An expert recommendation that GCSE and A-level students should study for seven hours a day throughout the Easter holidays has been greeted with a variety of scepticism, concern and mild horror by psychologists, teachers and pupils.

Barnaby Lenon, a former headteacher of Harrow, the prestigious independent boarding school that educated the likes of Winston Churchill, Benedict Cumberbatch, the singer James Blunt and the rugby player Billy Vunipola, suggests in a much discussed list of revision tips, a total of 100 hours study over the fortnight long holiday.



All topics should be revised at least three times before the exam; studies should start at 9am and finish by 6pm with regular 30-minute breaks and a good night’s sleep at the end. “Good exam results are made in the Easter holidays,” he writes in a blog for the Independent Schools Council, which he chairs.



“Public exam results are important. They can determine the course of your life. Other students will be working hard. So it is worthwhile sacrificing your holidays.” Lenon continues: “The best GCSE and A-level results don’t go to the cleverest students – they go to those who revised in the Easter holidays.”



Quick Guide The new GCSEs Show What are the biggest changes to GCSEs? The new courses have a greater emphasis on final exam marks, with little or no coursework counting towards final grades, and a new grading scheme running from 9 at the top to 1 as the lowest rank.

How does the new grading system work? The new system sets a 4 as equivalent to a C under the previous rankings, while the top grades A* and A will be split into three grades, 7, 8 and 9 – with 9 awarded to those with marks at the top of the old A* grade.

Ofqual’s view Ofqual’s chief regulator said the new courses allowed students to more fully display their abilities and knowledge, and would help them go on to further study. “In turn, the new 9 to 1 grade system signals to employers and others that this year’s students have studied new, more challenging content, and better differentiates between their achievements,” she said.

The NUT’s view “Putting more emphasis on final exams is hitting hardest those who require the most support, such as disadvantaged students and students with special education need,” said Kevin Courtney, the union’s general secretary.



“That’s unbelievable,” said one 17-year-old who is studying for A-levels in politics, economics and French, and is evidently shaken by the idea of seven hours revision a day during his holidays which have just begun.

“It’s just nonsensical. No one could do that. It’s way too much. No one can concentrate by themselves for so long. My view is I can achieve my potential with maybe three hours a day. Seven hours a day is simply not productive.”

Lenon, however, has an impressive track record. As well as being head at Harrow for 12 years, he was deputy head of Highgate school in north London and headmaster of Trinity school in Croydon. He is chair of governors of the London Academy of Excellence, a selective free school in Newham, east London, known as the East End Eton, and is a board member of the qualifications watchdog Ofqual. His former students have gained the best possible qualifications and made it to the best universities.

As the Easter holidays get under way and pressure begins to mount ahead of the summer exams, parents may increasingly find themselves in conflict with their offspring over the fraught issue of exam revision.

For some, it is taken out of their hands with large numbers of schools now choosing to open during the holidays to hold revision sessions. Experts agree that exams are important and young people need to devote holiday time to their revision, but there is agreement that one size does not fit all, and it is not helpful to be prescriptive.

Dr Nihara Krause, a consultant clinical psychologist, said motivation can be a problem and some parents use money as an incentive to encourage revision. Some of her young patients are promised £400-£500 for every A at GCSE or even a car.

“I don’t think those are the best motivators,” she said. “I think seven hours is far too much. Students also need to have a bit of a break. People talk about trying to do four or five hours. But there will be some students who need more time because they are less efficient with the way they use their time.

“There will be others who need a lot less because they work slightly differently. These global messages are not good ones for teachers to give.”

Sarah Kendrick, a psychotherapist who manages clinical services across the south of England for the children’s mental health charity Place2Be, says parents need to encourage both work and relaxation.

“We can’t expect adolescents to work to the timetables we set them always. What we can do sometimes as parents is let our stress and our anxiety about our child’s achievement get into the mix.

As parents we let our stress and our anxiety about our child’s achievement get into the mix Psychotherapist, Place2Be

“It’s really important while we are encouraging them to revise – saying yes, you need to do this work – that you then say what’s equally important is that you play football or you go swimming or you watch that programme you were interested in. We need to be advocates for downtime as well as for revision.”



According to Kendrick, new GCSEs being rolled out this summer have increased academic pressure on children and their teachers, who are having to teach a new curriculum which will be tested purely by end of year exams rather than any form of continual assessment.



Alert to the risks to mental health, schools are running stressbuster sessions, including yoga and resilience training to support anxious students. In the higher education sector, universities are offering therapy dogs and rabbits to try to soothe worried students.

Vic Goddard, the principal of Passmores Academy of Educating Essex fame, agrees that students need to make some sacrifices to be successful in their exams, but says family time is important too.

“Revision is very individual but does need to be planned for. Giving a blanket number [of revision hours] may cause anxiety to increase when it isn’t achieved, which won’t help.



“It is important that the family time available over the holidays is made the most of but also that the family supports their young person by helping them find a suitable amount of time, and an appropriate environment, to study what is needed.



“My top bit of advice would not be about the amount of time needed and more about the quality of the deliberate practice undertaken. That and put your phones away while you do it!”



Geoff Barton, an English teacher for 30 years, a former head teacher and now general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, recommends short bursts of revision of 30 minutes to an hour with regular breaks in between.

“I would be very worried about a young person spending seven hours a day right through their Easter holidays. In my experience it’s the quality of the revision, not just the quantity. More does not necessarily mean better.”

Reflecting on Lenon’s advice, Justine Roberts, founder and chief executive of the parenting website Mumsnet, said: “For young people who have left it to the last minute or who thrive on cramming, this advice could be great. For others, it risks adding to already considerable stress levels.



“In the run-up to big public exams there are always plenty of reports on Mumsnet about children who are visibly upset, not sleeping or eating, or just feeling generally hopeless. The consensus is that these children need to be encouraged to take more breaks, not chain themselves to their desks.”



Dr Krause’s exam preparation tips

The night before the exam, do something that relaxes you. Photograph: John Reardon

1 Repetition is an essential part of learning. Studies on neural plasticity show that repetition can also help your brain rewire itself so that your thinking becomes stronger.

2 Learn the difference between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset. Fixed mindsets assume that intelligence and creative ability are a given and there’s nothing that you can do to change it. Growth mindsets thrive on challenge and see failure as a springboard for growth.

3 When motivation is a problem, write down your goals. Set a date and time and make the fact that you’re getting started public, then force yourself to do at least 30 minutes of study. To keep focused walk around as you study.

4 Prevent distractions – keep all technology out of reach.



5 The day before the exam aim to run through your work and complete it by 3pm. Do something that relaxes you the night before. Decide whether it’s a good idea or not to speak to friends – last-minute comparisons are not very helpful. Go to bed at a reasonable time – not too early so you toss and turn but not too late.