A realistic SATs revision plan

Revision that fits into ordinary life gets done. Here is a plan built around short sessions, focused on gaps, that ramps up only in the final weeks.

Autumn term: find the gaps

The goal now is diagnosis, not drilling. Mixed short sets across arithmetic and GPS will show you where marks are being lost within a few weeks.

Two or three sessions a week of 10-15 minutes is enough. Keep a running list of weak topics.

Reading is the long game — start now. Reading stamina cannot be crammed in April.

Spring term: work the gaps

Now spend time where the list says. If long division and fractions are weak, most arithmetic practice should be long division and fractions.

Add reasoning questions in small sets. Focus on reading the question accurately rather than on the calculation.

Three sessions a week, still 15 minutes. Re-diagnose every few weeks — the list should be shrinking.

Final six weeks: timing and stamina

Now introduce full papers under timed conditions, one or two per subject, spread out.

The focus shifts to pace: finishing the arithmetic paper, reaching the third reading text, not stalling on a hard question.

Keep working the remaining gaps alongside, but do not introduce new topics. Consolidating what is nearly there beats starting something new.

The final week

Stop. Light review only, or nothing at all.

Sleep, ordinary meals, ordinary evenings. Nothing learned in the last week will move a scaled score, and a tired anxious child will underperform on what they already know.

This is the single highest-value piece of advice on this page, and the hardest to follow.