There is a moment during every exam season when some parents lose perspective. Usually, that’s around the third reminder to “do a bit more revision” and shortly before somebody says: “Well, when I did my GCSEs…”

And that’s the problem. Every generation of parents believes their exam experience contains universal truths that must now be passed on like some sacred family recipe. We remember what worked for us – handwritten revision cards, highlighting, sitting silently at a library desk for five uninterrupted hours – and assume our children should do the same. The uncomfortable reality in 2026 is that parents need to wipe their memories of exam seasons in the pre-digital age.

Back in the 1980s or 90s, we revised in relative isolation. Once you left school, that was it. There was no endless online dissection of every paper before you’d even got home.........

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