Tim Dickinson Education

13/02/2026

Self replicating RNA! New research points to the origins of self replicating molecules at the dawn of life.

Great stuff!

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2515482-rna-strand-that-can-almost-self-replicate-may-be-key-to-lifes-origins/?fbclid=IwY2xjawP7-7FleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETBlQ3M5SVVwbkZuRVJMcGJ3c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHqTfy4-iSUiCM6tGzO2a6NAU13IfgASiO07s-gSB_1W2_sQzynXyl_N103gh_aem_oPKmu2zDX5W-PZpKewsqPQ

Life may have begun when RNA molecules began to replicate themselves, and now we’ve finally found an RNA molecule that is very close to being able to do this

05/01/2026

22 weeks to the 1st A level Biology Exam.

It will be here before we blink!

The good news is that there is still time to really make a BIG difference to the end result.

5 actions to make a difference:

1. Get motivated- visit the universities you're applying to. Online, in your head, in person. Motivation is key to the next few months. Stock up and keep topping up.

2. Get organised - You need a planner with every part of the syllabus allocated to a day. Leave nothing to chance. Here's one you can have for free for the OCR A specification. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GozVqZQ0CCibuUiWr3RQAvDqN1DkjJT8wBs9irDTWbM/edit?usp=sharing

3. Do the right sort of work.
i). Make flashcards. Revise the flashcards. Use quizlet or Anki app. Have it on your phone. Do flashcards in any 'tyre kicking' time - waiting for the bus, waiting for your mates to get out of lesson etc.
ii). Blurt. It's the magic. DON'T JUST READ THE BOOK OR WATCH YOUTUBES - YOU'RE WASTING YOUR TIME.
iii). Do the PPQs. Mark them. Better still, find a study buddy and mark each others. Learn to recognise how an answer can make sense to you but no sense to someone else!

4. Plan for bad days. A rainy afternoon in February is always going to feel more like a duvet day than a revision day. Have a plan of what to do when tempted to 'put it off 'til tomorrow'. Have a plan of how you're going to get 'back on the horse' if a test result isn't what you want. It'll happen. It happens to everyone. You need a plan to deal with predictable hiccups.

5. If you're a parent, granparent, aunty or guardian, you can help as well. Have a look at my previous posts. Not enough space here to go into this, but here's a link to a really useful resource: https://www.waterstones.com/book/a-parents-guide-to-the-science-of-learning/edward-watson/bradley-busch/9780367646615

Buy A Parent’s Guide to The Science of Learning by Edward Watson, Bradley Busch from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.

24/09/2025

How do you work with students on their mindset?

Firstly, understanding new information (rather than just parroting it) requires the ability (and permission) to take it apart and play with it.

To do that with confidence, a student needs to know that they’re not going to be judged by me, for – say – getting a fact wrong.

However! They are, obviously, going to be judged by the exam board, that being the entire point of exam boards.

So – mindset-wise, I’m aiming to keep the student relaxed while they’re learning, while staying aware of the need to demonstrate a full understanding when the time comes. It’s a tricky balance, but it can be done!

PS. These lovely videos were made for me by WordHound Ltd, and I happen to know for a fact that they’d be more than happy to make some for you too – so give Angela a shout!

05/09/2025

Do students know what they need?

The way I approach this question is by starting with the idea that students are all different. My job starts with getting to know each one.

This way, I can find out what they know they need, and what they don’t know they need – the relationship-building part helps with creating the trust that’ll be necessary to find these things out.

There may well be things they know they need; there will be things I know they need. My experience will be useful for the second part, and the trust we build will help with the first.

PS. These lovely videos were made for me by WordHound, and I happen to know for a fact that they’d be more than happy to make some for you too – so give Angela a shout!

01/09/2025

What's the student/tutor relationship like?

It’s far more like teamwork than what happens in a classroom setting. For one thing, it’s much easier to spot when a student isn’t on top form on a particular day when there’s only one of them in the room.

And if a student has a preference for a particular time of day – a time when they feel at the peak of their brainpower – I’ll try to take that into account.

The relationship is a cooperative one; we’re working towards the same goal, and the one-on-one nature of tutoring allows some much-needed flexibility.

PS. These lovely videos were made for me by WordHound, and I happen to know for a fact that they’d be more than happy to make some for you too – so give Angela a shout!

01/09/2025

One fundamental point about learning is that a student needs to be relaxed enough to absorb and retain information. Stress is the enemy of this!

The great thing about tutoring, as opposed to classroom teaching, is that it allows the student and the tutor to get to know each other. I might find out what the student finds funny, for example, and that definitely helps with getting them into a relaxed enough frame of mind to deal with the large amount of biology knowledge that A-level students have to take on board.

PS. These lovely videos were made for me by WordHound, and I happen to know for a fact that they’d be more than happy to make some for you too – so give Angela a shout!

14/08/2025

Advice for parents on results day

As a parent, what’s the best way for you to approach a slightly (or even massively) disappointing exam results day? Well, there are several positive ways to get your child’s plans back on track.

The key to defeating the post-exam blues is reminding them of what their goals were, before those not-ideal results came in.

For example, a visit to a university that offers the courses they want to do can be very inspiring.

So can a meeting with an adult who’s doing whatever it is your child wants to do professionally.

You may even know someone – a vet, a doctor, a physiotherapist – who went through the whole exam retakes process and succeeded (and doesn’t mind talking about it!).

The key thing to remember is that there’s a LOT of help available.

Here are my top 3 relatively cheap resources to help turn around your Teens A levels:
1 - 'Why learning fails and what to do about it' by Alex Quigley. A short, jargon free book which does exactly what the title claims.
2 -'The student mindset - A 30 item toolkit for anyone learning anything'- by Steve Oakes and Martin Griffiths. Engaging, evidence based activities to get motivated, get organised, get learning and get back on the road to exam success.
3 - 'A parent's guide to the science of learning' - by Edward Watson and Bradley Busch. Jargon free, bite size snippets on how to turn around the doom train, divided into tips for memory, tips for mindset, resilience and motivation, tips for self regulation, tips for students, tips for parents, and tips for overcoming the wool students pull over their own eyes.

Hope this is useful.

04/08/2025

How do you keep students engaged?

One fundamental point about learning is that a student needs to be relaxed enough to absorb and retain information. Stress is the enemy of this!

The great thing about tutoring, as opposed to classroom teaching, is that it allows the student and the tutor to get to know each other. I might find out what the student finds funny, for example, and that definitely helps with getting them into a relaxed enough frame of mind to deal with the large amount of biology knowledge that A-level students have to take on board.

PS. These lovely videos were made for me by WordHound Ltd, and I happen to know for a fact that they’d be more than happy to make some for you too – so give Angela a shout!

27/08/2024

Link to a well known online retailer in the comments!

22/08/2024

Another useful webinar today with concerned parents of year 12 A level students.

We got into the detail of problems faced by students at the end of the 1st year of A levels and what parents can do to help turn things around for their kids.

The conversations ended up being very specific to individuals needs.

To make the recording more useful to a wide group I recorded another version.

Link in the comments.

20/08/2024

Get the A level Biology results  you need in just  8 weeks Stop feeling like you’re falling behind. Start following a clear, step-by-step plan to success. In this 8-week programme harness the proven power of 1:1 support, the magic of motivated teamwork, the best of brain science, and the insight...

14/08/2024

This is just nuts...One of the 6 ton rocks in Stonehenge comes from north of Inverness...

Monument’s largest ‘bluestone’ moved more than 450 miles – a discovery researchers say rewrites relationships between Neolithic populations