If you had told me 10 years ago that I would be teaching students how to study smarter, and not harder, I would have laughed. The truth is, throughout school and university, I had truly terrible study habits. 

Growing up I found school interesting, and information seemed to stick quite well in my brain without much effort. So what was the problem?

I never learned to study and revise.

For my GCSEs – the exams you take in the UK at age 16 – I barely revised, looking through my notes only the night before, or even on the bus on the way to the exam.

In my A level years, the stakes increased, and I knew I needed to do better.  I chose an incredibly inefficient strategy, spending my time copying out my textbooks 5, 6 or even 7 times.

This is not to say that this strategy didn’t pay off. I got A*s across the board, actually achieving 100% in each of my final year exams. But it was time consuming, repetitive and boring, resulting in months of pushing information laboriously into my brain.

Once I got to University, I revised similarly by compiling huge word documents reproducing my notes from lectures and reading. This strategy, that had worked for my A levels, no longer served me; I was achieving mid-level grades, and there were no more hours in the day.

My strategy needed to change.

I switched to retrieval practise based methods, focusing on recall rather than repetitive learning, and practising writing arguments under timed conditions – without using my notes. And this worked! My grades improved, and I achieved a First Class degree.

Having unlocked better studying practises, I went on to complete my Masters and PhD, also at the University of Oxford. During my PhD I began teaching undergraduate students part-time. I noticed that a substantial proportion of my classes were dedicated to teaching students how to study, rather than teaching the course content.

This awakened my interest in the psychology of effective learning.

I became addicted to finding the right strategies for each student, and looking for that ‘a-ha!’ moment where students would make simple changes and dramatically improve both their attainment and their enjoyment of the subject. 

I had found my passion.

 Following the completion of my PhD I became a lecturer in Study Skills at St. John’s College, Oxford, and later joined Exam Study Expert.

Through 1-to-1 coaching(link), larger workshops(link) and webinars(link), I aim to help students study smarter and not harder by translating cognitive science research into manageable and effective study and revision strategies.

You can also find me on the podcast(link) and blog(link).

Finally, I am involved our research, with the Revision Census – the largest student survey of student’s learning and revision practises. We’ve presented the 2020 and 2022 data at conferences, and are currently recruiting schools for the 2023 iteration – our most ambitious survey yet!