See what we've been up to

Hi everyone, I’m Robyn from EasyA. I’m currently doing my postgrad in International Business at the University of Liverpool and I want to share with you some tips on how to cope with exam anxiety all year-round. As I’m sure many of you know, exam season can be very stressful and is often seen as a time for students to panic and overwhelm themselves with school work, or sometimes even just put off studying to the last minute and start procrastinating.

Tip 1: Start studying early

You may be thinking ‘but what if it’s too early?’ or ‘no, I’ve got loads of time to study’. This is exactly what I thought when I started my A-Levels. I had received advice that I should start revising pretty much at the start of the academic year. Needless to say, I didn’t like the idea so I didn’t do it. But you never know just how much revision you need to do, or how many times you’ll need to go over it to understand it. I didn’t leave studying to the last minute, but any extra time you can make to start as early as you can will always be valuable and take a lot of stress off exam season. This will also help combat that blasted last-minute cram for exams! You can still enjoy down time, just take 30 minutes each evening to go over your school lessons and as you get closer to sitting the exams, take more time to revise how you find it best to.

Tip 2: Do something that you love

If you overwhelm yourself with studying and the feelings of panic and stress, you are likely to not be able to get anything done because you’re so focused on the negatives of exam season. Remember to make time to do something for yourself to recharge. Set a timer in the breaks you have between studying to do something that relaxes you. Sit in your garden, take your dog for a short walk, read a few pages of that new book you just bought. By the time the timer goes off and you need to get back to studying, you will have a much calmer mindset and may be able to see the answer to the question you are studying from a different angle.

Tip 3: Find an outlet for studying frustrations

I think I speak for a lot of students when I say we can quite easily become very frustrated when studying for exams. If you don’t understand a question and have nobody around who can help you, you may be very likely to just skip that question altogether and leave not understanding how to complete it. If you come across a question like this and can feel yourself getting annoyed, try finding a way to work off that feeling. Many people will go out running, or even find a sport they can use to help relieve that stress, and just like I mentioned in the previous step, you may be able to approach that difficult question from a different angle after looking it over again.

Tip 4: Create a revision timetable

A great way to minimize exam stress and anxiety is to create a schedule that helps you keep organized. Divide your day up into multiple sections and prioritise the subjects that have the exams with the closest dates. If you can break down the revision into chunks over each day, it won’t look like such a monumental task to study. This way, you can approach it with a calmer mindset. Make sure you tick off what you have done each day - this will help you feel like you have been productive (which, in my opinion, is an amazing feeling!). Remember not to overwhelm yourself with unrealistic expectations though. Find a reasonable amount of subjects to revise effectively each day and don’t add to it, otherwise you may put too much pressure on yourself and lose motivation again.

Tip 5: If you are struggling, talk to someone

This is probably the most important piece of advice to give to a student. Often, we can feel like we’ve reached the point of burn out and find it very difficult to stay motivated. We may ultimately feel like giving up and think ‘there’s no point in me doing revision, I’m just going to fail anyway’. I’ve felt this before and it’s very disheartening. But there are people out there who have the ability to help you. Reach out to your teachers, the school nurse, or even a family member. I guarantee that they will understand how you feel. Nobody who has gone all the way through education has finished it without sitting at least one exam, so they will either be able to advise you directly or point you to someone with the skills and knowledge to help.

If you have any other tips on how to cope with exam stress and anxiety, please do share them with your fellow students. Let’s create a community of caring individuals and help each other learn how to de-stress in difficult times.

Don’t forget to check out our other blog posts while you're here. We also have another blog about student mindfulness, so do give that a read when you can!

Additional advice on specific maths questions can be found on the EasyA mobile app, so if you’re in need of one-to-one tutoring, you can download it here!

Good luck!

Hi, I’m Olivia from EasyA, and I’m a Classics and English student at the University of Oxford. It has been a crazy past 18 months, and it can seem like the odds are stacked against you when it comes to getting work experience or volunteering work. Even as the world starts opening up again, COVID secure volunteering work can be quite difficult to find. But never fear! I’m here to give you some advice on finding COVID conscious, yet fulfilling work experience and volunteering work to boost your CV, personal statement, or to put towards your Duke of Edinburgh award.

EasyA

EasyA is on a mission to help school students get back on track after more than a year of disrupted learning which has widened the attainment and opportunities gap. Founded by recent grads, EasyA is a free app that gives all students access to tutoring via chat, and needs STEM tutors to help!

Unlike other tutoring opportunities, EasyA is so flexible for both students and tutors - it could literally be when you have a spare 15/20 minutes on the bus!

We are looking to grow and expand out from our current set of tutors. We would love some STEM undergraduates and school students in their GCSE and A Level years to sign up on a totally flexible basis. Not only a great addition to the CV, EasyA is also an amazing way to simultaneously give back and gain new skills – perfect for increasing your employability!

As this opportunity is entirely digital, and you can do as much or as little as suits you, this is the perfect way to give your CV a well needed boost, as well as counting towards volunteering hours for Duke of Edinburgh and other awards! Just fill out this super quick form to get started!

Ask your school

If you are looking for online volunteering work, your best bet is to volunteer your time for your school! Drop a teacher an email and ask if you could be of assistance in creating resources - perhaps they need a hand making a PowerPoint, or could do with some help with uploading their lessons online.

You could even compile your notes to create a revision guide for younger years, and ask the teachers at school to share it around. This keeps your volunteering local, and is a great way to give back to the people who helped you so much throughout your education!

Charities working from home

Many charities have had to change the way they operate during the pandemic, and COVID has brought its own unique set of challenges with it everyone, but particularly for certain groups in society.

Many charities are looking for volunteers to chat to elderly people on the phone, to help combat elderly loneliness and isolation following the lockdowns. You could also ask family friends or post on social media asking if any children need help with their homework while they isolate, if their parents are busy working from home or struggle with giving their children a hand.

Many more established charities are also keen for fundraising - the cancellation of major fundraising events such as marathons has been really detrimental for them. Perhaps you could set yourself a fundraising challenge for a charity close to your heart. Set a fundraising target and run a 10k, or have a COVID secure cake sale!

Volunteering can be at home

You don’t always need to go outside of your immediate circle or home to volunteer. Maybe your younger siblings need babysitting while your parents are at work, or perhaps they need entertaining during the summer holidays as your parents are working from home? Offer to watch a film with them, or do some arts and crafts - your parents will really appreciate it, and this counts as volunteering work!

After a really disrupted year, you could help your younger siblings catch up on some school work. Maybe you could encourage them to download the EasyA app to help with their maths, or you could offer to go through their History work with them - this is a great way to share your skills, as well as to keep your own mind sharp during the summer holidays!

You could also do some chores around the house - could the shed do with a lick of paint, or maybe the cupboard under the stairs needs clearing out?

For the Duke of Edinburgh award, your assessor cannot be a family member, but perhaps a family friend or neighbour can attest to your DIY skills?

I really hope these tips to find COVID secure volunteering experience help, and that you found them useful. Be sure to check out our other EasyA blog posts, and to download the EasyA app.

If you’d like to tutor for EasyA, that’s awesome! You can just fill out this super quick form and we will be in touch shortly!

One of the hardest things about going from school to university is that you are on your own when it comes to time management - no bells ring out in student accommodation or lecture theatres to tell you that it's time to move to your next class. Here are some of my tips for managing your time, whether you’re at university, sixth form, or school, so that you can get top marks and optimise your studying.

To do...

They are probably the most basic kind of time management, but they are so effective and the best way to keep track of all your tasks. Be reasonable about what you can achieve in a day, and maybe only set yourself 1 extra task to complete if you have the time. I always find that when I can see what I need to do, it is easier to plan some time to get it done.

Time blocking

This method includes blocking out spaces of time in your day to do your revision or work, and blocks of time for relaxing or going out with friends. For example, you could block out from 4pm-6pm to get some revision done after school, and then have from 6pm onwards to relax, watch a movie or read a book. Blocking out the time also helps you get a balance of study and time to yourself that will stop you from burning out further down the line.

Get a diary

This is probably my biggest tip for university, but it also applies for school and sixth form too. Online calendars are great, and really helpful for keeping track of your appointments, meetings, and classes, but, for me, nothing beats actually writing down what I have to do in a certain day and ensuring you don’t miss anything. It is also super satisfying to tick off your tasks, and you are always able to see what is happening in the next few days! (Also a brilliant way to be a better friend and never forget a birthday again…)

Keep an eye on the clock

This doesn’t mean having your eyes glued to your watch at all times, but having a clock on your desk or workspace to remind you of the time is really helpful, especially if you suffer from chronic lateness!

‘Urgent' v 'Important'

A key aspect of time management is being able to split your tasks into different categories, and the best way to do this is to designate your tasks as ‘urgent’ or ‘important’. If a task is both urgent and important, it should take priority and you should try and get it done and sorted first. For example, if I needed to phone the doctors (important) but I had homework due for my class in 10 minutes (urgent, and important too!), I should prioritise my homework and then phone the doctors when I have the time - the doctor isn’t going anywhere, but my homework has a time limit!

If you struggle to decide, try numbering your tasks based on what needs to be done by when. A presentation due at 10am will take priority over another task due at 10pm, and so you can number them as such - I find this much more achievable and it is nice to have a countdown to your day being complete!

‘Tidy space, tidy mind’

I know this will probably just sound like your mum nagging you, but working in a tidy space is almost guaranteed to help you be more productive. Instead of wasting time on clearing your desk, if you took 5 minutes a day to keep your workspace tidy and neat, you will save SO much time in the long term - which you can put towards revising for exams or something else you love!

Task lengths

When writing your assignments on your to-do list, have a think about how long they might take. An essay may take longer than a problem sheet, or you might find that you need to put some extra work and time into Religious Studies than into Maths. Write an estimate of how much time you need to spend on each piece of work next to them on the list, and make sure you aren’t overloading yourself.

Knowing how much time you need to dedicate to each task will help you slot the tasks into your day, and, you can pair this with time blocking to really get on top of your time management!

Defence against distractions

I know that it can be hard to not get distracted, especially with laptops and phones pinging, noisy houses, and the TV luring you back to Netflix, but to be on top of your time you need to be able to defend yourself from these pesky distractions. Try putting your phone on silent, or setting a timer for an hour - after this timer goes off, you can check your messages or have a browse through social media for a while before cracking back on with your work. Having a set time when you will leave your work and have a break is great motivation, as well as helping you combat the urge to leave your desk and stay on task.

Treat yourself

You can’t spend all day sitting at your desk working - even though you might think that a 16 hour study day makes you seem ‘super productive’ and is the only route to top grades, you will soon find that you will burnout and exhaust yourself. Make sure when you are organising and planning your day that you have some time to hang out with friends, or to do something you love. Your academics should fit around your life, not become your life! Even in my busiest days at university, I always make sure that I schedule an hour to have dinner with friends, an hour to go for a coffee and get some fresh air, and some time in the evening to watch some TV and wind down.

Relax

Sometimes we can’t do everything - and that’s ok! Learning how to prioritise responsibilities and to manage your calendar is a skill that you will hone and develop throughout your exam years, university, and even into your working life. Don’t beat yourself up because you missed something, or if hanging out with friends after school ate into your ‘essay time’. Learning to manage stress and juggle responsibilities is what school and sixth form are there for, and are skills that your GCSEs and A Levels teach you along with all the content you learn.

Thanks for reading; I hope you found my time management tips useful. Good luck, and happy studying!

If you’d like some more tips - contact us, we look forward to hearing from you!

Or if you fancy saving some time on your maths revision, download the EasyA app now!

Hi everyone, it’s Robyn from EasyA here. As I’ve been going through my postgraduate degree this past year, I have found that certain things have definitely helped me feel more motivated when studying. You can check out our blog post on motivation and procrastination on our website for more details. For this post, I want to share with you some ways you can make sure your study area or desk space keeps you motivated to study and helps the time you spend there feel less negative and daunting.

DO: If you can, have your desk facing a window

This first tip is actually a very simple one, but of course, only do it if you have the space and means for it. I used to have my desk facing a wall at the opposite side of my room, and though this enabled me to create revision posters to stick to the wall in front of my desk, it started to feel a bit like a prison cell. Now, I’ve moved my desk to overlook my window so the (rare) sunshine can flow in and brighten up my study time! (Literally!)

DON’T: Flood your study space with too much information

Now, I know this tip will not be for everyone, especially if you revise better with posters and resources all around you. Since moving my desk over to my window, I don’t have the space to stick posters up and I think this has worked better for me. With a huge amount of information, it can bring the feeling of being overwhelmed and therefore students will dread entering their study area. If you are someone who needs resources like posters, keep the amount you create limited and also keep them in areas where you know you will constantly be looking or passing by and will be more likely to see.

DO: Keep something unrelated to education in your study space

This is something I have always made sure to do. If you have an item that is completely unrelated to education and studying, you gain space away from reminders of exams and coursework, to breathe and smile. This item could be a photo of your family or you with a close friend. It could even be a model of a fictional character you love or just something that represents a memory you hold dear that you can’t help smiling at. If you keep something like this on your desk, it can make the whole experience of studying much more positive. Personally, I would alsos limit these items to just one or two on your desk/study space as too many could end up distracting you from the real purpose of why they are there: to make you snile and give an extra push of motivation.

DON’T: clutter your desk with too many things

There is a reason you have this study space - to study. You need the room to actually go about doing this and not over-clutter your desk with notebooks and stationary. Try to keep everything organised in containers so you know where everything is and don’t get panicked when you can’t find a particular book for an exam you have next week for example. Have one container for your stationary (i.e. rulers, flashcards, post-its, staplers, highlighters, etc), another for pens and pencils, and another area to keep subject books and files

DO: keep a to do list in sight

Something I have found incredibly useful as a student - as well as for work - is to create daily or weekly to do lists and keep them at my desk in plain sight - somewhere I am likely to look many times and remind myself of the things I have to do. This is such a good habit to get into if you want to improve your productivity and time management, and if you keep it in your study area/desk space where all of your important work and education resources are, you will more likely be able to remember your tasks and get everything done.

I hope these tips have been helpful, whether you already have your study space but need advice on how to keep it organised or you’re starting your GCSEs and don’t know how to create an area that actually motivates you and makes studying at least a little bit less stressful.

Please don’t forget to download the EasyA app if you need one-to-one support with maths-related questions (more subjects coming soon!) and share your own advice on study spaces with your fellow students!

Good luck!

As we head into August, the start of the next school year is lurking just around the corner, and you might be starting to get ready to start your next academic year. Here are some tips and tricks to help you start the school year on the best foot possible.

Organisation

An organised student is a good student, and to really make sure that you are starting the school year in the best way possible, organisation is key.

There are loads of ways to up your organisation game, so I’ll list a few top tops here:

• Set some time aside in the evening to make sure that your bag is packed with everything you need for the next day
• Get a diary or a notebook that you dedicate to writing your homework down in, so you never forget an assignment or test again
• Get your uniform or clothes out the night before - no more panic searching for socks or your tie at 7am!
• Stick with me here - but you need a tidy room. I don’t want to seem like I’m pestering you, but a tidy room is a tidy mind (as the old saying goes…) and by keeping your space organised, you will find that you become more organised in a sort of organisation-osmosis way…

Timetabling

Following on from organisation, making sure that you organise your time is just as important. Create a timetable of all your classes, when they are, and where they are, and stick this somewhere you will be able to access during the whole day. It could be on the back of your phone case (if you are allowed phones at school), or inside your planner or folder. This will ensure that you are on time to classes, and that you keep track of your assignments and what you need to bring with you to school the next day!

You could also create a timetable or calendar for when you are at home. Split a piece of paper or a document into sections and add in the times you are at school or doing an extracurricular activity. Make sure your timetable is placed somewhere visible so you never forget anything and can stay on time - maybe on the back of your bedroom door, or on the wall near your desk. Don’t forget to block in time to do your homework, and time to do things you love, or even just time to sit on your bed and scroll through TikTok…

Positive mindset and good mental health

The biggest tip I have for starting the school year on a good foot is to have a positive mindset. This means looking after your mental health, and ensuring that you care just as much for your physical and mental health. If your leg hurts, you would rest it, so you should apply this attitude to your mental wellbeing too!

Make sure you get enough sleep, and schedule time to do the things you love - don’t let school work and academia overwhelm you. Try to get 8 hours of sleep per night, and allow yourself to have a break in the evening. You could go to an extracurricular club, or watch some TV, or read a book that has nothing to do with school. This way you won’t burn out and find yourself becoming bored or annoyed with school - life is all about balance!

You could make sure that you are spending time with family and friends, or doing something you find relaxing. Getting enough exercise can be a great way to destress and to get away from your screen for an hour or two, and you could even exercise with friends to make it a social event too!

Keep on top of your work

Staying on top of your work is vital to having a great year at school. Be sure to complete all your homework on time - it is a helpful rule to have to try and get your homework done the night it is set if you can. This means that the work never seems to just pile up into an unmanageable heap of algebra and Shakespeare essays…

If you were set pre-reading, or work to do over the summer, be sure to complete this before you go back. Starting on the right foot academically will help everything else fall into place as you go into a new year.

Or if you find a concept tricky, go through it after school and really try to understand it. This will ensure that you don’t fall behind, and you can keep up with all the new information your teachers will be throwing at you! If you are struggling with maths, download the EasyA app to be matched up with one of our brilliant tutors for help with your homework or anything you are struggling with.

I hope that these tips helped, and that you have the best school year you can! Be sure to check out the other posts on the EasyA blog, and to download the EasyA app. Get in touch with us if you have any more questions - we look forward to hearing from you!

As we head into August, the start of the next school year is lurking just around the corner, and you might be starting to get ready to start your next academic year. Here are some tips and tricks to help you start the school year on the best foot possible.

Organisation

An organised student is a good student, and to really make sure that you are starting the school year in the best way possible, organisation is key.

There are loads of ways to up your organisation game, so I’ll list a few top tops here:

• Set some time aside in the evening to make sure that your bag is packed with everything you need for the next day
• Get a diary or a notebook that you dedicate to writing your homework down in, so you never forget an assignment or test again
• Get your uniform or clothes out the night before - no more panic searching for socks or your tie at 7am!
• Stick with me here - but you need a tidy room. I don’t want to seem like I’m pestering you, but a tidy room is a tidy mind (as the old saying goes…) and by keeping your space organised, you will find that you become more organised in a sort of organisation-osmosis way…

Timetabling

Following on from organisation, making sure that you organise your time is just as important. Create a timetable of all your classes, when they are, and where they are, and stick this somewhere you will be able to access during the whole day. It could be on the back of your phone case (if you are allowed phones at school), or inside your planner or folder. This will ensure that you are on time to classes, and that you keep track of your assignments and what you need to bring with you to school the next day!

You could also create a timetable or calendar for when you are at home. Split a piece of paper or a document into sections and add in the times you are at school or doing an extracurricular activity. Make sure your timetable is placed somewhere visible so you never forget anything and can stay on time - maybe on the back of your bedroom door, or on the wall near your desk. Don’t forget to block in time to do your homework, and time to do things you love, or even just time to sit on your bed and scroll through TikTok…

Positive mindset and good mental health

The biggest tip I have for starting the school year on a good foot is to have a positive mindset. This means looking after your mental health, and ensuring that you care just as much for your physical and mental health. If your leg hurts, you would rest it, so you should apply this attitude to your mental wellbeing too!

Make sure you get enough sleep, and schedule time to do the things you love - don’t let school work and academia overwhelm you. Try to get 8 hours of sleep per night, and allow yourself to have a break in the evening. You could go to an extracurricular club, or watch some TV, or read a book that has nothing to do with school. This way you won’t burn out and find yourself becoming bored or annoyed with school - life is all about balance!

You could make sure that you are spending time with family and friends, or doing something you find relaxing. Getting enough exercise can be a great way to destress and to get away from your screen for an hour or two, and you could even exercise with friends to make it a social event too!

Keep on top of your work

Staying on top of your work is vital to having a great year at school. Be sure to complete all your homework on time - it is a helpful rule to have to try and get your homework done the night it is set if you can. This means that the work never seems to just pile up into an unmanageable heap of algebra and Shakespeare essays…

If you were set pre-reading, or work to do over the summer, be sure to complete this before you go back. Starting on the right foot academically will help everything else fall into place as you go into a new year.

Or if you find a concept tricky, go through it after school and really try to understand it. This will ensure that you don’t fall behind, and you can keep up with all the new information your teachers will be throwing at you! If you are struggling with maths, download the EasyA app to be matched up with one of our brilliant tutors for help with your homework or anything you are struggling with.

I hope that these tips helped, and that you have the best school year you can! Be sure to check out the other posts on the EasyA blog, and to download the EasyA app. Get in touch with us if you have any more questions - we look forward to hearing from you!