STUDENTS with exams this summer were recently encouraged to study for seven hours a day over the Easter holidays in order to give themselves the best possible chances of success.

This advice came from Barnaby Lenon, chairman of the Independent Schools Council, and it appears to have caused something of a controversy.

While some teachers and experts labelled his advice unrealistic and expressed concerns about the pressure this may place on students, Mr Lenon said: "That may seem a lot, but the students who get the best grades will be working this hard."

He added that "the best GCSE and A-level results don't go to the cleverest students — they go to those who revised in the Easter holidays".

Wherever you sit on this debate — and my own view is that the most successful students see their courses as a marathon and not a sprint, working hard and steadily from day one — I think many teachers would agree that a sensible, well-planned and focussed revision programme for the Easter break is likely to make a difference to grades.

If you are a student reading this, how might you find the motivation to get back to your revision? Here are my top five tips which centre around being kind to yourself and putting your education first.

Think about your future self and the doors which good exam results might open up for that person if you put in some focussed work now.

Consider the time and effort you have dedicated to your whole education to date — be kind to your former self by doing your best to ensure previous efforts are not wasted, but are reflected in your next set of grades.

Reflect upon how it might feel not to do yourself justice. Much better surely to be able to say in the future "I’m proud of what I’ve achieved because I did my very best" rather than to speculate about what you could have done if only . . .

Talk to someone who has your best interests at heart and might be able to give you a pep talk to keep you motivated.

Be kind to yourself by making every minute of your revision count.

Don’t waste time on material you already know; instead, focus on areas you find more challenging and make a note to ask your teacher for help when you get back to school/college next term if there are concepts you don’t understand.

I am sure many of you will have heard of the marshmallow experiments, conducted with small children, which claimed to show that the ability to delay gratification ultimately leads to success. Children were left alone in a room with a marshmallow for 15 minutes and told that, if they didn’t eat it, they would be given a second one when the time was up.

Researchers found that children who were able to wait longer for the preferred rewards tended to have better life outcomes, as measured by SAT scores and educational attainment.

So, students, remember the marshmallow — resolve to do the very best that you can and be prepared to make some sacrifices now for the sake of your future selves.

Happy revision!