Recent Articles
UK and US University Applications: The Key Differences
An increasing number of UK students are looking to the US for undergraduate study, and it’s not hard to see why. The experience of living and studying abroad can be life-changing, and with so many of the world’s top universities located in the US – and no language barrier – it’s naturally an attractive place...
12 Different Styles of Writing and How to Write Them Well
Being a good all-round writer means mastering a host of different skills. Most people can manage a couple of different types of writing well, but struggle when it comes to others; perhaps they have the ready humour and sense of timing that’s required for a good speech, but can’t organise their thoughts coherently enough for...
Why Go on a Summer School?
Image Copyright Oxford Royale 2013 – All Rights Reserved Any bright and conscientious student strives to do well at school and in their exams, but it can sometimes be difficult to know what to do to set yourself apart from the crowd. This is particularly true of the fiercely competitive world of university applications, when...
How to Write a Great Essay for Different A-Level Subjects
In previous articles, we’ve given you lots of advice on how to write the perfect essay. However, the skills we’ve discussed up to now have been generic, and have not taken into account the fact that different subjects require different skills when it comes to writing excellent essays for them. In this article, we look ...
Subjects You Are Ruling Out with your GCSE and A-level Options
Making the right choice of GCSEs and A-levels is essential, but it’s rarely an easy decision. To make your decision even harder, you ideally need to be thinking years ahead to what you want to study at university. Some subjects open doors, and by not taking them, you could be limiting your options. If you’re ...
Why Should I Learn English? 10 Compelling Reasons
English has been described as “the language of opportunity”, and by the time you get to the end of this article, we’re pretty sure you’ll agree. If you’re currently in the throes of trying to pick a language to study at school, or you fancy taking on a new language in your spare time, we’re ...
A Brief History of The English Summer Holiday
The history of summer holidays is clouded with myths. One popular idea is that school children have a long summer holiday (six weeks for most pupils in the UK) so that they could help work in the fields over the summer. But the current school system was developed over the course of the 19th century...
8 Trends That Will Matter to Your School-Age Children
The headlines are full of often startling statistics about the state of the graduate job market, tuition fees and other issues affecting the students of today. This may have led you to believe that the prospect of your child securing a job when they leave university are bleak, that they will be competing with dozens...
25 English Expressions You Might Encounter (But Which Now Seem Out Of Date)
Textbooks often contain relics of bygone expressions. It’s tricky to write a textbook targeted at teenagers. The basic curriculum might not have changed in five or ten years, but whether you should have your cartoon teens say “wicked”, “awesome” or “sick” definitely will have done. But this isn’t just about the rapid evolution of teen ...