Free guides
Boost grades without the noise
When you are juggling mocks, deadlines, or a packed exam week, you do not need another vague “study harder” post. These guides spell out what tends to work under real pressure — sleep, practice, catching up — in plain language, with steps you can use the same day. Sources are cited if you want to check the thinking behind it. You can read everything here without creating an account.
- The week before exams: sleep, retrieval, and load — what the evidence actually saysSleep, retrieval, and cognitive load in the final week — what consolidation and testing research implies for a plan you can actually run when you are tired.~4 min read
- Past papers: retrieval practice, transfer, and interleaving — training the exam, not the feelingWhy timed, closed-book attempts beat infinite practice; marking as data; blocking vs interleaving (Rohrer & Taylor) before you mix.~3 min read
- When you are behind: cognitive load, prioritisation, and recoverable plans“Catch up everything” overloads working memory. Shrink tasks, triage wounds, reschedule honestly — so practice testing can actually happen.~3 min read
- Learn → test → retain: a loop grounded in retrieval, spacing, and self-regulationLearn → test → retain mapped onto Roediger, Cepeda, and Dunlosky — a loop for messy terms without pretending your calendar is static.~3 min read
- Degree apprentices: a realistic week when work and study both demand your calendarPaid shifts plus degree deadlines split attention. Calendar truth, protected retrieval slots, and load-aware triage — without pretending you have infinite evening hours.~2 min read
- After a bad mock: error taxonomy, spaced returns, and stopping the shame spiralTreat the mock as data: classify lost marks, drill the wound, space returns on weak types — retrieval and spacing research applied after a bad result.~2 min read
- Active recall: ten prompt patterns you can steal (retrieval without the app)Ten copy-paste prompt patterns for self-testing — definition, contrast, sequence, “why wrong”, exam command words — grounded in retrieval-practice research.~3 min read