Oxford Students' Study Tips
by students, for students

Learn Oxford students' top study tools, tips, and techniques with our unique ebook.
Designed for secondary school students and inspired by Coronavirus lockdown - but valuable for anyone, any time.
All proceeds support some of the poorest people in the world.
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book cover: 'Learn Better At Home: The Student Guide to Effective Self-Study'
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Why We Wrote This Book


We're all stuck at home, and this can make learning more challenging. That's why we wanted to help students out during this tough time. So we made a survey, got some responses, and then did it all again to learn a bit more. We discovered that students found it very difficult to learn effectively at home. Students are struggling to motivate themselves, set goals, and stay focused. And we couldn't find a comprehensive, in-depth, student-written book to address this...

For various reasons, we’ve all self-studied - a lot. And we realised we could share our experiences in an ebook: "Learn Better at Home: The Student Guide to Effective Self-Study". We're sharing key tools, tips, and methods for success in learning at home. Whether you want to succeed in your exams or teach yourself a new subject, this book is here to help.

We're running a 'Name Your Price' fundraiser, with all proceeds going to GiveDirectly. GiveDirectly has been ranked by independent charity evaluator GiveWell as a top charity for social impact, and at the time of writing has a particular focus on supporting some of those suffering most as a result of COVID-19. We would really appreciate any support you can provide. But, if you can't afford to pay for our book right now, you can read it for free (by selecting 0 in the order form at the bottom of this page).

What's In This Book?

We believe this is the world's first student-written ebook on self-study as a whole.
This book isn't just about habits, or motivation, or exams.
Instead, it aims to touch on all the main things you'll want to know.

Motivation, mindset, and goals

Learn more about these 3 key concepts, so you’re driven and ready to get started. Not just buzzwords, but stuff you can actually do!

Getting down to work

Learn how to get started, which might just be the hardest part of studying. Includes tips on routine, planning, habits, and more.

Work effectively

Discover the 5 stages of effective study, from Getting an Overview to Reviewing and Revising. We explain each one.

Quick tasks

We've created optional tasks, designed to be approachable and useful practice of what you've learned.

Subject-specific examples

We apply the 5 stages of effective study to English literature, maths & chemistry.

End-of-chapter summaries

For easy review, we've written detailed & concise summaries of every chapter.

Book Reviews

See what our readers are saying.
"This is a very impressive and innovative book. It is written with real student experience of the difficulties of motivation and self-study and the solutions it offers are compassionate, grounded and motivational. I also believe it is a fantastic tool for parents to reconnect with the struggles their child may be facing and most importantly understand what might really help them. An inspiring addition to a market that is too often remote and inaccessible to the real student dilemmas of independent study skills."
Ceri Ellis
SENCo, promoting neurodiversity and overseeing learning enrichment at Latymer Upper School, London (UK)
"This book was excellent! I love that you emphasise that readers don’t need to start at the beginning, and the chapter headings make it easy to work out where will be most helpful for each person, but at the same time, the structure of the book is so cumulative and useful that if someone has no experience at all of self-study, it builds them up to it really effectively! The quick tasks make sure information is consolidated, and the whole way through I really felt that the emphasis was on small steps to accomplish big tasks (the encouragement to go back to basics is something everyone needs to hear!), which is very motivating and makes sure the reader won’t give up.

The motivation hacks are really handy and the focus on understanding when you work best (and that it’s alright to have a break if you know you’re not doing your best) is a good way to build sustainable study habits. I also really like that you don’t emphasise resources except the internet — this makes it so accessible for people who might be put off by online study communities due to their obsession with equipment and stationery! All in all, I found it really enjoyable (the writing style is friendly and engaging, but never patronising), with plenty of helpful tips (including the subject-specific ones — I can vouch for the English tips working!) and a really good step-by-step approach to working by yourself. "
Caitlin Farrell
Year 13 Student, London (UK)
"An enjoyable and informative book. It is simple to navigate and filled with great tips to improve the nature, methods and efficiency of your study. Would highly recommend this book to all who wish to boost the efficacy of their learning."
Charlotte Fry
Year 12 Student, Kingston upon Thames (UK)
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Author Peter Wallich Author Scarlett Whelan
Author Tom Flatters Author Tejas Acharya

About Us

'Learn Better At Home' is written by four students at the University of Oxford, a university where study is often quite self-directed.

Peter (top left) is a 2nd-year undergrad studying PPE (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics). During secondary school, Peter decided he wanted to study more maths, so decided to pick up Further Maths A-level several months into the course and ended up teaching himself about 40% of the A-level. By figuring out ways to self-study effectively, he achieved an A* grade.

Scarlett (top right) is also a 2nd-year undergrad in PPE. Due to a variety of issues, both in her private life and connected with the teaching at her secondary school, she spent a lot of time working towards her GCSEs and A-levels without much support. But that didn't stop her from making it to Oxford, where she applies the study skills she learned to manage a heavy workload.

Tom (bottom left) is a 2nd-year undergrad studying Materials Science (a mashup of physics, chemistry, maths & engineering). He has invested a lot of time into taking online computer science courses and learning to write code effectively. Tom also taught himself Further and Additional Mathematics at GCSE, as well as some A-level topics / modules.

Tejas (bottom right) is a 2nd-year undergrad in Physics. He has enjoyed self-studying since high school, so much so that he quit school aged 16 and decided to teach himself instead. He taught himself all his A-levels, as well as similar AP exams. Tejas discovered at the last minute that he'd need an A* grade in Further Mathematics A-level to confirm his place at Oxford, so he studied the entire A-level in 2 months and made it!

You can contact us by email at hello@learnbetterathome.com.

A big thank you to Marketing Director Sophie Oestergaard and Graphic Designer Li Ho Kan for helping us make this book a reality.

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