Not every student who struggles is unprepared. Many put in steady hours, follow the plan, revise regularly, and still watch their marks settle into a stubborn band. It feels confusing from the inside, because nothing about their routine seems wrong. Yet the improvement they expect never quite arrives.
To understand why this happens, we turned to P G Subramanian, principal of B V Bhavan’s Rajaji Vidyashram in Chennai, whose work spans years of assessments and the full range of student performance. He says a plateau has little to do with how motivated a student is. It usually reflects the way their attention, understanding, and exam behaviour fit together. When even one of these slips, the effort stops translating into marks. The first misconception, he says, is the belief that time spent equals learning achieved. Many students feel productive simply because they have studied for several hours, but the quality of that time determines whether marks move at all. As he puts it, “It is not the number of hours you spend. The question is how much focus you bring to that time. Students think they are preparing, but the attention span is very low today, so the time may not be productive.”
He believes learning improves only when a complete loop forms. Listening in class, recalling at home, revisiting concepts, and connecting ideas to real applications must happen as one flow. When even one part is missing, internalisation becomes weak. The student may feel they have worked hard, but the understanding remains shallow.
When marks refuse to rise, families often assume the student has not studied enough. Subramanian believes the explanation is usually more complex. Students may understand a concept but fail to apply it under pressure. They may have practised questions but misread the wording in the paper. They may know the method but forget steps while writing. They may grasp the idea but struggle with case based questions because they have not read them carefully. In his experience, language skills matter more today than many students realise.
“We keep saying subjects like maths do not need language skills, but that is not true anymore. Students must read carefully, comprehend the question, and apply it to real situations,” he says.
The exam hall introduces its own set of leaks. Teachers routinely see answer sheets that show clear understanding but lose marks through preventable errors. Students sometimes complete all steps and write the final answer incorrectly. Others write the answer and forget a key step. Some leave a one mark question unfinished and never return to it. Subramanian says these slips are common even among strong performers. “I have evaluated papers that are flawless except for one missing answer. The student understood everything, but that one omission takes away a mark. These are simple mistakes, but they happen often.”
Time management contributes to many of these leaks. Students may spend too long on one question, feel stuck, and lose valuable minutes. His advice is to leave space, move on, complete the rest, and return later with a calmer mind. Toppers, he says, do this naturally. Others must learn it consciously.
After an assessment, Subramanian believes review is as important as preparation. Yet many students flip through their mistakes without understanding why they happened. He encourages them to sit with teachers not to argue for marks, but to understand what needs improvement. “Instead of asking for one more mark, ask how your presentation can be better and how to avoid the same mistake again. Teachers are happy to explain when students approach it this way.”
He also points out that improvement depends on support at multiple levels. Students need teachers for explanation and strategy, schools for structure and environment, and parents for understanding the child’s learning needs. When these three work together, he says, progress becomes visible even for those who struggle. The aim is not perfection in one jump, but steady movement.
In the end, Subramanian returns to the core idea. A plateau is not a verdict on a student’s ability. It reflects gaps in focus, internalisation, application, or feedback. And every one of those gaps can be closed with guidance. “Students may feel they are stuck, but small corrections in how they study, how they write, and how they review can change the entire trajectory. Improvement always begins with understanding what is actually happening.”