how much homework year 10

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What’s the Right Amount of Homework?

Decades of research show that homework has some benefits, especially for students in middle and high school—but there are risks to assigning too much.

Many teachers and parents believe that homework helps students build study skills and review concepts learned in class. Others see homework as disruptive and unnecessary, leading to burnout and turning kids off to school. Decades of research show that the issue is more nuanced and complex than most people think: Homework is beneficial, but only to a degree. Students in high school gain the most, while younger kids benefit much less.

The National PTA and the National Education Association support the “ 10-minute homework guideline ”—a nightly 10 minutes of homework per grade level. But many teachers and parents are quick to point out that what matters is the quality of the homework assigned and how well it meets students’ needs, not the amount of time spent on it.

The guideline doesn’t account for students who may need to spend more—or less—time on assignments. In class, teachers can make adjustments to support struggling students, but at home, an assignment that takes one student 30 minutes to complete may take another twice as much time—often for reasons beyond their control. And homework can widen the achievement gap, putting students from low-income households and students with learning disabilities at a disadvantage.

However, the 10-minute guideline is useful in setting a limit: When kids spend too much time on homework, there are real consequences to consider.

Small Benefits for Elementary Students

As young children begin school, the focus should be on cultivating a love of learning, and assigning too much homework can undermine that goal. And young students often don’t have the study skills to benefit fully from homework, so it may be a poor use of time (Cooper, 1989 ; Cooper et al., 2006 ; Marzano & Pickering, 2007 ). A more effective activity may be nightly reading, especially if parents are involved. The benefits of reading are clear: If students aren’t proficient readers by the end of third grade, they’re less likely to succeed academically and graduate from high school (Fiester, 2013 ).

For second-grade teacher Jacqueline Fiorentino, the minor benefits of homework did not outweigh the potential drawback of turning young children against school at an early age, so she experimented with dropping mandatory homework. “Something surprising happened: They started doing more work at home,” Fiorentino writes . “This inspiring group of 8-year-olds used their newfound free time to explore subjects and topics of interest to them.” She encouraged her students to read at home and offered optional homework to extend classroom lessons and help them review material.

Moderate Benefits for Middle School Students

As students mature and develop the study skills necessary to delve deeply into a topic—and to retain what they learn—they also benefit more from homework. Nightly assignments can help prepare them for scholarly work, and research shows that homework can have moderate benefits for middle school students (Cooper et al., 2006 ). Recent research also shows that online math homework, which can be designed to adapt to students’ levels of understanding, can significantly boost test scores (Roschelle et al., 2016 ).

There are risks to assigning too much, however: A 2015 study found that when middle school students were assigned more than 90 to 100 minutes of daily homework, their math and science test scores began to decline (Fernández-Alonso, Suárez-Álvarez, & Muñiz, 2015 ). Crossing that upper limit can drain student motivation and focus. The researchers recommend that “homework should present a certain level of challenge or difficulty, without being so challenging that it discourages effort.” Teachers should avoid low-effort, repetitive assignments, and assign homework “with the aim of instilling work habits and promoting autonomous, self-directed learning.”

In other words, it’s the quality of homework that matters, not the quantity. Brian Sztabnik, a veteran middle and high school English teacher, suggests that teachers take a step back and ask themselves these five questions :

• How long will it take to complete?
• Have all learners been considered?
• Will an assignment encourage future success?
• Will an assignment place material in a context the classroom cannot?
• Does an assignment offer support when a teacher is not there?

More Benefits for High School Students, but Risks as Well

By the time they reach high school, students should be well on their way to becoming independent learners, so homework does provide a boost to learning at this age, as long as it isn’t overwhelming (Cooper et al., 2006 ; Marzano & Pickering, 2007 ). When students spend too much time on homework—more than two hours each night—it takes up valuable time to rest and spend time with family and friends. A 2013 study found that high school students can experience serious mental and physical health problems, from higher stress levels to sleep deprivation, when assigned too much homework (Galloway, Conner, & Pope, 2013 ).

Homework in high school should always relate to the lesson and be doable without any assistance, and feedback should be clear and explicit.

Teachers should also keep in mind that not all students have equal opportunities to finish their homework at home, so incomplete homework may not be a true reflection of their learning—it may be more a result of issues they face outside of school. They may be hindered by issues such as lack of a quiet space at home, resources such as a computer or broadband connectivity, or parental support (OECD, 2014 ). In such cases, giving low homework scores may be unfair.

Since the quantities of time discussed here are totals, teachers in middle and high school should be aware of how much homework other teachers are assigning. It may seem reasonable to assign 30 minutes of daily homework, but across six subjects, that’s three hours—far above a reasonable amount even for a high school senior. Psychologist Maurice Elias sees this as a common mistake: Individual teachers create homework policies that in aggregate can overwhelm students. He suggests that teachers work together to develop a school-wide homework policy and make it a key topic of back-to-school night and the first parent-teacher conferences of the school year.

Parents Play a Key Role

Homework can be a powerful tool to help parents become more involved in their child’s learning (Walker et al., 2004 ). It can provide insights into a child’s strengths and interests, and can also encourage conversations about a child’s life at school. If a parent has positive attitudes toward homework, their children are more likely to share those same values, promoting academic success.

But it’s also possible for parents to be overbearing, putting too much emphasis on test scores or grades, which can be disruptive for children (Madjar, Shklar, & Moshe, 2015 ). Parents should avoid being overly intrusive or controlling—students report feeling less motivated to learn when they don’t have enough space and autonomy to do their homework (Orkin, May, & Wolf, 2017 ; Patall, Cooper, & Robinson, 2008 ; Silinskas & Kikas, 2017 ). So while homework can encourage parents to be more involved with their kids, it’s important to not make it a source of conflict.

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How Much Homework Should Kids Have?

The research behind the academic and non-academic benefits of homework and how much homework children should have per night.

In recent years, homework has become a very hot topic. Many parents and educators have raised concerns about homework and questioned how effective it is in enhancing students’ learning. There are also concerns that students may be getting too much homework, which ultimately interferes with quality family time and opportunities for physical activity and play. Research suggests that these concerns may be valid. For example, one study reported that elementary school students, on average, are assigned THREE TIMES the recommended amount of homework.

So what does the research say? What are the potential risks and benefits of homework, and how much is “too much”?

Academic Benefits

First, research finds that homework is associated with higher scores on academic standardized tests for middle and high school students, but NOT elementary school students . A recent experimental study in Romania found some benefit for a small amount of writing homework in elementary students but not math homework. Yet, interestingly, this positive impact only occurred when students were given a moderate amount of homework (about 20 minutes on average).

Non-Academic Benefits

The goal of homework is not simply to improve academic skills. Research finds that homework may have some non-academic benefits, such as building responsibility , time management skills, and task persistence . Homework may also increase parents’ involvement in their children’s schooling. Yet, too much homework may also have some negative impacts on non-academic skills by reducing opportunities for free play , which is essential for the development of language, cognitive, self-regulation, and social-emotional skills. Homework may also interfere with physical activity and too much homework is associated with an increased risk for being overweight . As with the research on academic benefits, this research also suggests that homework may be beneficial when it is minimal.

What is the “Right” Amount of Homework?

Research suggests that homework should not exceed 1.5 to 2.5 hours per night for high school students and no more than 1 hour per night for middle school students. Homework for elementary school students should be minimal and assigned with the aim of building self-regulation and independent work skills. Any more than this and homework may no longer have a positive impact.

The National Education Association recommends 10 minutes of homework per grade and there is also some experimental evidence that backs this up.

Overall Translation

Research finds that homework provides some academic benefit for middle- and high-school students but is less beneficial for elementary school students. Research suggests that homework should be none or minimal for elementary students, less than 1 hour per night for middle school students, and less than 1.5-2.5 hours for high school students.

What Can Parents Do?

Research finds that parental help with homework is beneficial but that it matters more HOW the parent is helping rather than HOW OFTEN the parent is helping.

So how should parents help with homework (according to the research)?

Focus on providing general monitoring, guidance and encouragement, but allow children to generate answers on their own and complete their homework as independently as possible . Specifically, be present while they are completing homework to help them to understand the directions, be available to answer simple questions, or praise and acknowledge their effort and hard work. Research shows that allowing children more autonomy in completing homework may benefit their academic skills.

Only provide help when your child asks for it and step away whenever possible. Research finds that too much parental involvement or intrusive and controlling involvement with homework is associated with worse academic performance .

Help your children to create structure and develop some routines that help your child to independently complete their homework . Have a regular time and place for homework that is free from distractions and has all of the materials they need within arm’s reach. Help your child to create a checklist for homework tasks. Create rules for homework with your child. Help children to develop strategies for increasing their own self-motivation. For example, developing their own reward system or creating a homework schedule with breaks for fun activities. Research finds that providing this type of structure and responsiveness is related to improved academic skills.

Set specific rules around homework. Research finds an association between parents setting rules around homework and academic performance.

Help your child to view homework as an opportunity to learn and improve skills. Parents who view homework as a learning opportunity (that is, a “mastery orientation”) rather than something that they must get “right” or complete successfully to obtain a higher grade (that is, a “performance orientation”) are more likely to have children with the same attitudes.

Encourage your child to persist in challenging assignments and emphasize difficult assignments as opportunities to grow . Research finds that this attitude is associated with student success. Research also indicates that more challenging homework is associated with enhanced academic performance.

Stay calm and positive during homework. Research shows that mothers’ showing positive emotions while helping with homework may improve children’s motivation in homework.

Praise your child’s hard work and effort during homework. This type of praise is likely to increase motivation. In addition, research finds that putting more effort into homework may be associated with enhanced development of conscientiousness in children.

Communicate with your child and the teacher about any problems your child has with homework and the teacher’s learning goals. Research finds that open communication about homework is associated with increased academic performance.

Dr. Cara Goodwin, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and mother to four children. She specializes in child development and has spent years researching child psychology and neuroscience and providing therapy for children of all ages and parent training.  She is the founder of Parenting Translator, which translates recent scientific research into information that is helpful, relevant, and accurate for parents and caregivers through an Instagram account, a newsletter on Substack, and a blog on Psychology Today. Dr. Goodwin is also a bestselling author of the children's book, What To Do When You Feel Like Hitting.

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Year 10 High School Survival Guide

Guide Chapters

• Year 7 Survival Guide
• Year 8 Survival Guide
• Year 9 Survival Guide
• Year 10 Survival Guide
• Year 11 Survival Guide
• Year 12 Survival Guide

In this Year 10 High School Survival Guide, we will outline the common issues faced by Year 10 students, explain what’s required in each subject for academic success, and share the effective study habits of past students.

If students fall behind in Year 10, they will limit their choices for subject selection in Year 11 & 12.

In fact, any Year 10 students who perform poorly in English, Mathematics, or Science will be discouraged by their school in undertaking subjects such as English Advanced, Maths Extension 1, Chemistry, or/and Physics in Year 11.

Staying ahead in Year 10 is clearly crucial!

In this article we discuss:

• An Overview of Year 10

Assessing which subjects are right for me

• Understanding Year 10 Subjects

Year 10 Mathematics

Year 10 science.

Let’s look at what Year 10 involves for your child.

An overview of Year 10

What’s expected of students in year 10.

Students must prepare for the following when transitioning into Year 10:

• They must expect an increase in conceptual difficulty as the modules/topics become more challenging to understand;
• They must expect an increase in workload as it takes longer for homework completion;
• They must be more self-directed in their learning;
• They must assess which subject(s) to continue for their studies in Year 11.

Year 10 students must have a solid grasp of the fundamental concepts of their subjects in preparation for Year 11.

Common issues amongst Year 10 students

Some of the common issues that Year 10 students experience are listed below:

• Students are unsure which Year 10 subjects they should continue their studies in Year 11 – A large number of students choose the wrong subjects in Year 11 based on their ‘like’ for the subject in Year 10 rather than based on the prerequisite or recommended subjects guidelines outlined in each university course.
• Students don’t place enough emphasis on understanding key concepts – In Year 10, students learn new topics which require the application of existing knowledge and understanding in more complex ways. If students don’t have a clear understanding of the key concepts required of the course, it is more difficult to meet the learning outcomes. As a result, they often default to memorising a large amount of information.
• Students do not revise regularly – As students begin to encounter more complex problems, and develop the core skills required for the HSC, they need to revise on a regular basis to develop confidence and demonstrate mastery of the core skills.
• Students struggle to cope with more homework – Many students underestimate how much homework they should be doing per day for Year 10. In preparation for Stage 6, students should be doing at least 2.5 hours of study per day.
• Students don’t manage time to adjust for increased workload – It’s very common for students to procrastinate and leave things until the last minute. A large number of students try to prepare for their exams 3 days before the exam date.
• Student lack self-directed learning – One of the most important skills students learn in high school is self-directed learning. Learning how to research and how to practice skills independently is an essential skill for the HSC and university. Students must develop these skills early on.

Year 10 is the final opportunity to determine which subjects are the right fit for Year 11. Students who have a clear idea of what subjects they plan to study in Year 11 and 12 are more likely to take Year 10 subjects seriously and therefore be more successful.

As universities are increasingly requiring students to have a minimum HSC result in English and Mathematics for various courses, it’s important for students to decide early in Year 10 which subjects they wish to continue in Year 11. This way, they can maximise their chances of success in key areas and subjects.

Please see the flowcharts below for the minimum competencies required for different levels of English, Mathematics, and Science.

Year 10 Students who wish to study English Advanced or Extension 1 in Year 11 need to demonstrate a high level of competency.

• Mathematics

Year 10 students studying Mathematics Advanced (5.3) must demonstrate mastery of topics for consideration in Year 11 Mathematics Extension 1 course (3-unit).

Year 10 students studying Science must demonstrate a high level of competency in all of the three modules (The Living World, The Chemical World, The Physical World) in order to be considered for Year 11 Biology, Chemistry or/and Physics.

Note the university courses that require these subjects.

In order to demonstrate high competency or mastery of topics in English, Mathematics, and Science, students are expected to dedicate at least 12 to 15 hours of study each week. In addition, Year 10 students continue to receive a significant amount of work from their various subjects. This means that students will need to do a significant amount of homework each night.

Conscientious students will do at least 2.5 hours study per evening.

Understanding Year 10 subjects

Year 10 students will  learn the following compulsory subjects :

In Year 10, students continue to study the electives they chose from these broad areas :

• Creative Arts
• Human Society and Its Environment
• Personal Development, Health, and Physical Education (PDHPE)
• Technological and Applied Studies

Year 10 English is where students finish Stage 5. Stage 5 has a specific group of learning outcomes set by NESA.

Matrix Theory Books are designed to help students achieve the complete list of Stage 5 Outcomes:

• Responds to and composes increasingly sophisticated and sustained texts for understanding, interpretation, critical analysis, imaginative expression and pleasure;
• Effectively uses and critically assesses a wide range of processes, skills, strategies and knowledge for responding to and composing a wide range of texts in different media and technologies;
• Selects and uses language forms, features and structures of texts appropriate to a range of purposes, audiences and contexts, describing and explaining their effects on meaning;
• Effectively transfers knowledge, skills and understanding of language concepts into new and different contexts;
• Thinks imaginatively, creatively, interpretively and critically about information and increasingly complex ideas and arguments to respond to and compose texts in a range of contexts;
• Investigates the relationships between and among texts;
• Understands and evaluates the diverse ways texts can represent personal and public worlds;
• Questions, challenges and evaluates cultural assumptions in texts and their effects on meaning;
• Purposefully reflects on, assesses and adapts their individual and collaborative skills with increasing independence and effectiveness.

This means that in Year 10:

• Students further develop their analytic skills;
• They learn new techniques, practice analysing them in texts, and begin to discuss how these develop meaning;
• Students should have learned how to develop arguments logically, they need to consolidate this skill in preparation for Years 11 and 12;
• Students need to develop their essay skills.

Confidence with essay structure is the key to acing the HSC for English Advanced.

The texts in Year 10 increase in complexity to prepare students for Years 11 and 12:

• Students will learn to analyse a variety of different types of texts – poetry, fiction, non-fiction, film, and drama;
• To analyse these students must become increasingly confident discussing literary and poetic techniques using meta-language;
• Students should be masters at writing P.E.E.L paragraphs; these are the building blocks of Band 6 essays;
• In Year 10, students should consolidate their knowledge about textual forms, genres, and develop their understanding of literary movements.

The table below outlines the Year 9 and 10 English program at Matrix:

Year 10 students will face long responses and essay questions.

Students must be confident answering Year 10 essay questions like this:

Ace Year 10 English with the Beginner’s Guide to English

Learn how to conquer Year 9 English with our comprehensive Guide. Read it now .

Year 10 Mathematics consolidates the complex ideas and methods that lay the foundation for the HSC. In Stage 5, learning is split into 3 streams: 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3 .

Mathematics 5.1 and 5.2 students will go into Year 11 and study general Mathematics. Students who study 5.3 will study Mathematics 2 unit Preliminary and Extension 1.

Students who struggle with the concepts in the table above have two choices:

• Put in the work to develop their skills and get on top of the ideas for the unit.
• Consider taking General Mathematics.

Students must have confidence in these subjects going into Year 11 or they will struggle to keep up. Having a solid grounding in trigonometry will make calculus more accessible. Calculus is a core subject for mathematics advanced and extension in Years 11 and 12. Matrix students these areas comprehensively.

More detailed information about Stage 5 Mathematics can be found on the  NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) website.  At Matrix, students address all of the topics set by NESA in their Year 10 Mathematics Theory Books. Each lesson is designed to ensure students meet the Stage 5 outcomes.

The table below outlines the Year 9 and 10 Mathematics program at Matrix:

Students need to be confident answering questions like this unaided:

Stage 5 Science is taught over two years. The order that students study these disciplines will vary from school to school. In Stage 5 Science, students will have the opportunity to explore the main branches of Science and see which they might like to pursue in the future. Students study basic chemistry, physics, biology, geology, and a topic on space. Typically, chemistry, physics and biology are divided between Year 9 and Year 10, so that students will likely continue their study of these topics in Year 10. Geology and space may be separated, with one being taught in Year 9 and the other in Year 10.

Stage 5 Science is broken down into 5 subject areas :

• Working Scientifically (Skills),
• Physical World,
• Earth and Space,
• Living World,
• Chemical World.

More specific information about these  Stage 5 topics can be found on the NESA website .

In Years 9 and 10, students study the following topics:

At the end of Year 10, students will be asked to pick specific Science modules – physics, chemistry, or biology. Year 10 is the opportunity to learn which fields interest them!

More detailed information about Stage 5 Science can be found on the  NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) website.  At Matrix, students address all of the topics set by NESA in their Year 10 Science Theory Books. Each lesson is designed to ensure students meet the Stage 5 outcomes.

The table below outlines the Year 9 and 10 Science program at Matrix:

At the end of Year 10, Matrix runs an Experimental Science course (which both replaces and includes the Space topic). This is aimed at addressing the Skills parts of the syllabus which are formally assessed in Years 11 and 12 but never explicitly taught in schools. This topic covers skills such as designing and evaluating an experiment, assessing types of errors, and analysing results qualitatively or quantitatively through graphs. The skills covered are transferable to all senior science subjects.

Year 10 Science allows students to gain a thorough understanding of fundamental scientific concepts and develop knowledge and skills to prepare students for HSC science subjects.

We hope this article and the links provided are a useful resource in preparing you for what’s to come in Year 10, and in achieving your academic ambitions.

Ace Year 10 Maths

Struggling to get on top of maths? Read our Beginner’s Guide to Year 10 Maths and learn the secrets to acing Maths!

Year 11 High School Survival Guide

© Matrix Education and www.matrix.edu.au, 2023. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Matrix Education and www.matrix.edu.au with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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Matrix teachers are experts in HSC Year 12 English Standard tutoring. Gain skills and confidence. Learn with on-campus or online programs.

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Year 12 English Advanced tutoring at Matrix will help you gain strong reading and writing skills for the HSC.

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How Much Homework Do Students Get in Years 7 to 11?

In GCSE , General by Think Student Editor March 12, 2024 Leave a Comment

There’s a lot of aspects about school that students have questions about. These can range from questions about exams, to how hard the next year of school will be, or even what subjects are good for different jobs. One common theme, however, is homework. Homework is an integral part of many students’ lives, but it’s not a particularly loved topic. Many students struggle with homework – this is something that is completely natural. A question that is asked often is how much homework students will receive when they move on to the next academic year. With that in mind, how much homework do students get in Year 7 to 11?

To put it briefly, the amount of homework each student gets will differ considerably from class to class, and subsequently school to school. However, the workload will typically increase from Year 7 to 11 – the workload will also get more intense to prepare pupils for exams. Students in Year 7 might spend an hour on average each night on homework, whereas later in Year 11 it might increase to two or three hours. Students will also complete pieces at different speeds – overall, there is no one way to answer this question.

While this may have helped give you a brief explanation of how much homework students get from Years 7 to 11, it might be helpful to read on for a more nuanced understanding.

Table of Contents

How much homework do students get in Years 7 to 11?

In short, the amount of homework given to students between Key Stage 3 to Key Stage 4 will differ by both subject and school.

First, it’s worth clarifying that Key Stage 3 and 4 refer to Years 7-9, and Years 10-11 respectively. For a complete guide to Key Stages, check out this Think Student article.

There is no set amount for each year, but the general trend is that the amount will increase each year.

From Year 10 onwards, students will have chosen their subjects in Year 9 for GCSE, meaning that in terms of subjects the homework decreases slightly as there are less subjects. However, students receive more homework in terms of intensity and also difficulty, therefore the amount will increase overall.

One guideline for how much homework students receive is the 10 minutes per year of education rule. For example, a child in Year 1 would have 10 minutes of homework per night, whereas a student in Year 10 would have an hour and forty minutes of homework per night .

Another guideline is 20 minutes per subject rule. Students will roughly receive around 3 pieces of homework per night in Key Stage 3, which means it is approximately an hour of study . In the two GCSE years, however, this rule doubles to 40 minutes a subject – so, for 3 subjects a night, this figure is around 2 hours of homework per night.

How accurate are the guidelines for how much homework you get?

While these time guidelines can provide a rough approximation for the amount of homework students receive in these years, reality will often vary from these figures . Students complete homework at different rates, and the homework may not be assigned at the same rate, nor will it be the same intensity for each subject.

In my experience, the amount of homework each day fluctuated greatly – and the length of time assigned ranged vastly as well. For example, presentations as homework could take well over a few hours to complete, whereas some exercises were so short you could do them during form time.

In conclusion, the time and amount of homework that students get can vary drastically, and there is no one way to measure it! If you would like to read more about how much homework students get, check out this article from School Smith on the topic.

What’s the difference between homework from Key Stage 3 to Key Stage 4?

One of the key differences in the homework in KS4 is that it’s more specialised, but also that the general amount is larger. For example, a common homework that was assigned in Year 7 for me was various research projects, and even just creating title pages in books. However, in Year 11, it was more exercises and less general projects.

This is partly due to there being less subjects. When you choose your subjects in Year 9, there’s a decrease in subject variety. Less subjects means your teachers can afford to set more intensive homework as there is less homework for different subjects.

Additionally, in KS4 you’re being prepared for your GCSEs. Homework has to be more challenging and longer in order to mimic the difficulty of the exam. By putting in the hard work and stress into difficult homework, it’ll be easier to apply the knowledge in an exam, which is extremely useful in pressure-inducing conditions.

How hard is the transition from Key Stage 3 to Key Stage 4 homework?

However, the transition in homework and revision is not a sharp one – rather, it is a gradual process. It’s a common thought process of students but it is fortunately not the case! Rather, students simply build upon the same knowledge they had in KS3!

If you’re worried about the transition process to KS4, like many students are, check out this guide on starting GCSEs, from the Your Favourite Teacher blog! It has more information about the homework amount but also the two years in general.

In conclusion, there is a large difference between homework at KS3 and KS4, but the change is gradual and shouldn’t be extremely daunting for students. If you do feel worried or stressed about homework, you can always talk to your teacher or tutor or even Head of Year about it!

Is homework important?

Homework is generally beneficial and important to students as it allows them to cover the content they learned once more. Going over content again can help students consolidate their learning and deepen their understanding for the topic.

Additionally, homework can be helpful – especially in KS4 – to observe where a pupil’s weak points are. By the time there’s another lesson, students have the opportunity to ask their teacher for help! For example, the practice essays set for History GCSE allowed me to identify where I constantly went wrong in applying knowledge!

Homework can help students apply their creativity and think outside the box with a deadline . For example, with tasks like presentations and title pages, it allows students to present their research in a way that expresses creativity. This can often make key information easier to remember.

Homework can also help in teaching students the importance of having responsibilities and managing their time. This is an important life skill that is conveyed to students through continuously getting homework. It can involve things like planning out when to do homework and managing a schedule more effectively.

Homework can also be useful in developing a student’s research skills and deepening understanding in other relevant topics. Some homework requires students to do deeper reading, or answer questions that can only be answered through thorough research. In this way, students can also learn to apply knowledge to specific questions in exams!

Of course, a lot of homework can be very stressful for pupils – it is important for there to be a balance. If you are feeling stressed over the amount of homework, talk to an adult (your teacher, guardians, or your form tutor) who would be able to help with a resolution .

If you would like to read up more on the importance of homework, you can find more information on the benefits in this article from Think Student.

How can students motivate themselves to do homework?

Completing homework can be difficult and stressful for a lot of students. It’s not often a priority for many, leaving a lot of pupils familiar with the feeling of doing it last minute! With that in mind, how can students improve their focus for homework?

It’s very beneficial for students to have a comfortable space without distractions so they can concentrate on their work. This can be in a different room in the house, or even in a public space like a library or café. It is also recommended to keep your phone in a different room so it’s not on your mind!

There are different methods of study or work timings, such as the Pomodoro method. In this method, a student does 25 minutes of study then has a five minute break. This is called one Pomodoro. Then it is repeated three times, before taking a longer 15 to 30-minute break. You can learn more about the Pomodoro technique in this Think Student article.

Try not to multitask. It can often be very counterproductive to multitask as your mind cannot settle on a specific task . Rather, it is more helpful to dedicate your time in finishing something off bit by bit until you complete everything.

These methods of focusing can help students settle into a balanced workflow! For more information on different ways to improve focus, check out this article from Think Student!

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More than two hours of homework may be counterproductive, research suggests.

A Stanford education researcher found that too much homework can negatively affect kids, especially their lives away from school, where family, friends and activities matter.   "Our findings on the effects of homework challenge the traditional assumption that homework is inherently good," wrote Denise Pope , a senior lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and a co-author of a study published in the Journal of Experimental Education .   The researchers used survey data to examine perceptions about homework, student well-being and behavioral engagement in a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in upper-middle-class California communities. Along with the survey data, Pope and her colleagues used open-ended answers to explore the students' views on homework.   Median household income exceeded $90,000 in these communities, and 93 percent of the students went on to college, either two-year or four-year.   Students in these schools average about 3.1 hours of homework each night.   "The findings address how current homework practices in privileged, high-performing schools sustain students' advantage in competitive climates yet hinder learning, full engagement and well-being," Pope wrote.   Pope and her colleagues found that too much homework can diminish its effectiveness and even be counterproductive. They cite prior research indicating that homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night, and that 90 minutes to two and a half hours is optimal for high school.   Their study found that too much homework is associated with:   • Greater stress : 56 percent of the students considered homework a primary source of stress, according to the survey data. Forty-three percent viewed tests as a primary stressor, while 33 percent put the pressure to get good grades in that category. Less than 1 percent of the students said homework was not a stressor.   • Reductions in health : In their open-ended answers, many students said their homework load led to sleep deprivation and other health problems. The researchers asked students whether they experienced health issues such as headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss and stomach problems.   • Less time for friends, family and extracurricular pursuits : Both the survey data and student responses indicate that spending too much time on homework meant that students were "not meeting their developmental needs or cultivating other critical life skills," according to the researchers. Students were more likely to drop activities, not see friends or family, and not pursue hobbies they enjoy.   A balancing act   The results offer empirical evidence that many students struggle to find balance between homework, extracurricular activities and social time, the researchers said. Many students felt forced or obligated to choose homework over developing other talents or skills.   Also, there was no relationship between the time spent on homework and how much the student enjoyed it. The research quoted students as saying they often do homework they see as "pointless" or "mindless" in order to keep their grades up.   "This kind of busy work, by its very nature, discourages learning and instead promotes doing homework simply to get points," said Pope, who is also a co-founder of Challenge Success , a nonprofit organization affiliated with the GSE that conducts research and works with schools and parents to improve students' educational experiences..   Pope said the research calls into question the value of assigning large amounts of homework in high-performing schools. Homework should not be simply assigned as a routine practice, she said.   "Rather, any homework assigned should have a purpose and benefit, and it should be designed to cultivate learning and development," wrote Pope.   High-performing paradox   In places where students attend high-performing schools, too much homework can reduce their time to foster skills in the area of personal responsibility, the researchers concluded. "Young people are spending more time alone," they wrote, "which means less time for family and fewer opportunities to engage in their communities."   Student perspectives   The researchers say that while their open-ended or "self-reporting" methodology to gauge student concerns about homework may have limitations – some might regard it as an opportunity for "typical adolescent complaining" – it was important to learn firsthand what the students believe.   The paper was co-authored by Mollie Galloway from Lewis and Clark College and Jerusha Conner from Villanova University.

Clifton B. Parker is a writer at the Stanford News Service .

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Homework in High School: How Much Is Too Much?

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It’s not hard to find a high school student who is stressed about homework. Many are stressed to the max–juggling extracurricular activities, jobs, and family responsibilities. It can be hard for many students, particularly low-income students, to find the time to dedicate to homework. So students in the PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs program at YouthBeat in Oakland, California are asking what’s a fair amount of homework for high school students?

TEACHERS: Guide your students to practice civil discourse about current topics and get practice writing CER (claim, evidence, reasoning) responses.  Explore lesson supports.

Is homework beneficial to students?

The homework debate has been going on for years. There’s a big body of research that shows that homework can have a positive impact on academic performance. It can also help students prepare for the academic rigors of college.

Does homework hurt students?

Some research suggests that homework is only beneficial up to a certain point. Too much homework can lead to compromised health and greater stress in students. Many students, particularly low-income students, can struggle to find the time to do homework, especially if they are working jobs after school or taking care of family members. Some students might not have access to technology, like computers or the internet, that are needed to complete assignments at home– which can make completing assignments even more challenging. Many argue that this contributes to inequity in education– particularly if completing homework is linked to better academic performance.

How much homework should students get?

Based on research, the National Education Association recommends the 10-minute rule stating students should receive 10 minutes of homework per grade per night. But opponents to homework point out that for seniors that’s still 2 hours of homework which can be a lot for students with conflicting obligations. And in reality, high school students say it can be tough for teachers to coordinate their homework assignments since students are taking a variety of different classes. Some people advocate for eliminating homework altogether.

Edweek: How Much Homework Is Enough? Depends Who You Ask

Business Insider: Here’s How Homework Differs Around the World

Review of Educational Research: Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of Research, 1987-2003

Phys.org: Study suggests more than two hours of homework a night may be counterproductive

The Journal of Experimental Education: Nonacademic Effects of Homework in Privileged, High-Performing High Schools

National Education Association: Research Spotlight on Homework NEA Reviews of the Research on Best Practices in Education

The Atlantic: Who Does Homework Work For?

Center for Public Education: What research says about the value of homework: Research review

Time: Opinion: Why I think All Schools Should Abolish Homework

The Atlantic: A Teacher’s Defense of Homework

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For many subjects, these will be additional and optional tasks which you can use to support and further develop your learning. Please submit any additional work completed to your subject teacher.

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High-Quality Homework: How to Assign the Right Amount, and the Most Effective Formats of Homework

by Chandra Williams | Jul 16, 2019

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Although studies have shown that homework offers some benefits to students, assigning too much homework can actually cause students to experience higher stress levels and physical and mental health issues . In this article, we’ll discuss guidelines you can use to assign high quality homework for your students.

What is the “ten-minute homework guideline?”

The National PTA and National Education Association support the “ ten minute homework guideline ,” which suggests each student should have about ten minutes of homework per grade level. First-grade students should have between ten to twenty minutes of homework, with an additional ten minutes added for each subsequent grade level.

The ten-minute homework rule offers several benefits to students, including:

• Reduces the likelihood of students becoming overwhelmed.
• Prevents diminishing returns for academic success.
• Reduces the impact of the “homework gap,” a term indicating the disproportionate challenges faced by students who do not have access to the internet and other resources to complete homework assignments at their homes.
• Reduces impact on students who naturally take longer to complete homework assignments.

What purposes should homework accomplish?

Most homework assignments fall into one of the following four categories :

• Practice — Students have learned skills in class and practice using those skills on their own at home. For example, students learned the order of operations in math class and practice using these skills by solving some multi-step equations.
• Preparation — Students prepare to learn about a new concept in class the next day. For example, students read the first chapter of a new book which will be discussed in tomorrow’s English class.
• Study — Students review content they have already learned and practiced to prepare for a formative, unit, or benchmark assessment.
• Extend or Elaborate — Students have learned about a general concept in class, and complete individual work to expand their knowledge on the topic. For example, students learned about the formation of the United States in class, and each student will individually create a project exploring the history of a different state.

When students’ complete homework for the purpose of practicing skills, they may have single-skill assignments or cumulative assignments.

• Single-skill assignments are most effective when students need to master the skill taught in class. For example, students may list the steps of the scientific method.
• Cumulative assignments require students to decide which skill they need to use when solving a particular problem, and then properly use the skill. For example, students are presented with an experiment, must determine which steps in the scientific method need to be completed, and then must complete the experiment and demonstrate its results.

What is the most effective type of homework?

Existing studies have found that student performance is most positively affected when homework is used to build fluency, master new concepts, and proficiency. Students retain information better when the practice is conducted over several shorter sessions, rather than through one marathon session. Additionally, students should be able to use the same processes and skills with their homework assignments, which were modeled and demonstrated during class. In other words, homework assignments should be presented in the same format as classroom practices.

What are best practices for assigning homework?

Research suggests that homework is most effective when:.

• Assignments promote curiosity, leading to “ autonomous, self-directed learning .”
• Students have already “ demonstrated competence in the skill…before being asked to do it independently.”
• Teachers consider some students do not have access to the internet, a quiet working space, or homework help from parents or a tutor.
• Students understand the purpose of completing each homework assignment.
• Teachers provide feedback quickly, minimizing the chance for students to forget the assignment before they learn their scores.
• Teachers keep in mind that middle school and high school students may be assigned homework from all of their classes, and the ten-minute homework guideline applies to the combined homework load.

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How Much Homework Is Enough? Depends Who You Ask

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Editor’s note: This is an adapted excerpt from You, Your Child, and School: Navigate Your Way to the Best Education ( Viking)—the latest book by author and speaker Sir Ken Robinson (co-authored with Lou Aronica), published in March. For years, Robinson has been known for his radical work on rekindling creativity and passion in schools, including three bestselling books (also with Aronica) on the topic. His TED Talk “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” holds the record for the most-viewed TED talk of all time, with more than 50 million views. While Robinson’s latest book is geared toward parents, it also offers educators a window into the kinds of education concerns parents have for their children, including on the quality and quantity of homework.

The amount of homework young people are given varies a lot from school to school and from grade to grade. In some schools and grades, children have no homework at all. In others, they may have 18 hours or more of homework every week. In the United States, the accepted guideline, which is supported by both the National Education Association and the National Parent Teacher Association, is the 10-minute rule: Children should have no more than 10 minutes of homework each day for each grade reached. In 1st grade, children should have 10 minutes of daily homework; in 2nd grade, 20 minutes; and so on to the 12th grade, when on average they should have 120 minutes of homework each day, which is about 10 hours a week. It doesn’t always work out that way.

In 2013, the University of Phoenix College of Education commissioned a survey of how much homework teachers typically give their students. From kindergarten to 5th grade, it was just under three hours per week; from 6th to 8th grade, it was 3.2 hours; and from 9th to 12th grade, it was 3.5 hours.

There are two points to note. First, these are the amounts given by individual teachers. To estimate the total time children are expected to spend on homework, you need to multiply these hours by the number of teachers they work with. High school students who work with five teachers in different curriculum areas may find themselves with 17.5 hours or more of homework a week, which is the equivalent of a part-time job. The other factor is that these are teachers’ estimates of the time that homework should take. The time that individual children spend on it will be more or less than that, according to their abilities and interests. One child may casually dash off a piece of homework in half the time that another will spend laboring through in a cold sweat.

Do students have more homework these days than previous generations? Given all the variables, it’s difficult to say. Some studies suggest they do. In 2007, a study from the National Center for Education Statistics found that, on average, high school students spent around seven hours a week on homework. A similar study in 1994 put the average at less than five hours a week. Mind you, I [Robinson] was in high school in England in the 1960s and spent a lot more time than that—though maybe that was to do with my own ability. One way of judging this is to look at how much homework your own children are given and compare it to what you had at the same age.

Many parents find it difficult to help their children with subjects they’ve not studied themselves for a long time, if at all.

There’s also much debate about the value of homework. Supporters argue that it benefits children, teachers, and parents in several ways:

• Children learn to deepen their understanding of specific content, to cover content at their own pace, to become more independent learners, to develop problem-solving and time-management skills, and to relate what they learn in school to outside activities.
• Teachers can see how well their students understand the lessons; evaluate students’ individual progress, strengths, and weaknesses; and cover more content in class.
• Parents can engage practically in their children’s education, see firsthand what their children are being taught in school, and understand more clearly how they’re getting on—what they find easy and what they struggle with in school.

Want to know more about Sir Ken Robinson? Check out our Q&A with him.

Q&A With Sir Ken Robinson

Ashley Norris is assistant dean at the University of Phoenix College of Education. Commenting on her university’s survey, she says, “Homework helps build confidence, responsibility, and problem-solving skills that can set students up for success in high school, college, and in the workplace.”

That may be so, but many parents find it difficult to help their children with subjects they’ve not studied themselves for a long time, if at all. Families have busy lives, and it can be hard for parents to find time to help with homework alongside everything else they have to cope with. Norris is convinced it’s worth the effort, especially, she says, because in many schools, the nature of homework is changing. One influence is the growing popularity of the so-called flipped classroom.

In the stereotypical classroom, the teacher spends time in class presenting material to the students. Their homework consists of assignments based on that material. In the flipped classroom, the teacher provides the students with presentational materials—videos, slides, lecture notes—which the students review at home and then bring questions and ideas to school where they work on them collaboratively with the teacher and other students. As Norris notes, in this approach, homework extends the boundaries of the classroom and reframes how time in school can be used more productively, allowing students to “collaborate on learning, learn from each other, maybe critique [each other’s work], and share those experiences.”

Even so, many parents and educators are increasingly concerned that homework, in whatever form it takes, is a bridge too far in the pressured lives of children and their families. It takes away from essential time for their children to relax and unwind after school, to play, to be young, and to be together as a family. On top of that, the benefits of homework are often asserted, but they’re not consistent, and they’re certainly not guaranteed.

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Homework: A New User's Guide

Cory Turner

If you made it past the headline, you're likely a student, concerned parent, teacher or, like me, a nerd nostalgist who enjoys basking in the distant glow of Homework Triumphs Past (second-grade report on Custer's Last Stand, nailed it!).

Whoever you are, you're surely hoping for some clarity in the loud, perennial debate over whether U.S. students are justifiably exhausted and nervous from too much homework — even though some international comparisons suggest they're sitting comfortably at the average.

Well, here goes. I've mapped out six, research-based polestars that should help guide you to some reasonable conclusions about homework.

How much homework do U.S. students get?

The best answer comes from something called the National Assessment of Educational Progress or NAEP . In 2012, students in three different age groups — 9, 13 and 17 — were asked, "How much time did you spend on homework yesterday?" The vast majority of 9-year-olds (79 percent) and 13-year-olds (65 percent) and still a majority of 17-year-olds (53 percent) all reported doing an hour or less of homework the day before.

Another study from the National Center for Education Statistics found that high school students who reported doing homework outside of school did, on average, about seven hours a week.

If you're hungry for more data on this — and some perspective — check out this exhaustive report put together last year by researcher Tom Loveless at the Brookings Institution.

An hour or less a day? But we hear so many horror stories! Why?

The fact is, some students do have a ton of homework. In high school we see a kind of student divergence — between those who choose or find themselves tracked into less-rigorous coursework and those who enroll in honors classes or multiple Advanced Placement courses. And the latter students are getting a lot of homework. In that 2012 NAEP survey, 13 percent of 17-year-olds reported doing more than two hours of homework the previous night. That's not a lot of students, but they're clearly doing a lot of work.

Source: Met Life Survey of the American Teacher, The Homework Experience, 2007. LA Johnson/NPR hide caption

That also tracks with a famous survey from 2007 — from MetLife — that asked parents what they think of their kids' homework load. Sixty percent said it was just right. Twenty-five percent said their kids are getting too little. Just 15 percent of parents said their kids have too much homework.

Research also suggests that the students doing the most work have something else in common: income. "I think that the debate over homework in some ways is a social class issue," says Janine Bempechat, professor of human development at Wheelock College. "There's no question that in affluent communities, children are really over-taxed, over-burdened with homework."

But the vast majority of students do not seem to have inordinate workloads. And the ones who do are generally volunteering for the tough stuff. That doesn't make it easier, but it does make it a choice.

Do we know how much homework students in other countries are doing?

Sort of. Caveats abound here. Education systems and perceptions of what is and isn't homework can vary remarkably overseas. So any comparison is, to a degree, apples-to-oranges (or, at least, apples-to-pears). A 2012 report from the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development pegged the U.S. homework load for 15-year-olds at around six hours per week. That's just above the study's average. It found that students in Hong Kong are also doing about six hours a week. Much of Europe checks in between four and five hours a week. In Japan, it's four hours. And Korea's near the bottom, at three hours.

Source: OECD, PISA 2012 Database, Table IV.3.48. LA Johnson/NPR hide caption

How much homework is too much?

Better yet, how much is just right? Harris Cooper at Duke University has done some of the best work on homework. He and his team reviewed dozens of studies, from 1987 to 2003, looking for consensus on what works and what doesn't. A common rule of thumb, he says, is what's called the 10-minute rule. Take the child's grade and multiply by 10. So first-graders should have roughly 10 minutes of homework a night, 40 minutes for fourth-graders, on up to two hours for seniors in high school. A lot of of schools use this. Even the National PTA officially endorses it.

Homework clearly improves student performance, right?

Not necessarily. It depends on the age of the child. Looking over the research, there's little to no evidence that homework improves student achievement in elementary school. Then again, the many experts I spoke with all said the same thing: The point of homework in those primary grades isn't entirely academic. It's about teaching things like time-management and self-direction.

But, by high school the evidence shifts. Harris Cooper's massive review found, in middle and high school, a positive correlation between homework and student achievement on unit tests. It seems to help. But more is not always better. Cooper points out that, depending on the subject and the age of the student, there is a law of diminishing returns. Again, he recommends the 10-minute rule.

What kinds of homework seem to be most effective?

This is where things get really interesting. Because homework should be about learning, right? To understand what kinds of homework best help kids learn, we really need to talk about memory and the brain.

Let's start with something called the spacing effect . Say a child has to do a vocabulary worksheet. The next week, it's a new worksheet with different words and so on. Well, research shows that the brain is better at remembering when we repeat with consistency, not when we study in long, isolated chunks of time. Do a little bit of vocabulary each night, repeating the same words night after night.

Similarly, a professor of psychology at Washington University in St. Louis, Henry "Roddy" Roediger III , recommends that teachers give students plenty of little quizzes, which he says strengthen the brain's ability to remember. Don't fret. They can be low-stakes or no-stakes, says Roediger: It's the steady recall and repetition that matter. He also recommends, as homework, that students try testing themselves instead of simply re-reading the text or class notes.

There's also something known as interleaving . This is big in the debate over math homework. Many of us — myself included — learned math by focusing on one concept at a time, doing a worksheet to practice that concept, then moving on.

Well, there's evidence that students learn more when homework requires them to choose among multiple strategies — new and old — when solving problems. In other words, kids learn when they have to draw not just from what they learned in class that day but that week, that month, that year.

One last note: Experts agree that homework should generally be about reinforcing what students learned in class (this is especially true in math). Sometimes it can — and should — be used to introduce new material, but here's where so many horror stories begin.

Tom Loveless, a former teacher, offers this advice: "I don't think teachers should ever send brand-new material that puts the parent in the position of a teacher. That's a disaster. My own personal philosophy was: Homework is best if it's material that requires more practice but they've already received initial instruction."

Or, in the words of the National PTA: "Homework that cannot be done without help is not good homework."

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Education scholar Denise Pope has found that too much homework has negative effects on student well-being and behavioral engagement. (Image credit: L.A. Cicero)

A Stanford researcher found that too much homework can negatively affect kids, especially their lives away from school, where family, friends and activities matter.

“Our findings on the effects of homework challenge the traditional assumption that homework is inherently good,” wrote Denise Pope , a senior lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and a co-author of a study published in the Journal of Experimental Education .

The researchers used survey data to examine perceptions about homework, student well-being and behavioral engagement in a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in upper-middle-class California communities. Along with the survey data, Pope and her colleagues used open-ended answers to explore the students’ views on homework.

Median household income exceeded $90,000 in these communities, and 93 percent of the students went on to college, either two-year or four-year.

Students in these schools average about 3.1 hours of homework each night.

“The findings address how current homework practices in privileged, high-performing schools sustain students’ advantage in competitive climates yet hinder learning, full engagement and well-being,” Pope wrote.

Pope and her colleagues found that too much homework can diminish its effectiveness and even be counterproductive. They cite prior research indicating that homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night, and that 90 minutes to two and a half hours is optimal for high school.

Their study found that too much homework is associated with:

* Greater stress: 56 percent of the students considered homework a primary source of stress, according to the survey data. Forty-three percent viewed tests as a primary stressor, while 33 percent put the pressure to get good grades in that category. Less than 1 percent of the students said homework was not a stressor.

* Reductions in health: In their open-ended answers, many students said their homework load led to sleep deprivation and other health problems. The researchers asked students whether they experienced health issues such as headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss and stomach problems.

* Less time for friends, family and extracurricular pursuits: Both the survey data and student responses indicate that spending too much time on homework meant that students were “not meeting their developmental needs or cultivating other critical life skills,” according to the researchers. Students were more likely to drop activities, not see friends or family, and not pursue hobbies they enjoy.

A balancing act

The results offer empirical evidence that many students struggle to find balance between homework, extracurricular activities and social time, the researchers said. Many students felt forced or obligated to choose homework over developing other talents or skills.

Also, there was no relationship between the time spent on homework and how much the student enjoyed it. The research quoted students as saying they often do homework they see as “pointless” or “mindless” in order to keep their grades up.

“This kind of busy work, by its very nature, discourages learning and instead promotes doing homework simply to get points,” Pope said.

She said the research calls into question the value of assigning large amounts of homework in high-performing schools. Homework should not be simply assigned as a routine practice, she said.

“Rather, any homework assigned should have a purpose and benefit, and it should be designed to cultivate learning and development,” wrote Pope.

High-performing paradox

In places where students attend high-performing schools, too much homework can reduce their time to foster skills in the area of personal responsibility, the researchers concluded. “Young people are spending more time alone,” they wrote, “which means less time for family and fewer opportunities to engage in their communities.”

Student perspectives

The researchers say that while their open-ended or “self-reporting” methodology to gauge student concerns about homework may have limitations – some might regard it as an opportunity for “typical adolescent complaining” – it was important to learn firsthand what the students believe.

The paper was co-authored by Mollie Galloway from Lewis and Clark College and Jerusha Conner from Villanova University.

Media Contacts

Denise Pope, Stanford Graduate School of Education: (650) 725-7412, [email protected] Clifton B. Parker, Stanford News Service: (650) 725-0224, [email protected]

• September 9 Eleven courses added to Bellaire
• August 15 Mighty Cardinal Band attends summer camp to practice show
• July 17 International Thespian Festival
• June 15 Future Problem Solvers place second in Texas with community project
• May 28 Engi-near the finish line

Three Penny Press

Students spend three times longer on homework than average, survey reveals

Sonya Kulkarni and Pallavi Gorantla | Jan 9, 2022

Graphic by Sonya Kulkarni

The National Education Association and the National Parent Teacher Association have suggested that a healthy number of hours that students should be spending can be determined by the “10-minute rule.” This means that each grade level should have a maximum homework time incrementing by 10 minutes depending on their grade level (for instance, ninth-graders would have 90 minutes of homework, 10th-graders should have 100 minutes, and so on).

As ‘finals week’ rapidly approaches, students not only devote effort to attaining their desired exam scores but make a last attempt to keep or change the grade they have for semester one by making up homework assignments.

High schoolers reported doing an average of 2.7 hours of homework per weeknight, according to a study by the Washington Post from 2018 to 2020 of over 50,000 individuals. A survey of approximately 200 Bellaire High School students revealed that some students spend over three times this number.

The demographics of this survey included 34 freshmen, 43 sophomores, 54 juniors and 54 seniors on average.

When asked how many hours students spent on homework in a day on average, answers ranged from zero to more than nine with an average of about four hours. In contrast, polled students said that about one hour of homework would constitute a healthy number of hours.

Junior Claire Zhang said she feels academically pressured in her AP schedule, but not necessarily by the classes.

“The class environment in AP classes can feel pressuring because everyone is always working hard and it makes it difficult to keep up sometimes.” Zhang said.

A total of 93 students reported that the minimum grade they would be satisfied with receiving in a class would be an A. This was followed by 81 students, who responded that a B would be the minimum acceptable grade. 19 students responded with a C and four responded with a D.

“I am happy with the classes I take, but sometimes it can be very stressful to try to keep up,” freshman Allyson Nguyen said. “I feel academically pressured to keep an A in my classes.”

Up to 152 students said that grades are extremely important to them, while 32 said they generally are more apathetic about their academic performance.

Last year, nine valedictorians graduated from Bellaire. They each achieved a grade point average of 5.0. HISD has never seen this amount of valedictorians in one school, and as of now there are 14 valedictorians.

“I feel that it does degrade the title of valedictorian because as long as a student knows how to plan their schedule accordingly and make good grades in the classes, then anyone can be valedictorian,” Zhang said.

Bellaire offers classes like physical education and health in the summer. These summer classes allow students to skip the 4.0 class and not put it on their transcript. Some electives also have a 5.0 grade point average like debate.

Close to 200 students were polled about Bellaire having multiple valedictorians. They primarily answered that they were in favor of Bellaire having multiple valedictorians, which has recently attracted significant acclaim .

Senior Katherine Chen is one of the 14 valedictorians graduating this year and said that she views the class of 2022 as having an extraordinary amount of extremely hardworking individuals.

“I think it was expected since freshman year since most of us knew about the others and were just focused on doing our personal best,” Chen said.

Chen said that each valedictorian achieved the honor on their own and deserves it.

“I’m honestly very happy for the other valedictorians and happy that Bellaire is such a good school,” Chen said. “I don’t feel any less special with 13 other valedictorians.”

Nguyen said that having multiple valedictorians shows just how competitive the school is.

“It’s impressive, yet scary to think about competing against my classmates,” Nguyen said.

Offering 30 AP classes and boasting a significant number of merit-based scholars Bellaire can be considered a competitive school.

“I feel academically challenged but not pressured,” Chen said. “Every class I take helps push me beyond my comfort zone but is not too much to handle.”

Students have the opportunity to have off-periods if they’ve met all their credits and are able to maintain a high level of academic performance. But for freshmen like Nguyen, off periods are considered a privilege. Nguyen said she usually has an hour to five hours worth of work everyday.

“Depending on the day, there can be a lot of work, especially with extra curriculars,” Nguyen said. “Although, I am a freshman, so I feel like it’s not as bad in comparison to higher grades.”

According to the survey of Bellaire students, when asked to evaluate their agreement with the statement “students who get better grades tend to be smarter overall than students who get worse grades,” responders largely disagreed.

Zhang said that for students on the cusp of applying to college, it can sometimes be hard to ignore the mental pressure to attain good grades.

“As a junior, it’s really easy to get extremely anxious about your GPA,” Zhang said. “It’s also a very common but toxic practice to determine your self-worth through your grades but I think that we just need to remember that our mental health should also come first. Sometimes, it’s just not the right day for everyone and one test doesn’t determine our smartness.”

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HUMANS OF BELLAIRE – Cydney Tinsley

Walking through time

Eleven courses added to Bellaire

HUMANS OF BELLAIRE – Lauren Ray-Hart

Mighty Cardinal Band attends summer camp to practice show

International Thespian Festival

Future Problem Solvers place second in Texas with community project

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Comments (8).

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Anonymous • Jul 16, 2024 at 3:27 pm

didnt realy help

Anonymous • Nov 21, 2023 at 10:32 am

It’s not really helping me understand how much.

josh • May 9, 2023 at 9:58 am

Kassie • May 6, 2022 at 12:29 pm

Im using this for an English report. This is great because on of my sources needed to be from another student. Homework drives me insane. Im glad this is very updated too!!

Kaylee Swaim • Jan 25, 2023 at 9:21 pm

I am also using this for an English report. I have to do an argumentative essay about banning homework in schools and this helps sooo much!

Izzy McAvaney • Mar 15, 2023 at 6:43 pm

I am ALSO using this for an English report on cutting down school days, homework drives me insane!!

E. Elliott • Apr 25, 2022 at 6:42 pm

I’m from Louisiana and am actually using this for an English Essay thanks for the information it was very informative.

Nabila Wilson • Jan 10, 2022 at 6:56 pm

Interesting with the polls! I didn’t realize about 14 valedictorians, that’s crazy.

Fact-checking economic claims Trump and Harris made at debate

The presidential debate was a tense back-and-forth between the two contenders.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump met for the first time Tuesday in their first presidential debate of the 2024 election, hosted by ABC News.

The high-stakes, 90-minute debate was held at Philadelphia's National Constitution Center, with Trump and Harris arguing their cases for the White House.

As the Democratic and Republican nominees debated the most pressing topics facing the nation, ABC News live fact-checked their statements on the economy for answers that were exaggerated, needed more context or were false.

MORE: Where Kamala Harris, Donald Trump stand on key issues heading into ABC News debate

HARRIS CLAIM: 16 Nobel laureates say Trump's plan would increase inflation and land us in a recession

FACT-CHECK: Mostly true

Harris correctly describes what the Nobel laureates said about inflation during Trump's presidency: "There is rightly a worry that Donald Trump will reignite this inflation." But while the group describes Harris' agenda as "vastly superior" to Trump's, their letter doesn't specifically predict a recession by the middle of 2025. Rather, the group wrote: "We believe that a second Trump term would have a negative impact on the U.S.'s economic standing in the world and a destabilizing effect on the U.S.'s domestic economy."

The 16 economists are George Akerlof, Angus Deaton, Claudia Goldin, Oliver Hart, Eric S. Maskin, Daniel L. McFadden, Paul R. Milgrom, Roger B. Myerson, Edmund S. Phelps, Paul M. Romer, Alvin E. Roth, William F. Sharp, Robert J. Shiller, Christopher A. Sims, Joseph Stiglitz and Robert B. Wilson.

-PolitiFact's Louis Jacobson

HARRIS CLAIM: Trump wants a "20% tax on everyday goods" that would cost families "about $4,000 more a year."

FACT-CHECK: True, but needs context

Trump has proposed a universal "10-20%" tariff on all U.S. imports, from cars and electronics to wine, food products and many other goods. He has also proposed a 60% tariff on imports from China. Vice President Harris called the plan "Trump's sales tax," though the former president has not explicitly proposed such a tax. Independent economists, however, say the proposed import tariffs would unquestionably result in higher prices for American consumers across the board.

The precise financial impact on families is hard to predict and estimates vary widely -- from additional annual costs per household of $1,700 to nearly $4,000, depending on the study. Trump has not called for any tax hikes for American families.

He has proposed exempting Social Security benefits and tips from taxation, as well as extending individual tax cuts enacted in 2017.

-ABC News' Devin Dwyer

MORE: READ: Harris-Trump presidential debate transcript

TRUMP CLAIM: Trump said, "We have inflation like very few people have ever seen before. Probably the worst in our nation's history."

FACT-CHECK: False, but it was very high

It's true that early in Joe Biden's presidency the annual inflation rate peaked at roughly 9% (June of 2022), but that's not the highest it's ever been. There are several examples of the inflation rate being much higher than 9% in the U.S, including in the immediate aftermath of World War II and during the oil embargo and shortages of the late '70s and early 1980s, when the inflation rate peaked at 14.5%.

The inflation rate as of July 2024 is at 2.9% annual inflation, the lowest it has been in three years. It should also be noted that President Biden has falsely claimed that he inherited a high rate from his predecessor. In fact, inflation was at 1.4% when he took office.

*Data for this fact check was gathered from Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, or St. Louis Fed

HARRIS CLAIM: Harris said, "Trump left us the worst unemployment since the Great Depression."

FACT-CHECK: Needs context

The unemployment rate peaked at 14.8% in April 2020 when Trump was in office – that was indeed the highest level since the Great Depression, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But unemployment rapidly declined to 6.4% in January 2021 by the time Trump left office, as the economy started to rebalance. And that 6.4% unemployment rate is still better than the 10% peak during the Great Recession in October 2009.

If you eliminate pandemic statistics, the lowest unemployment rate under Trump was just slightly higher than the lowest point under Biden. Both were good: 3.5% under Trump and 3.4% under Biden at their lowest respectively, according to data provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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11 Surprising Homework Statistics, Facts & Data

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

Learn about our Editorial Process

The age-old question of whether homework is good or bad for students is unanswerable because there are so many “ it depends ” factors.

For example, it depends on the age of the child, the type of homework being assigned, and even the child’s needs.

There are also many conflicting reports on whether homework is good or bad. This is a topic that largely relies on data interpretation for the researcher to come to their conclusions.

To cut through some of the fog, below I’ve outlined some great homework statistics that can help us understand the effects of homework on children.

Homework Statistics List

1. 45% of parents think homework is too easy for their children.

A study by the Center for American Progress found that parents are almost twice as likely to believe their children’s homework is too easy than to disagree with that statement.

Here are the figures for math homework:

• 46% of parents think their child’s math homework is too easy.
• 25% of parents think their child’s math homework is not too easy.
• 29% of parents offered no opinion.

Here are the figures for language arts homework:

• 44% of parents think their child’s language arts homework is too easy.
• 28% of parents think their child’s language arts homework is not too easy.
• 28% of parents offered no opinion.

These findings are based on online surveys of 372 parents of school-aged children conducted in 2018.

2. 93% of Fourth Grade Children Worldwide are Assigned Homework

The prestigious worldwide math assessment Trends in International Maths and Science Study (TIMSS) took a survey of worldwide homework trends in 2007. Their study concluded that 93% of fourth-grade children are regularly assigned homework, while just 7% never or rarely have homework assigned.

3. 17% of Teens Regularly Miss Homework due to Lack of High-Speed Internet Access

A 2018 Pew Research poll of 743 US teens found that 17%, or almost 2 in every 5 students, regularly struggled to complete homework because they didn’t have reliable access to the internet.

This figure rose to 25% of Black American teens and 24% of teens whose families have an income of less than $30,000 per year.

4. Parents Spend 6.7 Hours Per Week on their Children’s Homework

A 2018 study of 27,500 parents around the world found that the average amount of time parents spend on homework with their child is 6.7 hours per week. Furthermore, 25% of parents spend more than 7 hours per week on their child’s homework.

American parents spend slightly below average at 6.2 hours per week, while Indian parents spend 12 hours per week and Japanese parents spend 2.6 hours per week.

5. Students in High-Performing High Schools Spend on Average 3.1 Hours per night Doing Homework

A study by Galloway, Conner & Pope (2013) conducted a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in upper-middle-class California. 

Across these high-performing schools, students self-reported that they did 3.1 hours per night of homework.

Graduates from those schools also ended up going on to college 93% of the time.

6. One to Two Hours is the Optimal Duration for Homework

A 2012 peer-reviewed study in the High School Journal found that students who conducted between one and two hours achieved higher results in tests than any other group.

However, the authors were quick to highlight that this “t is an oversimplification of a much more complex problem.” I’m inclined to agree. The greater variable is likely the quality of the homework than time spent on it.

Nevertheless, one result was unequivocal: that some homework is better than none at all : “students who complete any amount of homework earn higher test scores than their peers who do not complete homework.”

7. 74% of Teens cite Homework as a Source of Stress

A study by the Better Sleep Council found that homework is a source of stress for 74% of students. Only school grades, at 75%, rated higher in the study.

That figure rises for girls, with 80% of girls citing homework as a source of stress.

Similarly, the study by Galloway, Conner & Pope (2013) found that 56% of students cite homework as a “primary stressor” in their lives.

8. US Teens Spend more than 15 Hours per Week on Homework

The same study by the Better Sleep Council also found that US teens spend over 2 hours per school night on homework, and overall this added up to over 15 hours per week.

Surprisingly, 4% of US teens say they do more than 6 hours of homework per night. That’s almost as much homework as there are hours in the school day.

The only activity that teens self-reported as doing more than homework was engaging in electronics, which included using phones, playing video games, and watching TV.

9. The 10-Minute Rule

The National Education Association (USA) endorses the concept of doing 10 minutes of homework per night per grade.

For example, if you are in 3rd grade, you should do 30 minutes of homework per night. If you are in 4th grade, you should do 40 minutes of homework per night.

However, this ‘rule’ appears not to be based in sound research. Nevertheless, it is true that homework benefits (no matter the quality of the homework) will likely wane after 2 hours (120 minutes) per night, which would be the NEA guidelines’ peak in grade 12.

10. 21.9% of Parents are Too Busy for their Children’s Homework

An online poll of nearly 300 parents found that 21.9% are too busy to review their children’s homework. On top of this, 31.6% of parents do not look at their children’s homework because their children do not want their help. For these parents, their children’s unwillingness to accept their support is a key source of frustration.

11. 46.5% of Parents find Homework too Hard

The same online poll of parents of children from grades 1 to 12 also found that many parents struggle to help their children with homework because parents find it confusing themselves. Unfortunately, the study did not ask the age of the students so more data is required here to get a full picture of the issue.

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Interpreting the Data

Unfortunately, homework is one of those topics that can be interpreted by different people pursuing differing agendas. All studies of homework have a wide range of variables, such as:

• What age were the children in the study?
• What was the homework they were assigned?
• What tools were available to them?
• What were the cultural attitudes to homework and how did they impact the study?
• Is the study replicable?

The more questions we ask about the data, the more we realize that it’s hard to come to firm conclusions about the pros and cons of homework .

Furthermore, questions about the opportunity cost of homework remain. Even if homework is good for children’s test scores, is it worthwhile if the children consequently do less exercise or experience more stress?

Thus, this ends up becoming a largely qualitative exercise. If parents and teachers zoom in on an individual child’s needs, they’ll be able to more effectively understand how much homework a child needs as well as the type of homework they should be assigned.

Related: Funny Homework Excuses

The debate over whether homework should be banned will not be resolved with these homework statistics. But, these facts and figures can help you to pursue a position in a school debate on the topic – and with that, I hope your debate goes well and you develop some great debating skills!

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 10 Reasons you’re Perpetually Single
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• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 21 Montessori Homeschool Setups
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Is Homework Good for Kids? Here’s What the Research Says

A s kids return to school, debate is heating up once again over how they should spend their time after they leave the classroom for the day.

The no-homework policy of a second-grade teacher in Texas went viral last week , earning praise from parents across the country who lament the heavy workload often assigned to young students. Brandy Young told parents she would not formally assign any homework this year, asking students instead to eat dinner with their families, play outside and go to bed early.

But the question of how much work children should be doing outside of school remains controversial, and plenty of parents take issue with no-homework policies, worried their kids are losing a potential academic advantage. Here’s what you need to know:

For decades, the homework standard has been a “10-minute rule,” which recommends a daily maximum of 10 minutes of homework per grade level. Second graders, for example, should do about 20 minutes of homework each night. High school seniors should complete about two hours of homework each night. The National PTA and the National Education Association both support that guideline.

But some schools have begun to give their youngest students a break. A Massachusetts elementary school has announced a no-homework pilot program for the coming school year, lengthening the school day by two hours to provide more in-class instruction. “We really want kids to go home at 4 o’clock, tired. We want their brain to be tired,” Kelly Elementary School Principal Jackie Glasheen said in an interview with a local TV station . “We want them to enjoy their families. We want them to go to soccer practice or football practice, and we want them to go to bed. And that’s it.”

A New York City public elementary school implemented a similar policy last year, eliminating traditional homework assignments in favor of family time. The change was quickly met with outrage from some parents, though it earned support from other education leaders.

New solutions and approaches to homework differ by community, and these local debates are complicated by the fact that even education experts disagree about what’s best for kids.

The research

The most comprehensive research on homework to date comes from a 2006 meta-analysis by Duke University psychology professor Harris Cooper, who found evidence of a positive correlation between homework and student achievement, meaning students who did homework performed better in school. The correlation was stronger for older students—in seventh through 12th grade—than for those in younger grades, for whom there was a weak relationship between homework and performance.

Cooper’s analysis focused on how homework impacts academic achievement—test scores, for example. His report noted that homework is also thought to improve study habits, attitudes toward school, self-discipline, inquisitiveness and independent problem solving skills. On the other hand, some studies he examined showed that homework can cause physical and emotional fatigue, fuel negative attitudes about learning and limit leisure time for children. At the end of his analysis, Cooper recommended further study of such potential effects of homework.

Despite the weak correlation between homework and performance for young children, Cooper argues that a small amount of homework is useful for all students. Second-graders should not be doing two hours of homework each night, he said, but they also shouldn’t be doing no homework.

Not all education experts agree entirely with Cooper’s assessment.

Cathy Vatterott, an education professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, supports the “10-minute rule” as a maximum, but she thinks there is not sufficient proof that homework is helpful for students in elementary school.

“Correlation is not causation,” she said. “Does homework cause achievement, or do high achievers do more homework?”

Vatterott, the author of Rethinking Homework: Best Practices That Support Diverse Needs , thinks there should be more emphasis on improving the quality of homework tasks, and she supports efforts to eliminate homework for younger kids.

“I have no concerns about students not starting homework until fourth grade or fifth grade,” she said, noting that while the debate over homework will undoubtedly continue, she has noticed a trend toward limiting, if not eliminating, homework in elementary school.

The issue has been debated for decades. A TIME cover in 1999 read: “Too much homework! How it’s hurting our kids, and what parents should do about it.” The accompanying story noted that the launch of Sputnik in 1957 led to a push for better math and science education in the U.S. The ensuing pressure to be competitive on a global scale, plus the increasingly demanding college admissions process, fueled the practice of assigning homework.

“The complaints are cyclical, and we’re in the part of the cycle now where the concern is for too much,” Cooper said. “You can go back to the 1970s, when you’ll find there were concerns that there was too little, when we were concerned about our global competitiveness.”

Cooper acknowledged that some students really are bringing home too much homework, and their parents are right to be concerned.

“A good way to think about homework is the way you think about medications or dietary supplements,” he said. “If you take too little, they’ll have no effect. If you take too much, they can kill you. If you take the right amount, you’ll get better.”

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Write to Katie Reilly at [email protected]

How Much Homework Do American Kids Do?

Various factors, from the race of the student to the number of years a teacher has been in the classroom, affect a child's homework load.

In his Atlantic essay , Karl Taro Greenfeld laments his 13-year-old daughter's heavy homework load. As an eighth grader at a New York middle school, Greenfeld’s daughter averaged about three hours of homework per night and adopted mantras like “memorization, not rationalization” to help her get it all done. Tales of the homework-burdened American student have become common, but are these stories the exception or the rule?

A 2007 Metlife study found that 45 percent of students in grades three to 12 spend more than an hour a night doing homework, including the six percent of students who report spending more than three hours a night on their homework. In the 2002-2003 school year, a study out of the University of Michigan found that American students ages six through 17 spent three hours and 38 minutes per week doing homework.

A range of factors plays into how much homework each individual student gets:

Older students do more homework than their younger counterparts.

This one is fairly obvious: The National Education Association recommends that homework time increase by ten minutes per year in school. (e.g., A third grader would have 30 minutes of homework, while a seventh grader would have 70 minutes).

Studies have found that schools tend to roughly follow these guidelines: The University of Michigan found that students ages six to eight spend 29 minutes doing homework per night while 15- to 17-year-old students spend 50 minutes doing homework. The Metlife study also found that 50 percent of students in grades seven to 12 spent more than an hour a night on homework, while 37 percent of students in grades three to six spent an hour or more on their homework per night. The National Center for Educational Statistics found that high school students who do homework outside of school average 6.8 hours of homework per week.

Race plays a role in how much homework students do.

Asian students spend 3.5 more hours on average doing homework per week than their white peers. However, only 59 percent of Asian students’ parents check that homework is done, while 75.6 percent of Hispanic students’ parents and 83.1 percent of black students’ parents check.

Teachers with less experience assign more homework.

The Metlife study found that 14 percent of teachers with zero to five years of teaching experience assigned more than an hour of homework per night, while only six percent of teachers with 21 or more years of teaching experience assigned over an hour of homework.

Math classes have homework the most frequently.

The Metlife study found that 70 percent of students in grades three to 12 had at least one homework assignment in math. Sixty-two percent had at least one homework assignment in a language arts class (English, reading, spelling, or creative writing courses) and 42 percent had at least one in a science class.

Regardless of how much homework kids are actually doing every night, most parents and teachers are happy with the way things are: 60 percent of parents think that their children have the “right amount of homework,” and 73 percent of teachers think their school assigns the right amount of homework.

Students, however, are not necessarily on board: 38 percent of students in grades seven through 12 and 28 percent of students in grades three through six report being “very often/often” stressed out by their homework.

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Explaining the unprecedented deferrals in Ohtani's Dodgers deal

Mark Feinsand

Shohei Ohtani’s stunning 10-year, $700 million contract made some wonder whether the Dodgers would be able to continue signing more stars to surround the two-time American League MVP on the field.

Thanks to Ohtani’s offer to defer a majority of his salary, the Dodgers may be able to do precisely that.

According to a source, Ohtani will be deferring $68 million of his $70 million average salary, an idea that came from Ohtani himself. That means he will be earning $2 million per year from the Dodgers ($20 million in total) over the life of the contract.

• 9 amazing facts about Ohtani's deal with the Dodgers

The deferrals -- which total $680 million -- will begin in 2034 and carry through 2043, a source said. Starting in 2034, Ohtani will receive $68 million per year from the Dodgers, ending in 2043.

This was all agreed upon within the parameters of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which states that there are no restrictions on how much money can be deferred.

• MLB players react to historic contract on social media

“Article XVI – Deferred Compensation” of the CBA states:

There shall be no limitations on either the amount of the deferred compensation or the percentage of total compensation attributable to deferred compensation for which a Uniform Player’s Contract may provide.

Per the source, Ohtani “had been educated on the implications and process of deferrals and felt it was the right thing to do.” Given his status as the game’s highest earner off the field, the source said it was “an easy decision for him.”

By structuring the contract in this way, the idea is to give the Dodgers more financial flexibility in the short term, but also ease their burden relative to the Competitive Balance Tax (CBT).  For 2024, the CBT is $237 million, and with the structure of this deal the Dodgers would currently be under the CBT threshold, though it is assumed more big moves are on the way.

A team's Competitive Balance Tax figure is determined using the average annual value of each player's contract on the 40-man roster, plus any additional player benefits. If there was no money deferred, the AAV on Ohtani’s contract would be $70 million. However, any money deferred outside the term of the contract is calculated using its present-day value.

• Here are the largest free-agent contracts in MLB history

Because the value of a dollar decreases over time, the contract has a present-day value of roughly $460 million for the purposes of the CBT, given that so much of it is deferred for more than a decade. Therefore, the Dodgers will have a CBT payroll hit of roughly $46 million per year for the next 10 years from Ohtani’s contract. Essentially, Ohtani offered to defer this much money in order for the Dodgers to have payroll flexibility to continue building a winning team.

“Shohei wasn’t concerned about the exact AAV,” the source said. “Just that it helped with flexibility.”

We’ve seen deferrals in the past when signing a big contract, but never anything to this degree. For example, when Max Scherzer signed his seven-year, $210 million deal with the Nationals prior to the 2015 season, half of the money ($105 million) was deferred. As a result, the AAV dropped from $30 million to roughly $28 million for the purposes of the CBT. The deal called for the Nationals to pay Scherzer $15 million per year (the deferred money) from 2022 through 2028.

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How much homework in Year 10?

Lottie4 · 07/07/2015 11:04

Can anyone give me a rough idea of how long their DCs spend on homework in Year 10, just so what's in front of our DC and us.

45 minutes per subject per night, max. Sometimes less. Depends what it is.

My daughter does about 3/4 sometimes 5 hours a night. But she is massive perfectionist so not sure if that's normal!

And normally one day on a weekend

Approx 45 mins per subject per night sounds about right. dd is just finishing Y10 and is taking 9 GCSEs and has 3 subjects per night on her timetable (she hasn't always had homework for all subjects though). Usually there is approx 1 week to hand homework in.

Do you mean how much the school homework policy says he should be doing (10 hours a week)? Or how much I actually see him do (5 hours a week)?

Mine went to boarding school and never had the opportunity to do 5 hours a night! It would not have been allowed and it is far too much. I would be very worried about this. I assume you don't think 4-5 hours a night and a whole day at weekends is normal! I am glad mine had time for music, dance, sport, drama, debating, socialising, D of E, and all the activities on offer in their boarding houses. If a year 10 child has to work that hard, there are likely to be problems at A level. My DD1 did 11 GCSEs and got A*s so a reasonable amount of homework is fine. A rounded personality counts for a lot too!

Thanks for your replies. They've had very little homework in Year 9, but in Years 7&8 she was doing approx. 10-12 hours a week, so doesn't sound like Year 10 will be much worse than that - she can cope and so can we!

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How much homework do you get in Year 10?

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