Free parents' guide · for parents of A-level studentsWorking hard, but the grades aren't moving?
If your child puts the hours in and the results still don't show it, effort isn't the problem. The free parents' guide explains what is, and gives you a plan you can start this week. Written by Dr Waleed Ahmad, MBBS.
Inside the guide
A short read. Nothing padded.
Written for parents who can see their child trying hard but not getting the results they deserve.
The real reason grades stall
Why effort alone stops converting into marks, and why more hours on the same method will not move the grade.
The four tiers of exam performance
The skill levels that separate B students from A and A* students, and where your child is probably stuck.
Three questions to ask your child this week
They open a conversation about how your child studies, not just how much. The answers tell you more than any report card.
A free plan you can start tonight
Step by step: the diagnostic, the tracker and the weekly newsletter, before you spend a penny on help.
Dr Waleed Ahmad, MBBS
Founder, A-Level Accelerators
Who wrote it
I'm a doctor and a former top-performing A-level student, and I've worked with over 1,000 students on their grades, their workload and their study systems.
I wrote this guide for parents who can see their child is trying hard but not getting the results they deserve. It tells you why, without the jargon, and what to do next.
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While the guide is on its way
See the problem before you fix it.
Everything the guide recommends is free and lives on this site. The best first step: ask your teenager to take the diagnostic tonight.
Revision Diagnostic
20 questions, about 4 minutes. Shows exactly where their revision is leaking hours and marks, so you both know what to fix first.
Revision Tracker
They rate their topics, it builds their week around the weakest ones, with a method for every session.
The Sunday Session
My free weekly email for students. One revision method every Sunday at 5pm, usable that evening.
Quick answers
Questions parents ask us
What is in the free A-level parents' guide?
The real reason hard-working students get stuck, the four tiers of exam performance so you can see which one your child is on, three questions to ask them this week that reveal more than 'how's revision going?', and a free plan you can start tonight. It's a short, honest read, not a padded ebook.
How can I tell if my child's revision is actually working?
Compare marks against hours. If the hours are high and the results aren't moving, the method is leaking, and more of the same hours won't fix it. The clearest way to see the leak is the free Revision Diagnostic: 20 questions, answered by your child or by you from what you see at home, and the report names the exact pattern.
How many hours a day should my child be revising?
In study leave, 3 to 5 focused hours beats 8 distracted ones. Alongside school, 2 to 3 is realistic. The hours matter far less than what fills them: testing yourself from memory moves grades, re-reading notes doesn't. If your child does long evenings with the notes out and the grades stay flat, that's the pattern to break.
Is the guide for parents of Year 12 or Year 13 students?
Both, and for parents of students resitting. The method problems it deals with are the same in both years; what changes is the urgency. If your child is going into Year 13, the summer and early autumn are when predicted grades get decided, so sooner genuinely beats later.