Key stage 4: Guide to GCSE pupil study leave options

Published by the Specialist Schools Trust, Beyond Study Leave (link opens in new window) is a guide is written by head teachers and endorsed by head teacher unions and will help schools personalise pupil entitlement to study leave at Key Stage 4. It aims to give practical advice and suggestions, including short-term tactics and longer-term advice, to help schools improve on traditional study leave and give each student the most appropriate support before taking their GCSEs.

At age 15-16, a high proportion of students do not have the skills, or are not inclined, to make the best use of large amounts of unsupervised and unstructured 'revision time', so these schools have sought ways to help the students make best use of this time, whether it is at home or, more likely, at school. The approaches are presented as examples of practice that work in particular schools, not as recommendations for all and are being used in schools this year.

The Specialist Schools Trust works to give practical support to the transformation of secondary education in England by building and enabling a world-class network of innovative, high-performing secondary schools in partnership with business and the wider community. The Specialist Schools Trust has distributed a hard copy of the guide to every Secondary school, but it can also be downloaded in PDF format from the TeacherNet website.

This booklet sits alongside the GCSE booster pack and Key Stage 4 Learning Challenge: Handbook for School Organisers publications, which offer further guidance to preparing students for GCSE examinations. Teachers may also be interested in Seeking alternatives to GCSE study leave: some case studies (link opens in new window) which provides examples of creative initiatives five schools have taken to improve students' preparations for GCSEs.