Encouraging independent study at secondary

Ideas and activities to help pupils to understand their learning habits and manage their own studies

Tes Resources Team

Secondary Student Organising Their Workload with Resources

Help pupils to develop the skills to become independent learners with these hand-selected resources

It’s no surprise that many students become more engaged in their learning when they have some control over the subjects they study. So as they get older, it’s especially important that they have the skills to be able to manage their studies effectively. 

We’ve picked out a collection of practical activities and templates to help you to promote these skills and, hopefully, help them to become lifelong learners in the process.

Revision timetables and time management

Explore more revision timetables

Sample year 11 GCSE Revision timetable for personalising
Girlwith Pearlearring

Sample year 11 GCSE Revision timetable for personalising

FREE
(1)
Sample Year 11 GCSE revision timetable to be personlised for a student's own subjects and needs. Contains revision tasks for English language and literature at the end of the timetable. The focus is on the AQA exam board: An Inspector Calls, Macbeth, Power and conflict poetry. Other schools may ...
Revision timetable workshop GCSE preparation
bessicates100

Revision timetable workshop GCSE preparation

£3.00
(1)
Revision timetable workshop for year 11 (for large group teaching, form time) for mock exams/GCSEs). At the end of the session all students had completed a personalised revision timetable. Resources needed: Spare highlighters for students that don't have any Blank revision timetable (included) Opti...
Revision timetable
schampion19

Revision timetable

FREE
(1)
Designed for A-Level but can be used for GCSE too Helps to organise student revision as many seem to be struggling with this!

Revision Templates

Revision Clock
teachgeogblog

Revision Clock

FREE
(87)
A way of revising which can break a topic down into 12 sub-categories. Ask a student to make notes in each chunk of the clock. Revise each slot for 5 minutes, turn the clock over and ask the student to recite back to you certain sections of the clock. 'e.g. what was in section 2-3'. Works well w...
'Think and Link' GCSE Revision Template
cal-w11

'Think and Link' GCSE Revision Template

FREE
(1)
Do you find your students never seem to the see the link between different topic in science? Do they struggle to understand that what they learn for each paper can be used in multiple different questions? Our resource will help your students understand the links between different topics for paper ...
18 Secondary Revision Template Worksheets
stress_less_resources

18 Secondary Revision Template Worksheets

£3.80
(1)
18 general secondary revision worksheets | visual organisers | revision templates and revision planners. Ready to print activities and graphic organisers. Cover lesson friendly - all subjects. 18 universal/ all subjects revision printables. Useful for independent, paired and group work. Great for ...
BLANK - Revision Tracker
Ross Armorgie

BLANK - Revision Tracker

FREE
(1)
Elevate your student s study game with this Revision Tracker (Editable). This innovative tool is designed to streamline the revision process, helping you effectively organize and track the progress of your students. Whether you re preparing students for exams or seeking to deepen their knowledg...

Knowledge Organisers 

Check out more KS4 knowledge organisers 

English Literature Knowledge Organiser/ Writing Mats (AQA)
Georgina O'Toole

English Literature Knowledge Organiser/ Writing Mats (AQA)

FREE
(24)
These knowledge organisers provide a quick guide for pupils to help them write effective answers for AQA English Literature paper 1 and paper 2 with poetry on one side and fiction on the other. Keep them on your classroom desks to use as writing mats, or give them to students to revise from. Each on...
AQA History Edward & Mary Knowledge Organisers
emjank

AQA History Edward & Mary Knowledge Organisers

£3.00
(3)
All of the essential information on Edward and Mary on 1 sheet. Can be pasted to PowerPoints or made into flash cards. Knowledge quizzes to come which are based upon these sheets. Students said they helped them to feel revision was manageable.
Robust Programs Knowledge Organiser
Nichola Wilkin

Robust Programs Knowledge Organiser

FREE
(2)
This visually appealing knowledge organiser is a quick summary to recap how to produce robust programs. It can help pupils revise for end of unit tests or GCSE computer science exams by including small straightforward facts that can be learnt in minutes. A powerful revision aid that your students w...
French GCSE and IGCSE Tenses Wallchart
NickDrake82

French GCSE and IGCSE Tenses Wallchart

FREE
(35)
A quick 'how to form' for all the tenses with common irregulars. Tenses are also colour coded, a colour system, which can then be replicated in class to help the pupils identify which tense is being used.
GCSE AQA New Spec German Writing Mat - 90 Word
grisedaw

GCSE AQA New Spec German Writing Mat - 90 Word

£3.00
(7)
Writing Mat designed to assist students in the writing of the 90 words, 16 mark task, in the new AQA GCSE (1-9). It has lots of useful phrases, verb help, a pupil speak markscheme. Very useful to stick in the front of pupils' books/print out back to back and laminate for use in class. I have found t...
GCSE Spanish "Excellence in writing" Knowledge Organiser
KateH44

GCSE Spanish "Excellence in writing" Knowledge Organiser

£2.50
(7)
A double-sided writing mat which encourages students to include a wide range of connectives, opinion phrases, intensifiers, infinitive constructions etc. in their written or oral work. Sheet also includes easy-to-use complex structures and 'Grade 9' features such as idioms and subjunctive to enable ...