'Three times this year? I didn't know I was going three times!"
James Hart, 18, has just been told by his mother that he's booked in for a series of private revision sessions before his A-level exams this summer.
With E-day just three months away, crammers, private schools and online sites are cranking up to deliver their lucrative Easter holiday courses to anxious teenagers.
Across the country, parents will part with hundreds of thousands of pounds between now and the early summer exams in a bid to boost the grades of their offspring. Even schools - both fee-paying and state - are paying for borderline pupils to attend independent revision courses. But how do you know if your money is well spent? Critics warn that nobody inspects the plethora of colleges and courses, precise success rates are hard to come by - and horror stories of cowboy operators abound.
Marilyn Craig, director of courses at Justin Craig Education, one of the oldest operators in the market, which will this year teach about 4,000 pupils, warns: "This is not a shark-free zone. It's not regulated. Anyone can set up tomorrow, you don't even need to be a proper teacher. It's astonishing how many people see a course advertised and book without asking any questions, or opt for the nearest place to where they live regardless of the quality."
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She advises parents to ask questions before parting with any cash, including checking the qualifications of the teachers, the size and duration of the classes and asking for evidence, such as surveys or repeat bookings, that previous users have found the course valuable.
As proof of the quality of her company's courses Craig offers up Hart, a pupil at King Solomon high school in Essex, for interview. He is attending a course at Justin Craig for the third year running.
In Easter 2006 the then 16-year-old enrolled for its revision courses in GCSE history, business studies, sciences and maths. He says that it paid off, he got his best grades - three As and one B - in what were previously his weakest subjects.
This year he will be attending to try to ensure that he achieves at least his predicted B grades in A-level business studies and history. The cost? £330 for 2½ days at one of the company's centres, revising one A-level.
"There are so many distractions at home. The telly, the internet, friends. But when you are there it's much more difficult to be distracted. I would never revise at home for the eight hours a day I revise there," says Hart.
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Alan Smithers, director of the centre for education at the University of Buckingham, did not use revision courses for his children. His solution when his daughter's school biology lessons needed supplementing was to send her to an evening class at the local further education college, which had been recommended by other parents.
But, he says, courses can play a part in "imparting the rules of the game".
"Doing well in exams is a skill in its own right over and above how well you understand the subject," says Smithers. "It is well worth honing exam techniques and these courses can help with that."
However, he adds, parents would be well advised first to check out the websites of the various exam boards, where past papers, guides and mark schemes are available - all excellent sources of advice on how to excel at a specific test.
For not everyone's experience is as positive as Hart's - and sometimes even a school recommendation of a revision course - which encompass books, online sites, residential courses and hourly tuition - is no surefire guide as to what will help your child.
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When, a few years ago, the staff at Tessa Holroyde's children's school in Newport Pag-nell suggested a home tuition kit for those struggling with English and maths, Holroyde, whose son Tom was about to begin his two-year GCSE syllabus, promptly signed up. The course cost £2,500 in monthly payments over two years.
Tom, then 14, was at first keen enough to do the half hour's work each day and send off the weekly assignments. Keen enough for two months. Reluctant for another month. Then he flat out refused. There were other difficulties, too. The revision course used different maths methods from Tom's school, which he found frustrating.
"What made me really upset," says Holroyd, "is that no one ever rang up to see what was happening. We got a couple of letters - where is your work, Tom? - and if we rang up the helpline, which we did a couple of times, they did advise us. But no one ever really engaged with Tom."
"It was," she says fervently, "such a waste of money."
As E-day looms panicky parents and pupils should remember that there is no quick fix - no matter how much cash you part with. In the end there is no substitute for a child's own intelligence and personal dedication to swotting.
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"All these courses can do is enable your child to show themselves in a positive light," says Smithers. "What they cannot do is significantly change what they are capable of doing."
It's an observation borne out by London mother Cynthia Stamm-Clarke's experience. Her daughter Mary attended a week-long revision course in Easter 2005 at a private tutorial college.
"She was adrift with her sciences and we bought the double science GCSE revision week for her," says Stamm-Clarke. "It really did help. She got A*s."
A year later, however, the results were less spectacular.
"She tried to do physics AS-level but was really struggling. In 2006 I didn't feel the crammers helped that much because whereas at GCSE you basically just have to regurgitate material, at AS-level there is a depth and a need for independent thought. You can't just boil that down to a week."
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Mary abandoned physics and went on to university to study journalism. Cramming, it seems, is no magic bullet.
Additional reporting: Victoria Neumark