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

Reflection Revision Planner
Miss C

Reflection Revision Planner

(10)
Instead of a revision timetable, I have created a Reflection Revision Planner. Students: Unlike a timetable, it requires you to reflect on yourself and your studies regularly in order to make sense of what you are studying and why. I hope it will keep you motivated, as you can shape a...
Sample year 11 GCSE  Revision timetable for personalising
annabeljanewall

Sample year 11 GCSE Revision timetable for personalising

(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
MrsHEducates

Revision Timetable

(1)
This is a template that students can use to organise their revision. It encourages them to plan precisely what they will cover and how they will revise. It also gives them space to record useful sites and resources.

Revision Templates

Revision Clock
teachgeogblog

Revision Clock

(86)
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...
IB IGCSE History Cornell Notes Template
Jonathan Boyd

IB IGCSE History Cornell Notes Template

(1)
This is a resource designed to develop note-taking and organisational skills with IGCSE and IB History students. The resource has a word document with an exemplar template, student friendly explanation and a printable template for the Cornell Note-taking system. It can be used as a class based activ...
18 Secondary Revision Template Worksheets
stress_less_resources

18 Secondary Revision Template Worksheets

(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 ...
Dice revision - blank template
Erin Kennedy

Dice revision - blank template

(1)
Need two dice - can add questions for simple but effective retrieval practice. Have uploaded ones for AQA Psychology - psychopathology, RM and forensic psych.
English Literature Knowledge Organiser/ Writing Mats (AQA)
Georgina O'Toole

English Literature Knowledge Organiser/ Writing Mats (AQA)

(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 9-1 New GCSE: B2 Organisation Knowledge Organiser
colinhannah1982

AQA 9-1 New GCSE: B2 Organisation Knowledge Organiser

(5)
A knowledge organiser for B2 Organisation. It contains all the key knowledge from these topic for the new GCSE. It's a big topic with a lot of content so this one covers two full pages. I set revision tasks for the students from the start of the topic (e.g. learn 1-9). I then delete parts of th...
AQA History Edward & Mary Knowledge Organisers
emjank

AQA History Edward & Mary Knowledge Organisers

(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.
AQA GCSE Geography Knowledge Organisers
Humanities Zone

AQA GCSE Geography Knowledge Organisers

(1)
AQA GCSE Geography Case Study Knowledge Organisers. A fantastic revision resource that always proves very popular when summarising your notes. These are best printed A3 but can be word processed if you wish. This pack contains knowledge organisers for the following case studies: Urban Issues and Ch...
Robust Programs Knowledge Organiser
Nichola Wilkin

Robust Programs Knowledge Organiser

(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

(34)
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

(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...
Spanish Tenses Booklet
Dannielle Warren

Spanish Tenses Booklet

(103)
Present, immediate future, future, conditional, preterite, imperfect - including irregulars. To be used alongside Independent Learning Folders