A Levels in one year? We thought so…
Oct18

A Levels in one year? We thought so…

This was to be a post describing a plan to complete A Levels in one year. As regular readers know, in 2020 our 17yr old had a lightbulb moment, shook himself and decided it was time to study now. He took the four GCSEs he needed for his next step, and gave himself nine months to study them using the ICS Learn courses. Not only did he pass everything, but he achieved a 9 in English Literature , and an 8 in English Language – having...

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Homeschooling GCSEs – The Top 10 Lessons I Learned
Aug24

Homeschooling GCSEs – The Top 10 Lessons I Learned

Last summer our 17yr old decided it was time to get his life in order – he decided he’d take his GCSEs by homeschooling. Yes, he’s two years behind his cohort; but the joy of home education is that you can work to your own schedule. Every experienced home educator I spoke to at the start of our Home Ed journey assured me the motivation would come – just wait for it. Watching my video-game-obsessed offspring I...

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Revise A Level English and Win a Fjällräven Kanken backpack and BOOKS!
Jun21

Revise A Level English and Win a Fjällräven Kanken backpack and BOOKS!

This week we had a live Twitter Q&A with Mark Roberts (@mr_englishteach ), author of the new “You can’t revise for A Level English Literature! Yes you can, and Mark Roberts shows you how”.We were talking to parents of teenagers, about revising for A Level English, and you can see the Q&A on Twitter under the hashtag #CantReviseEng here – it’s filled with terrific tips and advice from Mark. You can’t revise for A...

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Home Education GCSEs – can independent study work for teens?
Jun14

Home Education GCSEs – can independent study work for teens?

This post is by 18yr old Toby – having just completed his Home Education GCSEs with ICS Learn, this is his post to have his say about his personal experience through the system, home Educating GCSEs. NO editing allowed by me – this is Toby’s opinion. *We were provided with GCSE courses from ICS Learn in return for writing honestly about our experiences and providing tips on Home Educating.* Throughout the past 6...

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Keep Going – Maintaining Your Teen’s Motivation When Enthusiasm Slides
May02

Keep Going – Maintaining Your Teen’s Motivation When Enthusiasm Slides

I’m working on a series of posts in conjunction with ICS Learn the online learning centre, for parents of teens, discussing issues around education, exams and revision, from the perspective of a parent actually on the frontline… It is TOUGH right now to get teens to study. Anyone else feeling that it’s just hard Maintaining Your Teen’s Motivation? The exam-year students are fully on it, of course; the pressure of the...

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Top online resources for GCSE revision and learning support
Feb23

Top online resources for GCSE revision and learning support

Most parents of teens (and teens themselves) are looking for extra online resources for GCSE revision and learning right now. It’s been a weird old time for all of us, of course, but for those studying for their exams it’s been doubly difficult. Because our exam system is sset to a very rigid structure; it’s a simple system, which has been worked out over decades to create the best results for the overall...

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