The 8-week revision plan

Diagnose

• Sit one full maths paper and one verbal reasoning paper, untimed. This week is about finding gaps, not scores. Child
• Mark together and write down the 3–4 weakest topics — the online player shows a per-topic breakdown after each attempt. Parent
• Start 10 minutes a day on the vocabulary trainer. Every day from now until the exam — it’s the highest-value 10 minutes in the whole plan. Child

Parent note: Resist the urge to react to a low first score. An untimed July baseline is not a prediction — it's a map of what to work on.

Weak topics

• For each weak topic, read the lesson page together, then do the matching topic mini-test (15 questions, 15 minutes). Both
• One full paper this week, still untimed, in the strongest subject — keep confidence up. Child
• Daily vocabulary continues. Child

Parent note: Little and often beats marathon sessions: 30–45 minutes a day with one full day off wins the summer.

English

• Sit an English paper (comprehension + spelling, punctuation and grammar), untimed. Child
• Work through the English lessons on inference and finding answers in the text, then the English mini-tests. Child
• Reading counts as revision this month: 20 minutes of a good novel a day quietly builds the vocabulary and comprehension the exam rewards. Both

Parent note: In comprehension, insist on one habit: every answer must have evidence in the passage. “Show me the line” is the whole technique.

Timed practice

• Two timed papers this week (maths and VR) using the online player’s timer, or print the PDFs and time it like the real thing. Child
• Review every wrong answer together the same day. Ask “why did you pick this?” — the worked solutions explain each answer. Parent
• Re-take mini-tests on any topic still below about 70%. Child

Parent note: Timing changes everything the first few times. Expect scores to dip this week — that's normal and temporary.

Stamina

• One Saturday-morning mock: maths and VR papers back-to-back with a short break, just like the real exam. Quiet room, no help, separate answer sheet if using the PDFs. Both
• One English paper midweek, timed. Child
• Vocabulary trainer daily — by now the spaced repetition should be surfacing mostly the stubborn words. Child

Parent note: The mock is about stamina, not the score. 100 minutes of sustained focus is a skill of its own, and this is where it gets built.

Level up

• Scoring 75%+ on standard papers? Move to the hard papers. If not, stay on standard — confidence beats difficulty. Child
• Re-read the “common traps” sections of your weakest lesson pages — most lost marks in September are traps, not unknown topics. Child
• Two timed papers plus targeted mini-tests. Child

Parent note: Watch the mood as much as the marks. If sessions end in tears, halve them — burnout in August is the most common cause of underperformance in September.

Peak week

• Two full timed mocks early in the week — the last hard practice before the exam. Child
• From Thursday, taper: mini-tests and vocabulary only. No new topics from here — they won’t stick, and they dent confidence. Both
• Read the week-before checklist on the tips page and check the school’s exam-day instructions. Parent

Parent note: Peak this week, not next. The final days before the exam should feel like winding down, never cramming.

Wind down

• One light mini-test early in the week at most, plus 10 relaxed minutes of vocabulary. That’s it. The work is done. Child
• Early bedtimes from Monday. Pack the night before: three sharpened pencils, eraser, sharpener, water bottle, the school’s letter. Parent
• On the morning: proper breakfast, arrive 15 minutes early, no quizzing on the way. The exam-day tips have the full routine. You’ve done the work — go show it. Both

Parent note: The hug at the door is the last word: “You've done the work, I'm proud of you.” Nothing else lands better.