The Study Sessions Podcast

There’s something about sugary, or creamy, or fried that screams 'treat'. Well, it does to my mind. There are those for whom a crunchy carrot baton and organic hummus are a reward. For most of us, though, I suspect we’d walk blinkered past a quinoa and courgette tray...

They say that around 80% of new years resolutions will fail by mid-Feb. That’s an awful lot of promises to revise harder for students and “I’ll stay stress-free” for parents that will have fallen by the wayside. But these things are important to see through. So just...

For most of us, a successful week of revision comes from us not having to nag or coerce our children – well not too much at least. The idea that there could be some symbiotic relationship, where parent and child actually grow and thrive throughout all of this might...

There’s not a parent amongst us who doesn’t want their child to do well. After all, them doing well gives them more options. It will raise their self-esteem and confidence. And often, from our point of view, it’s what we know they are truly capable of…. But is there a...

As we ring in the new year, we’re often symbolically determined to make a fresh start. For thousands of students, there’s renewed vigour – if not enthusiasm – to revise. And a correlated number of parents who are promising to make sure that they do. But you can’t...

The end of term reports are in. In many households, this can hold more sway over Christmas harmony than Santa’s naughty and nice lists. But are we right to put so much store in them? By which I mean the predicted grades not Santa's lists, obviously. In the episode,...

This week's guest is teen, Emily. She's taking her GCSE exams in 2022. She talks openly about motivation (or lack of)  even though she knows the exams are important. She also explains why she wouldn't mind if exams were cancelled. It's great to have a teen...

We’ve all done that thing of saying or doing something to our children we promised our younger selves we would never say or do. It’s the gradual but undeniable transformation into our own parents. But is that such a bad thing? After all, doesn’t it come from a place...

It’s been quite a while since many of us have taken an exam. So, it’s understandable that we might have forgotten some of the best practices. To be honest I suspect a number of us may not have been especially au fait with those best practices at the time either. That...

Parenting can be a thankless task at times. Sure there are great bits to it, and on balance we wouldn’t be without them. Well, not all of us, and not all of the time. But there are aspects of the role that can be unwelcomed. The disciplinarian or enforcer role. The...

Our guest this week is Darren. He's dad to two teens: a girl who is in the first year of A Levels and a boy sitting GCSEs in 2022. Darren talks about his experiences of supporting teens when they live half the time with him, half the time with his ex-wife. We cover...

Jenny is mum to two teen girls. One is taking her GCSEs in 2022 and the other the following year. Both are incredibly sporty and keep Jenny and her husband busy with matches and practices in addition to the usual teen activities. We talk about how to manage hectic...