they did advise
us. But no one ever really engaged with Tom.”
“It was,” she says fervently, “such a waste of money.”
As E-day looms panicky parents and pupils should remember
that there is no quick fix – no matter how much cash you
part with. In the end there is no substitute for a child’s
own intelligence and personal dedication to swotting.
“All these courses can do is enable your child to show
themselves in a positive light,” says Smithers. “What they
cannot do is significantly change what they are capable of
doing.”
It’s an observation borne out by London mother Cynthia
Stamm-Clarke’s experience. Her daughter Mary attended a
week-long revision course in Easter 2005 at a private
tutorial college.
“She was adrift with her sciences and we bought the double
science GCSE revision week for her,” says Stamm-Clarke. “It
really did help. She got A*s.”
A year later, however, the results were less spectacular.
“She tried to do physics AS-level but was really
struggling. In 2006 I didn’t feel the crammers helped that
much because whereas at GCSE you basically just have to
regurgitate material, at AS-level there is a depth and a
need for independent thought. You can’t just boil that down
to a week.”
Mary abandoned physics and went on to university to study
journalism. Cramming, it seems, is no magic bullet.
Print this page
See the published article