7 Study Tips for High School Students That Actually Work
Rereading your notes feels productive but rarely sticks. These seven research-backed study habits help high schoolers remember more in less time, with less stress.
Most study advice you've heard — reread the chapter, highlight the important parts, make a pretty summary — feels productive but doesn't actually help you remember much. Here are seven techniques that are backed by research and don't take more time. They take less.
1. Test yourself instead of rereading
This is the big one. Every time you close the book and try to recall an answer, you strengthen the memory far more than rereading ever could. It's called active recall, and it's the single most effective study habit there is. Turn your notes into questions and quiz yourself.
2. Space out your studying
Cramming the night before works just long enough to fail you a week later. Spaced repetition — reviewing material a few times across several days — locks it in for the long term. Studying 20 minutes on four days beats two hours the night before.
3. Mix up your subjects
Studying one subject in a long block feels focused, but switching between related topics ("interleaving") actually helps your brain tell them apart and recall them better. Do a bit of biology, then some history, then back again.
4. Explain it out loud
If you can explain a concept simply — out loud, as if teaching someone — you understand it. If you get stuck, you've just found exactly what to review. This is sometimes called the "Feynman technique," and it works because explaining is retrieval.
5. Make it a game
You'll study more if studying doesn't feel like a chore. Turning your material into quizzes, flashcards, and matching games with a score attached makes review something you'll actually come back to — and coming back is what makes it stick.
6. Study in short, focused blocks
Your attention fades after about 25–30 minutes. Work in short blocks with real breaks instead of one endless session. You'll retain more and dread it less.
7. Sleep before the test, not your notes
Memory consolidates while you sleep. A full night's sleep before an exam does more for your recall than the extra hour of cramming you'd trade it for. Study earlier, sleep well.
The easy way to do all of this
The catch with active recall is making the questions in the first place. MugUp does it for you: type in any topic from class — "the French Revolution," "cell organelles," "Spanish vocabulary" — and it instantly builds quizzes, flashcards, and matching games. You keep a daily streak going and study the way that actually works, without the prep.
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The takeaway
Stop rereading. Test yourself, space it out, keep sessions short, and make it fun. These habits take less time than what you're probably doing now — and you'll remember far more of it.
Heading to university or a certification next? See how to study for CFA Level I.
Turn this into a game
Type a topic and MugUp's AI builds quizzes, flashcards, and matching games in seconds. Free to start.