5 Common Mistakes Students Make When Studying A-Level Biology

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Is studying for your A-Level biology getting you down? There is so much content to learn, and even if you know your stuff it can often be tricky to get the marks in practice exam questions because the language the examiner is looking for is so specific. In this article, you’ll find a summary of […]

Help with achieving your goals this Christmas holiday

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While it’s the Christmas holiday and your priorities should rightly be pulling crackers, opening presents and eating turkey you or your child might also have some important academic goals to achieve in these two weeks. I’m going to run through some of the academic priorities you might have right now and explain how I can […]

How much should you revise in the Christmas holidays?

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“How much should you revise…?” is one of the most frequent questions I get asked. Today, I’m going to talk about how much you should revise in the Christmas holidays because no-one wants mock exams in January ruining the Christmas holidays. How much should you revise in the Christmas holidays? The number of hours per […]

How to balance the competing demands of homework and revision

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Through the autumn and spring term every year, many students and parents ask me how to balance homework and revision. Students in years 11 and 13 find the competing demands of homework and revision particularly difficult to cope with in the build-up to mock exams. In this blog post, I’m going to explain how you […]

Why everyone should blag their exams and how to do it effectively

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The word ‘blag’ has lots of negative connotations. It brings up images of people getting something they don’t deserve through deception or guile. However, the best students are the ones who are confident in blagging their exams. This is probably a huge surprise to all the perfectionists out there, and maybe even more of a […]

7 things GCSE and A Level students get wrong about revision

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Most GCSE and A-Level students are really bad at revising. They get multiple things wrong about how to revise successfully which leads them to get bored and frustrated, either giving up or getting marks that they’re not proud of. In this post, I’m going to talk about seven things GCSE and A-Level students get wrong […]

Why you shouldn’t use highlighting as a revision technique (and how you can use highlighters instead)

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Highlighters are one of those stereotypical revision tools that always get added to the shopping basket when people are buying their revision stationery. However, highlighting is one of the very worst revision techniques you can use. In this blog post and podcast episode, I’m going to explain why highlighters shouldn’t be used as a revision […]

Why mock exams are more important than ever in 2020-1

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Last week the Scottish government announced that they were cancelling the country’s National 5 exams, the Scottish equivalent of GCSEs, for students sitting them in the summer of 2021. They have also pushed the dates of their Higher and Advanced Higher exams back and are developing contingency plans for the cancellation of these exams, with […]

3 things to do (other than studying) to get better grades

Reaching your academic potential isn’t just about putting the hours in with your textbooks. Achievement in any sphere of life also requires downtime and time for reflection. In this post, I’m going to be talking about 3 things to do (other than studying) to get better grades. 1. Sleep well Sleep is fundamental to getting […]

The Pomodoro Technique for GCSE and A Level Students: How to get more done, not get bored and save your energy when you’re studying

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by homework and revision but you’re bored, you’ve got no energy and your mind is scattered by all the distractions around you? The Pomodoro technique can help you. What is the Pomodoro Technique? The Pomodoro technique is a very simple productivity system. You basically set a timer for 25 minutes […]