Hi, guys! I’m blogging you from the middle of (trial) Exam Week, that terrifying week full of headaches and sudden onset nausea (right outside the exam hall). Today, I’m going to explain to you the concept of “study leave”.
In England, during our major public examinations (GCSEs, AS, and A2 Levels) that take place in the summer, students get study leave or exam leave. Basically what it is, is that formal lessons in school are suspended and you are free to stay home and revise, coming into school only to take your exams. School policy on exam leave differs from school to school and from year to year, but the concept is still the same: it’s a lot of free time to study in procrastinate in. Last year, I had my dad change the password of Ron, my laptop, to prevent me from getting sidetracked. Little did he know that there were a hundred million different other things I could do which were preferable to revising; a couple thousand of those things involved food.
Since I’m only doing my trial AS exams this week, we’ve only been granted a week of partial study leave. Basically, it’s the same thing as study leave except you still have to go into school for a couple of choice forms of torture, namely PE/games and music or drama lessons.
The really cool thing about study leave is the feeling of freedom and independence you have. You can work on your own timetable and commute like a motherfucking boss to work an exam wherever your agenda has been booked for one. Today, I got up at a satisfying 8:00am and was at my desk revising at 9:00. I revised solidly until noon at which point I tidied my work-space, played with Yogi (my dog), had lunch, put on my make-up, got dressed for school and left the house at 1:10pm to be at school with twenty minutes to spare for my 2:00 chemistry exam.
It just feels nice in a world where each day of my life is so strictly scheduled by the school into bite-size periods and specific lunch times to be able to have my own day planned out. I felt so in control that I couldn’t help but stride to school. Look at me, look at my ring of keys! Look at this shiny silver house key I have; yes, I pay mortgage and bills and all that (not really…) like an adult. Look at me refer to my phone constantly, but not too constantly, for the time and smile when I record the time because I am punctual and on top of things today.
And after my exam? I grab a cup of tea, have a quick chat with my friends/co-workers and depart for the day. All those younger years without exams running around school programmed to attend this lesson at this time like robots, look at them! I stride past them and out the school gates towards freedom because I can. I’ve study left this old hole of a school!
Jenny Aster. I'm a sixteen year old Chinese-American living in Britain and I like what you've done with your hair. :P I'm good at life...and web-design.
Georgina
I love the play on the term. Study left.
When I was in high school we didn’t have a term for this but we had exactly the same sort of arrangement both when it came to trials and actual exams. A lot of people had several exams timetabled in the same day and just studied in the library in between. It’s nice just to go to school for the exams. I guess you’ll get really used to that thing in university, just pop in whenever you have a class… well, it’s pretty swell. 
I thought it just took a lot off my mind in high school to not have classes in between exams. I don’t think I used my time all that wisely though.
I remember that during our week of trials we still had to go to sport. They had a nice way of putting the mathematics exam just before sport, knowing full well that everyone in the grade studied mathematics and would be present for the exam, hence would have to attend sport. ._.
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Catherine
Haha I loved this post. We don’t get study leave this January, which sucks, but we can come into school at normal time and go to the sixth form study centre… fun…!
I remember always loving study leave during GCSE period. I just felt so relaxed. I could wake up when I wanted, get revision I wanted to do done, still making time to watch some TV and use a bit of Facebook
… and then go to school at one in the afternoon. I also remember the days where I’d have two exams in one day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon; I could choose whether to stay in school, or go home, or go to McDonalds, etc, etc… there was just so much freedom, it was the best. Good times, haha.
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