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Starting university is a big change - it can feel like a step up from college and high school. Living away from home for the first time can feel quite daunting, along with the pressure of meeting new friends and tackling a new way of learning. No need to worry - we’re here to give you our top tips for starting university on the right foot. Let’s break it down…

Explore your campus and local city

Living away from home can be intimidating. In the first few days, you’ll have fewer commitments and classes scheduled. Take advantage of your free time and get to know your campus. Invite your flatmates on a walk around campus and get familiar with the grounds. Find out where your classes will be in advance so you don’t get lost on your first day. Go on a shopping trip or bar crawl in your local town centre. Getting to know your local area will boost your confidence and help your university feel like a home away from home.

Take control of your education from the get-go

University differs from high school and college in many ways, but a key difference is how you are taught and expected to learn. There are no longer teachers planning out revision sessions for you, or chasing you up to do your homework on time. Your learning becomes your responsibility - and yours alone.

You’re likely to have fewer contact hours and face to face classes - but that doesn’t mean the learning stops there. You’ll be expected to study in your own time, for both future exams and coursework. It’s entirely up to you what, when and where you study. Get yourself into a routine early - make sure you have the necessary books and stationery, and find out what works best for you. Maybe you’re a night owl and prefer working from home late at night, or maybe you’ll prefer to study with friends in the library between lectures. Either way - the earlier you can find your feet and establish your own studying routine, the better.

Put yourself out there

University isn’t just about education. It’s about the experiences you have and the friends you make throughout your course. Take advantage of freshers week - get to know your flatmates, coursemates and neighbouring flats and sign up for societies. In the first year, everybody is in the same boat and eager to make friends. Trying new hobbies and meeting new people is a great way to find your feet at university and make memories that you’ll treasure forever.

Get to know your department

Getting to know your subject department is a great way to make meaningful connections in your chosen field. Having a good relationship with your lecturers also means you’ll feel more comfortable asking for help if you’re struggling with a particular piece of work, or need advice in future. Don’t be afraid to take advantage of your lecturer’s office hours, or to take on volunteer or work opportunities within your department. It’s a wonderful way to feel at home within your subject department.

Those are our top four tips for starting university on the right foot. It’s good to be prepared! For anyone starting university in 2021, we wish you the best of luck! We hope you have a wonderful university experience and make some amazing memories.

About HYBR

HYBR is a Bristol-based student accommodation platform that cares. HYBR connects students directly to private landlords and supports tenants throughout their rental journey.

HYBR was founded by two university students, keen to disrupt an outdated and inefficient rental system that has taken advantage of students for countless years.

Get in touch with their customer service team), let them know your budget, how many people you want to live with and your preferred location and they will send you a list of options to review based on your criteria. The HYBR team will support you throughout the process.

I’d be lying if I said procrastination hasn’t been a long-term enemy for me, especially when it comes to studying but, over the years I’ve found different ways to tackle procrastination. Here’s my top tips for avoiding procrastination whether you’re at school, college, sixth-form or university.

What is procrastination?

Procrastination is defined as, ‘the act of postponing or delaying something’. This, of course, is less than ideal when it comes to studying, especially in the run up to exams. Maintaining motivation and pushing procrastination can be the golden ticket to exam success but it’s easier said than done.

Whether you consider yourself a procrastinator or not, over the course of your studies there will undoubtedly be times where procrastination tries to take over. And, when you inadvertently find yourself at procrastination station, it can seem almost impossible to re-motivate yourself and finish that past-paper or write those revision notes.

Why do we procrastinate?

In order to work out how best to combat procrastination, it is important to understand why we procrastinate in the first place.

Whilst there is much debate over why we procrastinate, there is a general consensus that people often procrastinate because they're afraid of failing at the tasks that they need to complete. A fear of failure can be due to many things including a lack of confidence, the weight of expectation and overthinking the consequences. So, even though your parents may accuse you of laziness, when it comes to procrastination this is almost always not the case!

This fear of failure can promote procrastination in various ways, whether that’s preventing you from finishing a task that you’ve started or stopping you from getting started on a task in the first place.

There are also certain things that can heighten procrastination, the biggest of them all being stress. So it’s unsurprising that exam season really brings out your procrastination abilities, even if most of the time you’re not prone to it.

How can we fight procrastination?

Avoiding procrastination is almost impossible but there are steps we can take to fight it and many of these steps can be taken before procrastination even arrives. Here are my top 10 tips:

1. Break down the task in hand

We often procrastinate because we find our workload overwhelming. Breaking it down and setting smaller targets will help ease this overwhelming feeling. So instead of trying to tackle a whole past paper, take it one double page spread at a time. If you still procrastinate on the task after breaking it down, then break it down even further.

2.Use a checklist

A checklist is such a great and simple way to structure your revision. It can help you to break down your tasks as well as managing your time and the gratification of crossing something off a checklist can sometimes provide the motivation to move onto the next task (it’s the little things!)

3. Tell someone else about your goals

This doesn’t have to be an intense conversation about your life goals, just simply telling a parent, sibling or friend what you hope to accomplish in a morning or afternoon will do the job. Knowing that you’ve told someone else makes you feel more accountable for reaching those goals. Sometimes getting a parent to ask whether you finished what you’d set out to at the end of the day can give you that extra push.

4. Take a break

Little and often is the key here. Our concentration span, especially on difficult tasks, is a lot shorter than you’d expect. Make sure you’re taking regular scheduled breaks, there’s no golden rule for how many breaks and how long they should be for but it will be useful to try out a few methods and see what suits you best. Leaving your place of study on your breaks will help, whether that’s just moving to a different room or walking around for a bit. Remember, your brain will still be processing what you’re revising or working on so don't beat yourself up about taking a break!

5. Eliminate distractions

Far easier said than done but this really is essential, especially for the pro-procrastinators. Your phone is not your friend when it comes to revision so do whatever’s necessary to keep yourself away from it. Turn it off, put it in a different room, lock it away or even give it to a friend or family member to hold hostage. Trust me, it will be for the best and if you’re taking enough breaks you shouldn’t feel it’s absence too much!

6. Use incentives

Treat yourself! The thought of a reward might be just what you need to get a task started or finished. Obviously all rewards should be in moderation, but choose something that will make an impact. Anything from 10 mins on your phone to your favourite snack, whatever works for you!

7. Speak to someone who’s already achieved those goals

It might not come as much comfort to know that you are far from the first to take a trip to procrastination station in the run up to your exams. But, some reassuring words from someone who’s been there and has been able to push through could be just what you need to hear. Knowing that you’re not alone and picking up some tips, speaking to an older sibling or peer is definitely worthwhile.

8. Change up your environment

Associating revision or work with one space can be beneficial but not when you start associating that space with procrastination. Move rooms in your house if you can or venture out and try a public library or cafe. Sometimes a change of environment = a change of mindset!

9. Set yourself deadlines

Deadlines can be scary but if you’ve broken down your task and set yourself a checklist then they should feel more achievable. Giving yourself a healthy dose of time pressure can demand concentration.

10. Positive procrastination?

Whilst you might struggle to convince your parents that this is the case, it has been proven that procrastination can in fact be beneficial. Productive procrastination is the key here. It involves familiarising yourself with a task and then getting distracted for a while. Crazy as it may sound, your brain is processing the information and potential solutions to the task whilst you’re busy occupying yourself with procrastinatory tasks. This is most helpful when you’ve hit a wall as taking some time away and allowing your brain to mull over things will probably lead to a higher quality of work when you do manage to bring yourself back to the task.

We hope you found this ‘avoiding procrastination’ blog helpful. If you have any further questions about procrastination or EasyA’s on-demand tutoring, please do get in touch. We look forward to helping you excel.

Learn how to work smarter with these tips to help you stay organised so you can get those top grades in your exams!

Get a planner

Some schools might provide you with a planner to write all your homework down in, and having a planner is the key to being organised, so don’t just shove this in your blazer pocket, never to be seen again!

If school don’t give you a planner, go out and buy one - it doesn’t have to be fancy (although there are some lovely fancy ones with all sorts of features like mood trackers in them!).

Once you have your planner, make it a habit to use it. Write down meetings, assignments, trips, deadlines, exams, even birthdays! This way you will always remember to write everything down and to check it to stay on top of all your plans and responsibilities.

It seems pretty old school, but I find having a physical planner where you write things down to be so much more helpful than using an app or the digital planner on your phone.

Timetabling

Making sure that you organise your time is just as important as being physically organised. 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…

Clear that bag out

We all know what its like when you are rushing to get on the bus, or to catch up with some friends after class. You just throw all your things into the bag, never to be seen again!

Before the next school year begins, sit down and tip your school bag out - I mean give it a really good shake out, and maybe even pop it in the washing machine. Sort out all of the rubbish, and keep things you need - you might even find last year’s maths homework lurking at the bottom somewhere.

Once you’ve done this, you can start to organise your bag and keep it tidy again. Buy yourself a folder for all of your spare papers, they are quite cheap and really handy for keeping your papers uncrumpled and in one place, so you never have to use the ‘dog ate my homework’ excuse again. You could also get little bags to keep random bits and bobs that you might need in, so that nothing is rattling around in the abyss at the bottom of your rucksack…

Put pens back into the pencil case, and try to keep things tidy for the rest of the year! You could do this once every half-term to make sure nothing gets lost and forgotten about until next September!

Organise by class

There is nothing worse than sitting down at your desk for a lesson, only to pull out the exercise book for the wrong subject! Having a way of distinguishing your books, whether it is a sticker in the top corner, or different colours for different subjects is a great way to stay organised.

You could also get some cheap folders from your local stationary shop, and use these to separate your revision or any spare sheets of paper you have - never lose a piece of paper again!

Digital organisation

With more and more people spending their lives on their computers, making sure that you are organised digitally is becoming increasingly vital, especially with schools moving online this past year and more schools using online learning platforms.

Make sure that you name all your documents something sensible, and that will help you to find it when you come back to look for it. For example, calling every document for Macbeth ‘macbeth.doc’ will only confuse you later on!

You could split each subject into its own folder, and then even organise further by splitting these into subtopics. So for English this could be Literature versus Language, or Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, in Science. Once you’ve done this, you will find that everything is easier to access, and easier to revise from later down the line.

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 for more tips and tricks on keeping organised, revising, and time-management.

Get in touch with us if you have any more questions - we look forward to hearing from you!

Studying for exams? Create your own revision guide!

Hi everyone, I’m Robyn, a postgrad student doing International Business at the University of Liverpool. Here, I’m going to talk about an effective way to study for exams that could be very beneficial for you. They are pretty easy to do and you might have fun and end up being quite creative with it.

This method of studying is one that I have found to be very helpful during university, particularly in my undergrad degree. It is a great way to compile all of the subject resources you have into one document, which is amazing because as students, we may not have the tidiest of rooms and end up losing important files or paperwork. It also means that you won’t have to repetitively go over those twenty monotonous lecture videos again closer to exam time.

Personally, as I was studying for my maths GCSE, I wasn’t able to understand the process of answering questions as portrayed in published revision guides but I didn’t really entertain the idea of creating my own until completing my degree.

Here, I want to take you through the process of creating your own revision guide from the educational resources available to you.

Step 1: Find a good sized notebook.

You don’t need anything particularly fancy for this method, just a notebook that’s got enough pages for everything you want to include inside. Mine are also B5 size so I can easily put them in my bag to revise on-the-go. Make sure your chosen notebook is ideal for you, for example if you want lined, graph or blank paper.

Step 2: Find some coloured pens (optional)

This is not really a necessary step but something to do if you want to make your revision guides creative and colourful. Some students study better when there is a bit more excitement to it (and no, I do not mean the panic of last-minute studying!), and adding colour and even small fun diagrams/pictures in your guides could make the process more positive.

Step 3: Accumulate all available revision resources

This is a key step in creating the guides. Be it online videos, PowerPoint presentations or other books, you can use them to help you in adding to the contents of the revision guide. Another great way to add to your resources if your lessons are now face-to-face again is to ask if you can record lessons, for example with a dictaphone or a mobile phone. For maths revision guides, you could even include the help you receive from your tutoring sessions on the EasyA app!

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Step 4: Begin adding to the contents of the revision guide

Now that you have all of your resources and everything needed to get started, you can begin adding to your revision guide. If you choose to write in coloured pens, switch up the colour each time the topic/PowerPoint slide changes. This will help you to differentiate between what is included in each point (which is definitely helpful for written subjects like English). You may find that including any possible exam questions for each topic helpful to add for each chapter of your revision guide. For example, note down on a page a question you find from a past paper and use the mark scheme to help you answer it directly in the guide - this will help you (and your future self) to understand how to do the question and others that might relate to it.

Optional final step: Add markers to show where certain topics begin

You may find that creating a contents page can be difficult as you don’t know how many pages you would need to make one. I would suggest that instead of this, you could use small sticky notes (or post-its) to stick to the top corner of the pages you begin the new topic on and write the name of this new topic on it. If they don’t stick too well to the paper, put some sellotape over it to keep it in place.

Once you have done all of these steps, you are on your way to having your own handy revision guide for your exam preparation. I definitely recommend this method for studying - it helped me get very high scores in my university exams so I hope it helps you do the same. Make sure to tag us on social media with your own revision creations and share this method with your friends. Don’t forget to check out our other blogs and contact us for any more tips!

You can also download the EasyA app for more one-to-one tutoring on specific maths questions.

Good luck!

Sometimes it doesn’t matter how long you spend studying, you just don’t seem to be making any progress. Your study habits just simply aren’t cutting it and you’re starting to mildly (or majorly) panic that you won’t be exam ready in time for summer.

It’s fairly normal to struggle with studying and more often than not, it takes a bit of time to ascertain what study methods work best for you so you can study most effectively.

But to get you started, here are a few ways you can study smarter not harder and spend less time being unproductive!

Aim to teach

A great way to see if you’ve retained and understood something is by asking yourself whether you’d be able to teach it to someone else. You practice this on your own by verbally recalling information you've just been revising or practicing. Trying to explain material in your own words will help you to figure out where you are confused and uncertain. Alternatively, you can turn to a friend, parent or sibling and take 5 minutes to see if you can teach them something.

Understand the study cycle

The Study Cycle was developed by Frank Christ and breaks down the different parts of studying: previewing, attending class, reviewing, studying and checking your understanding. Whilst this may seem overly simplistic, many students miss out stages (intentionally or unintentionally) and this can lead to holes in learning which become particularly noticeable when you start revision.

Be an active learner!

Reading is not studying! This is a very common misconception, especially when it comes to revision. Re-reading your notes from class is going to do very little on the ‘retaining information’ front. Re-writing notes is helpful but again limited if you’re copying word for word. Use writing your revision notes as an opportunity to test your memory… how much of a topic can you recall without looking at your notes. Testing is key across all subjects, test yourself at every opportunity, formally, informally, practice papers or text book questions, the more the better.

The calm before the storm

Beware of resting on your laurels. A week that seems ‘easy’ usually means that there’s a harder week coming up. And while it’s tempting to get a bit too comfortable in R&R mode when one such week arrives, see it as an opportunity. You could get started on those revision notes you wanted to write or get your notes organised or even squeeze in a cheeky past paper. Make sure you’re prepared for whatever follows the ‘easy week’ by not taking too much time off.

Get spaced out

One of the most successful learning strategies is ‘distributed practice’ which means spacing out your studying over several short periods of time over several days and weeks (Newport, 2007). The most impactful practice is to work just a short time on each subject every day. This will help you to learn the information on a deeper level and retain it much more successfully for the long term.

Sleep well and exercise

The importance of maintaining a healthy physical and mental state whilst your studying cannot be understated. Pulling all nighters is never a recommended course of action and for good reason, your brain needs time to rest not only so it can function properly but so it can process and digest the information it’s taken in during the day.

Multitasking is a no go

You might think it’s effective to try and absorb multiple kinds of information at once but trying to solve maths questions whilst listening to Shakespeare on an audio book will do you more harm than good. There are many studies to indicate that multitasking does not improve efficiency and actually negatively affects results.

Routine is your friend

Plan your week in advance, not only will this free up valuable brain capacity by removing the ‘where am I meant to be now?’ and ‘what am I meant to be doing?’ questions but it also allows you to get used to studying as part of your everyday life. Not only this, but a routine and a weekly plan will help you to distribute those study blocks evenly and make sure nothing is missed out.

The most important thing to remember is how to use your study time, not how long you study for.

We hope you found this ‘avoiding procrastination’ blog helpful. If you have any further questions about procrastination or EasyA’s on-demand tutoring, please do get in touch! We look forward to helping you excel.

My name is Aimee and I've just graduated from the University of Oxford with a degree in the Japanese and Korean languages. I also completed GCSE and A Level German back in my school days. Note taking for the humanities, especially the languages, can be very different compared to other humanities subjects or for STEM exams. Learning a foreign language at GCSE or A Level requires lots of grammar practice and memorizing a lot of new vocab! Today, I'll give you my top five tips for note taking, memorizing new words, and ultimately, acing your GCSE or A Level foreign language papers.

Separate notes by topic area

For GCSE foreign language papers, we can easily split note taking into two broad areas: notes on grammar, as well as vocabulary lists.

For your A Level exams, depending on your exam board, you'll be asked to talk about social issues and trends, as well as produce essays in your target language about films and books that you've read over the duration of your course.

In both GCSE and A Level examinations there are also spoken exams that require you to answer short questions and talk about a random topic. For GCSE level, these topics range from hobbies, school life and cultural questions, but for A Level the topics tend to me more complex, for example social issues in contemporary society.

It's useful to categorise your notes into these different areas so you can refer back to them easily when you need them! This includes having written notes for vocabulary. Though nowadays you can use an online dictionary to instantly find any vocabulary you need, having a key list of useful vocabulary for your exams is still imperative to learn for when you enter the exam hall and no longer have access to a dictionary.

Keeping notes on methods of translation may also be useful if you decide to pursue languages at university, but for GCSE and A Level examinations, there is less focus on learning how to make good translations and more emphasis on learning to communicate effectively in a foreign language.

Keep your notes neat

For languages it's especially important that you pay attention and jot down carefully any new grammar structures that you come across in class. Many of us tend to think that we will remember things we learnt in class, and so we don't jot it down. From my own experience, that method doesn't work out well, especially when it comes to language learning. Learning grammar takes time and focus, so having your notes written out neatly and in detail allows you to refer back to them at any time and with minimum hassle! Though, if you struggle to keep up when taking notes in class, then of course it's okay to jot notes down scruffily or in short-hand, but remember to write them up neatly once you get home or in the following days whilst the topic is still fresh in your memory. You'll be so grateful for having neat and tidy notes when it comes to revising!

Write key things out more than once

Though you don't need to write out every note you have for a subject over and over again, for languages, the more you practice new grammar and make up sentences yourself, the more likely the information will stick in your brain long-term.

Once you have your original notes organised and written out neatly, try practicing making your own sentences using grammar and vocabulary that you've learnt in class. However, these notes don't have to be super neat as they're just for practice and to improve your creativity, ability, and confidence in your target language!

Keep flashcards or use memorization apps

Old school flashcards are very beneficial for language learners, especially to drill in new grammar patterns and vocabulary! Though, these days there are lots of free websites and mobile apps that have pre-loaded vocabulary and grammar lists that you can use as a substitute for traditional flashcards. Most schools already encourage their students to use online study websites, so ask your teacher if they know any good websites for memorizing vocabulary and grammar needed for your exam. You can either go through these lists to check off what you've learnt already and what you still need to focus on, or you can make online flashcards and test your strong and weak points. Online flashcards and memorization apps also save you from having to physically write out long vocab lists onto flashcards which can eat into your revision time!

Write notes that complement the syllabus

Check out the syllabus for your course online to find a full list of skills and grammar points required to pass your course with a top grade! Exam bodies tend to provide you with a list of potential topics, vocabulary, as well as grammar points that may come up on the final exam. Grammar points that are not present in the syllabus won't come up on your exam. Whilst in the real world it might be useful to know how to say the same sentence in five different ways, for your exams just focus on the grammatical structures that you're required to know, and don't overcrowd your notes with too much extra information. There's already enough content you need to revise without adding extra and very niche grammar into the mix! Once you've revised and understood everything on the syllabus then you should feel confident that you have everything you need to score a top grade.

The takeaway

Taking notes for languages may be a little different compared to other subjects you're being examined on but taking the time to write your work out neatly and referring back to your notes regularly can be the difference between an average and outstanding grade!

If you want to find out more helpful study tips then check out some of EasyA's other handy blog posts or check out the EasyA app for maths help whenever and wherever you need it.