How to help your child revise for A-levels
Dr Lavan Ganeshkumar, PhD · updated 4 October 2026
The most useful thing a parent can do is not to supervise the revision but to help with the conditions around it: sleep, a quiet place, a realistic routine, and someone to talk to when it goes badly. Pressure and checking tend to backfire with sixth-formers, who need to feel in control of their own work.
You can still help a great deal. This is a guide for parents, not a sales page.
What helps
- Sleep and food: tired students learn less, and exam periods are not the time for late nights.
- A quiet, phone-free place to work, and a routine that includes breaks and exercise.
- Asking open questions, such as "what are you working on and how is it going?", rather than "have you done your revision?"
- Staying calm about mocks and results so that your child can tell you when they struggle.
What tends to backfire
Comparing with siblings or friends, checking hours rather than outcomes, and treating every test as a verdict. These raise anxiety, which lowers performance.
Signs your child might be struggling
- Avoiding talking about school or a subject.
- Long hours of revision with no improvement in marks.
- Marks falling after a good start, or repeated low practice scores.
- Changes in sleep, mood or appetite. If these persist, speak to the school.
If your child is not revising
Ask what is getting in the way before assuming laziness. Often the student does not know where to start, feels behind, or finds the work too hard. A teacher can help with a plan, and a simple daily task can break the freeze.
App or tutor?
A tutor helps with specific misconceptions and accountability and costs more. An app gives structure and practice cheaply, at any time. Many families use an app for the daily routine and a tutor for stubborn topics. For in-person or small-group tuition in North London, Ganes Academy (ganesacademy.com) is the sister company.
Where Trayna fits, and where it does not
Trayna is a 24/7 online tutor in your pocket, on your tablet and on the web. Dr Lavan teaches you the topics in the app any time, anywhere, and an adaptive plan reinforces them each day from now to your exam. It is there for students who cannot afford 1-to-1 tutoring, and it is built to act like a 1-to-1 tutor: it teaches, it checks, and it adapts to how you are doing. The aim is that you really understand the subject and are prepared for it, not just that you have revised it. It is A-level only, for Maths, Chemistry, Physics and Biology. Maths follows Edexcel; Chemistry, Physics and Biology follow AQA.
For a student who wants to be taught and led by a plan, Trayna is built to work like a tutor in the pocket.
It is for both Year 12 and Year 13. Year 13 students already use it, and Year 13 topics are being added as current students need them while Year 12 is the most complete, so check your topics in the app. If you only want free past papers, PMT does that better than we do, and we would rather you used it.
Common questions
How can I help my child revise for A-levels?
Help with sleep, a quiet place, a realistic routine and open conversation, rather than supervising their hours. Let them own the revision and be someone they can tell when it goes badly.
My child is not revising. What should I do?
Ask what is getting in the way, since the cause is often not knowing where to start or feeling behind. Involve a teacher, and suggest one small daily task to get moving.
What is the best revision app for my teenager?
It depends on what they need. Free tools like Physics & Maths Tutor and Seneca cover a lot. Trayna is for students who want teaching and a daily plan. See the comparison page for details.
How much revision is normal for A-levels?
A few focused hours on school days, more near exams, with breaks and sleep. Hours matter less than whether the work is active and the marks improve.
Should I get a tutor or an app?
A tutor is better for specific misconceptions and accountability. An app is cheaper and always available. Some families use both.
Trayna does this automatically. You enter your subjects, your exam dates and how long you have each day, and it builds the route from today to those exams, then adapts it as you go. Maths follows Edexcel; Chemistry, Physics and Biology follow AQA.
Get Trayna on the App Store · on Google Play
Free for 14 days, then from £9.99 a month. Cancel any time.