Is there a limit as to how much information the human brain can learn in one year?

Question

After I graduate from high school I plan to take a year out to do 8 GCSE's and 3 Alevels. GCSEs are the compulsory examinations pupils in the UK take when they are at the end of year 11 (grade 10). They can then leave school afterwards, and some go on to take Alevels (grade 12). These are roughly equivalent to 4 GCSEs each, and have many concentrations. Students tend to do 3-4.

This endeavour would usually take 3 years to complete if I were at school. I have done all 8 GCSEs before but I am simply raising the grades to A*s. I know people who've got 10 A*s by starting to revise for their GCSEs only 2 months before. But remember, at the time of exam I will have 3 times the amount of information within my head.

Is there a limit as to how much knowledge one can absorb and rewrite in the exam in one year? Will my brain eventually bulk under pressure? Or is the human brain limitless if it can be conditioned properly?

Answer 1

No there isn't a limit...not if you're really interested in what you're learning anyway.

Just one question though: Why? The homeschooling friends I have in England don't bother taking GCSEs; they just go straight to A Levels. No employer or Uni is going to care what GCSEs you did (or at what grade) once you get your A Levels so why not spend the time doing a range of AS and A Levels. That way, you'll have something extra to add to your bag of qualifications.

BTW - GCSEs and A Levels can not really be said to be UK based exams as they only exist in England and Wales; they're not taken by kids in Scotland. Scottish kids take Standard Grades and Highers.

EDIT: Sorry Joshua but on this one you are wrong. Okay so you don't want to take the word of a 14 yr old Aussie kid who doesn't go to school and who hasn't decided whether to bother with any exams herself (lol)...but the following information comes from the UK Government's own website:

[QUOTE]02. Do pupils have to take GCSE examinations?

GCSEs are not compulsory examinations[/QUOTE]

source: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/qualifications/fa... accessed 01/09/07.

Actually there is no obligation, legal or otherwise, on anyone in the UK to do any exams at all if they don't want to: No GCSEs, No A Levels...and, in the case of homeschoolers, no SATS and no following the National Curriculum. The latter are only compulsory in state schools.

Furthermore, the main GCSE exams take place AFTER the date on which the vast majority of 16yr olds can legally quit school if they choose so there's no legal requirement for the bulk of 16 yr olds to be anywhere near a school on the day of the exams if they don't wish to be.

In addition an increasing number of both independent and state schools in the UK have now abandoned GCSEs and A Levels in favour of the IB (International Baccalaureate: http://www.ibo.org).

Answer 2

I guess I never gave that much thought, since learning to us is a life long endeavor.

It is not so much about how much information a brain can absorb; that will be different for each person.

A more important question would be, " how much of it is retained, how much of it can you apply, and use, or how much of it is even relevant to your daily life"?

I do not know what you are trying to proof with this "experiment", but I would assume that each person has a breaking, or point where they burn out.

By doing this you may find yours sooner than you think.

Good Luck.

Answer 3

see,dont get afraid. there is no limit for the brain. u can do that. go for  the studis.

Answer 4

No brain have ever been used to the max before. The brain has a extreme capacity for knowlegde and memories, just that they are not being used.

We only used a small fraction of our brains.

Answer 5

You r talking only abt studies and not abt ur life;s day to day activities.

Brain functions round the clock and even some time when ur talking to someone else but u will be concentrating on some thing else. So the capacity of the brain is limitless.

All the information can be stored only if u give some time for ur brain to breathe..

Answer 6

They have never found a limit to how much the human brain can learn or remember.

Answer 7

we can't park our pen when it comes to brain memory and depends upon how you interested the event.