GCSE Revision Scams Parents Need to Know About

Parents, you are going to get absolutely fleeced this revision season if you're not paying attention to what's out there.

I say that as someone who has been a maths teacher and tutor for years, working with hundreds of families. I know exactly what's being sold, and some of it is genuinely embarrassing. Before you spend a single penny on revision products, read this first.

Predicted Papers: The Oldest Trick in the Book

You've seen these all over TikTok. Probably on a live stream, with someone in a ring light acting like they've cracked the Da Vinci Code of GCSE maths.

And if there are two of them, you already know how it's going to go. There's one serious one doing the talking, and one joker in the corner whose only job is to keep you watching.

"Our predicted papers are 99% accurate. Our predicted papers were the closest to last year's. Our predicted papers are the best predictors since Paul the Octopus predicted the World Cup."

Here's the reality. If you throw 50 darts at a dartboard, you'd expect some of them to hit the bullseye. That doesn't make you a professional darts player.

Nobody knows what's coming up in that paper. Not me, not your child's school, not some bloke flogging PDFs at 2am on TikTok Live. The exam boards have entire teams working specifically to make sure papers can't be predicted. The idea that a company has cracked it from a content farm somewhere is not serious.

The best revision resource already exists. It's free. It's always been there. Past papers. Actual past papers from the actual exam board. That's it. You can find free AQA and Edexcel past papers right here if you need them.

I've had students come to me having done almost zero past papers but having bought three sets of predicted papers, thinking it was some kind of magic wand they could wave over their revision. It doesn't work like that. You still have to put the work in, and past papers are where that work actually counts.

The only scenario where predicted papers might be worth a look is if your child has genuinely worked through every past paper available. That's more than ten papers per subject across the main exam boards. In years of tutoring, I've never had a student hit that ceiling. Do the real papers first.

The AI Tutor Scam

Before I get into this, let me be clear: I actually think ChatGPT is brilliant for students.

I charge £40 to £50 an hour. ChatGPT on the paid plan is a few pounds a month. Your child can get worked solutions, ask it to explain the same thing five different ways, quiz themselves, and get feedback on their answers. It's not perfect, but it is genuinely useful, and I recommend it to a lot of my students for use between sessions.

What I'm talking about is something different.

Highly specialised AI study platforms are popping up everywhere. Most of them are just ChatGPT wearing a school uniform. You're paying premium prices for something dressed up to look like a bespoke educational product when underneath it's the same model you could access yourself for a few pounds a month.

Take Turbo AI. It lets you upload a PDF and get flashcards, quizzes, and notes generated from it. That sounds useful, and the functionality itself isn't the main problem. You can do exactly the same thing with ChatGPT for free, but that's almost beside the point.

What's actually strange about Turbo AI is the marketing. They've managed to sponsor seemingly every revision account on TikTok at the same time. And they all say the same script. Word for word. The same line about A-levels and GCSEs, the same talking points, delivered by creators who, in some cases, sat their GCSEs years before AI existed. You're supposed to believe these people genuinely use it daily.

When an ad is that coordinated and that scripted, it tells you where the budget is going. It's going on the campaign, not the product. And you're the one funding it when you sign up.

The worst example I've come across is a platform called Medly. You know a product isn't confident in itself when it's spending more on marketing than on actually working. Medly has been absolutely everywhere on TikTok, pushed by paid influencers who, let's be honest, have not sat a GCSE in quite some time.

Here's what was actually reported about it. It was serving A-level questions to GCSE students. It was providing incorrect formula sheets. When the same answer was submitted twice, it returned different marks both times. That's not a minor bug. That's the core function of the product not working.

So not only are you paying for something that isn't ready, you're also funding the influencer campaign that told you to buy it. Think about that.

Student Tutors: A More Nuanced One

This one is a bit more nuanced, and I know some people will push back.

I have nothing against students who tutor. When I was younger I did it myself. If a student is tutoring to earn some money while they study, that's completely fine, and some of them are genuinely talented at explaining things.

But here's where I take issue.

When a parent sees "got straight nines, studying at Oxford" and assumes that means excellent teacher, that's a significant leap. Think about it this way: just because you can drive a car doesn't mean you'd make a good driving instructor. You might be able to show someone the basics, but it won't be anywhere near as effective as an instructor who has seen hundreds of learners, knows exactly what mistakes people make, and knows how to fix them properly.

Getting top grades means you are brilliant at sitting exams. It doesn't automatically mean you can teach someone else to do the same thing, especially someone who is struggling, anxious, or who has lost all confidence in the subject.

I've worked with students who came to me after months with a student tutor. Lovely person, clearly very smart, but the student hadn't moved at all. Because knowing something and being able to transfer that knowledge are completely different skills.

Good teaching means reading the room. Knowing when to slow down. Knowing when a student is nodding but has absolutely no idea what's going on. Knowing how to rebuild someone's confidence without making them feel stupid. You don't learn that by getting a grade 9. You learn it by being in the profession for years.

That doesn't mean every experienced tutor is good, or every student tutor is bad. But it's worth being realistic about what you're getting, and making the decision with clear eyes rather than on the basis of a grades screenshot.

The Bottom Line

Predicted papers, questionable AI platforms, and assuming a top grade equals a top teacher. These are the three things most likely to cost you money without helping your child.

Save your money. Do the past papers. Focus on the topics where your child actually has gaps rather than hoping something will magically surface on the day.

If you want a proper assessment of where your child stands and what they need to work on before the exams, I offer a free consultation to talk it through. No obligation, no pitch, just an honest conversation about what's realistic and what to focus on.

We also offer a mock exam marking service if you want detailed written feedback on a timed paper before results actually matter.

Aadam, SHLC Tutors