Guides
The answers, written out properly
Every guide leads with a direct answer, then explains it. No sign-up wall, no “contact us for more”, no padding to hit a word count.
Dissertation
- 8 min read
How to write a dissertation abstract (with examples)
A dissertation abstract is a 250–300 word standalone summary containing six elements: the problem, the aim, the method, the key findings stated with actual results, the implications, and the main limitation.
Updated August 2026
- 7 min read
How to write a dissertation conclusion
A dissertation conclusion answers your research question directly in the first sentence, then covers five things: the answer, the contribution, the implications for practice or policy, the limitations, and specific directions for future research.
Updated August 2026
- 9 min read
How to structure a literature review
A literature review is organised by theme, not by source.
Updated August 2026
- 10 min read
How to choose a dissertation topic you can actually finish
A dissertation topic must pass four tests: the question is narrow enough to answer in your word count, the data is genuinely accessible to you, the method is one you can actually execute, and enough literature exists to build an argument on.
Updated January 2027
- 9 min read
Writing a research proposal: structure and worked example
A research proposal states what you will investigate, why it matters, what is already known, how you will find out, and whether you can actually do it.
Updated January 2027
- 8 min read
Psychology dissertation topics that pass ethics
A viable undergraduate psychology dissertation topic avoids clinical populations, deception, and anything requiring diagnosis or distress induction — those routes need approvals an undergraduate timeline cannot absorb.
Updated January 2027
- 9 min read
How to write a methodology chapter
A methodology chapter explains what you did and, more importantly, why that was the right way to answer your question.
Updated January 2027
Writing
- 10 min read
Reflective writing: how to do it properly
Reflective writing analyses your own experience against theory to change your future practice.
Updated August 2026
- 9 min read
Essay structure: how to build an argument
A university essay is built on an arguable thesis statement, supported by paragraphs that each advance one claim through a topic sentence, evidence, analysis and a link.
Updated August 2026
- 7 min read
Personal essay topics, and how to write one that is not a diary
A personal essay uses one specific experience to make a point that matters beyond you.
Updated September 2026
- 6 min read
Is this sentence grammatically correct? How to check your own writing
To check whether a sentence is grammatically correct, test four things: that it has a subject and a main verb, that the subject and verb agree in number, that every clause is either joined properly or separated into its own sentence, and that each pronoun clearly refers to one specific noun.
Updated September 2026
- 6 min read
Adviser or advisor? 30 spellings students get wrong
Both 'adviser' and 'advisor' are correct.
Updated October 2026
Career
- 8 min read
How to write a CV in the UK
A UK CV is a maximum of two pages with no photograph, no date of birth and no marital status.
Updated August 2026
- 6 min read
How to write a character reference
A character reference states your relationship to the person and how long you have known them, gives two or three specific evidenced examples of the relevant quality, makes a plain recommendation, and provides your contact details.
Updated August 2026
Business
- 9 min read
How to write a PESTEL analysis (with an Apple example)
A PESTEL analysis examines six external forces — Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal — that shape an organisation's operating environment.
Updated August 2026
- 10 min read
How to write a case study analysis
A case study analysis identifies the decision the protagonist actually faces, analyses the situation with two or three frameworks applied properly, and reaches one specific recommendation with a cost, an owner, a timeline and a named risk.
Updated November 2026
Study skills
- 7 min read
Debate topics that actually produce a debate
A good debate topic is one where a reasonable, well-informed person could genuinely argue either side.
Updated September 2026
- 7 min read
Speech topics, and how to pick one that works
The best speech topic sits where three things overlap: something you genuinely care about, something your audience has a reason to hear, and something narrow enough to cover properly in the time you have.
Updated September 2026
- 8 min read
The first six weeks: a study system that survives the semester
Set up four things in your first six weeks and the rest of the semester becomes manageable: one note system you actually use, a reading method that produces notes rather than highlights, a reference manager started before your first essay rather than during it, and a calendar containing every assessment deadline in the module handbooks.
Updated September 2026
- 6 min read
How to balance chemical equations
To balance a chemical equation, adjust only the coefficients in front of each formula — never the subscripts, because those define the substance.
Updated November 2026
- 6 min read
What is a specialised cell? Structure, function and examples
A specialised cell is one that has developed a structure suited to a particular function, through differentiation — the process by which an unspecialised stem cell switches on some genes and switches off others.
Updated November 2026
- 10 min read
How to revise for university exams, according to the evidence
The two techniques with the strongest evidence are retrieval practice — testing yourself rather than reviewing notes — and spacing that testing across days instead of massing it.
Updated December 2026
- 6 min read
Should homework be banned? What the evidence says on both sides
The evidence splits by age.
Updated December 2026
Referencing
- 9 min read
Which Harvard does your university actually use?
There is no single Harvard style.
Updated September 2026
- 7 min read
APA 7: everything that changed from APA 6
APA 7 removed the publisher location, raised the author limit in reference lists from seven to twenty, moved to 'et al.' from the third author onward in every in-text citation, formats DOIs as full https://doi.org/ links without a 'doi:' label, dropped 'Retrieved from' before URLs, and endorses singular 'they'.
Updated September 2026
- 8 min read
Citing clinical guidelines, NICE and drug formularies
Clinical guidelines are referenced with the issuing organisation as the author, not an individual.
Updated October 2026
- 9 min read
OSCOLA footnotes: ibid, short forms and pinpoints
Use ibid only when the footnote immediately before cites the same source — never after an intervening citation.
Updated November 2026
- 8 min read
Notes–bibliography or author–date? Picking your Chicago system
Chicago offers two systems.
Updated December 2026
- 7 min read
The referencing mistakes that cost the most marks
The four referencing errors that cost the most marks are: paraphrased ideas with no citation, in-text citations that do not match the reference list, mixing Harvard variants within one document, and citing sources you have not read.
Updated August 2026
Subject skills
- 10 min read
How to write a nursing reflective essay
A nursing reflective essay analyses a clinical decision against evidence and professional standards, using a model such as Gibbs' cycle as its structure.
Updated October 2026
- 9 min read
IRAC and ILAC: how to answer a law problem question
IRAC structures a legal answer as Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion — repeated separately for each legal issue the facts raise.
Updated October 2026