Ace
Short answer: the best ways to study with friends turn revision into a game where everyone has to recall answers or explain ideas: quiz duels, teach-back rounds, blurting races, "spot the mistake", past-paper sprints and question-writing swaps. Give each session a goal, a timer and a rule that phones stay away until the break.
Why does studying with friends work?
Two reasons. First, games with friends are almost always forms of testing: someone asks, someone answers. Being tested on material makes it stick far better than rereading it (Roediger and Karpicke, 2006). Second, explaining things to each other forces you to organise what you know. Research on learning by teaching, such as Fiorella and Mayer (2013), found that actually explaining material to others helped students learn it more deeply than only preparing to.
The risk is equally obvious: without structure, a study group becomes a social hour with textbooks open. Games fix that.
What are fun ways to study with friends?
1. Quiz duels
Two of you answer the same questions in turns, with points for right answers and speed. After each question, look at why the answer is right. Arguing about the ones you missed is where the learning happens.
2. Teach-back rounds
Split the chapter. Each person learns one part and teaches it to the others in five minutes, without notes. The listeners then ask one question each.
3. Blurting race
Everyone reads the same section, closes it, and writes down everything they remember in five minutes. Compare lists: whoever recalled the most points wins, and everyone adds what they missed. See the blurting method.
4. Spot the mistake
One person explains a process with one deliberate mistake in it. The others have to catch it. Great for biology cycles, legal tests and chemistry mechanisms.
5. Question swap
Each person writes five exam-style questions on a topic, then you swap and answer each other's. Writing good questions is itself revision, and you'll quickly see which topics everyone finds hard.
6. Past-paper sprint
Same past-paper question, same timer, then mark each other's answers with the mark scheme. Honest marking from a friend is harder to fool than marking yourself. See how to use past papers.
7. Draw it from memory
Everyone redraws the same diagram from a blank page. Compare, then fix together. Ideal for anatomy and biology; see how to memorise anatomy.
8. Hot seat
One person sits in the hot seat for three minutes while the others fire quick questions at them. Rotate. Fast, loud and surprisingly effective before an exam.
9. Study from a distance
Friends in different places can still duel on the same questions online, or share a video call with cameras on and a shared timer: work quietly for a block, then quiz each other in the break.
How do you keep a study group from turning into a chat?
- Agree the goal before you start: "chapters 4 and 5, then past-paper question 3".
- Use a timer: 30–45 minutes of games, a proper break, repeat. See the best study intervals.
- Phones away until the break. Everyone, including the person who suggested it.
- Keep groups small: two to four people. Bigger groups spend more time organising than answering.
- End with a list: each person writes down the three things they got wrong today, to revisit alone.
Quiz duels are the easiest game to start, if someone has the questions. Ace turns your own lecture slides, PDFs or YouTube lectures into practice questions and lets you play them as a live one-on-one duel with a friend, taking turns on the same questions with the line from your notes shown after each answer. More in our guide on how to study with friends.
Frequently asked questions
Is studying with friends effective?
It can be very effective when the session is built around recalling and explaining, such as quizzes and teach-backs. It's ineffective when it's mostly chatting with notes open.
How many people should be in a study group?
Two to four. Pairs are perfect for quiz duels; three or four suit teach-back rounds.
What games can you play to study?
Quiz duels, blurting races, spot the mistake, question swaps, hot seat and past-paper sprints all work, because each one makes you recall or explain the material.
Sources
- Roediger, H. L. & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255. PDF
- Fiorella, L. & Mayer, R. E. (2013). The relative benefits of learning by teaching and teaching expectancy. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 38(4), 281–288. doi.org
- Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J. & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students' learning with effective learning techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58. APS summary
