Practical advice on how to study, revise and prepare for exams. Drawn from over twelve years of teaching experience and grounded in evidence-based learning strategies. New posts are added regularly.
A step-by-step guide to building a realistic revision timetable, covering time auditing, subject weighting, spacing, and how to stay on track when motivation dips.
Why most revision cards fail and how to make ones that work. Covers question-based formats, the Leitner system, and the best digital tools for building lasting recall.
Why cramming fails and spaced repetition works. A practical guide covering the spacing effect, the Leitner system, Anki, and how to build a sustainable retrieval habit.
Practical strategies for when motivation drops. Covers process goals, study environment, tracking progress, and knowing when to ask for help.
Realistic guidance on daily and weekly revision hours at GCSE and A-Level. Covers term time, study leave, signs of overwork, and why quality matters more than quantity.
Why wider reading improves exam grades. Practical suggestions by subject and how to build a reading habit in fifteen minutes a day.
How students who take ownership of their study make the most progress. Covers using the syllabus, mark schemes, self-tracking, and building independent habits.
A curated reading list across English, History, Sciences and Maths. Books, articles and podcasts to build subject knowledge and support exam preparation.
Age-appropriate book recommendations from early readers to sixth form. Fiction, non-fiction, and practical advice for reluctant readers at every stage.
How to find, read and integrate scholarly references into A-Level History and Classics essays. Covers historiographical debate, contrasting interpretations, and building a scholarship bank.
How to find and integrate critical perspectives into A-Level English essays. Covers feminist, Marxist, post-colonial, and psychoanalytic criticism with practical examples.
A practical guide to close reading at A-Level, covering language, form and structure, a step-by-step method, and the most common mistakes students make.
A practical guide to critical thinking for GCSE and A-Level students. How to agree, disagree, and evaluate arguments in essays and discussion.
How to use the Point, Evidence, Explain, Link structure to move your writing from description to analysis, with worked examples across subjects.
Practical definitions of the essay and the academic argument. Structure, common weaknesses, and how to build a case rather than write a summary.
Methods for writing integrated comparative essays at GCSE and A-Level. Structural approaches, comparative language, and worked examples across poetry and prose.
How to incorporate historical, social, and literary context at GCSE and A-Level without reducing your essay to a history lesson.