A Somerset revision guide business has won in the Education Specialist category of the Corporate Livewire South West England Prestige Awards.

The Study Buddy, based in Burnham, was created in 2018 to help students and their parents to structure and plan revision in the run-up to GCSE and A-level exams.

The awards celebrate small and medium-sized businesses and sole traders which have thrived in their community and have and have proven their success during the past 12 months.

Judges base their decisions on areas such as service, quality of the product and innovative practices and the panel commented on all positive feedback from parents and students which use The Study Buddy.

Founder Nathan McGurl said: “This has been a tough year for many small businesses, and to hear that we’ve won this top-award is such a fabulous way to end the year.

“I came up with this approach to make a difference to students and their parents, and I’m over the moon that the positive experiences of the mums, dads and teens that are using the approach in their GCSEs and A-levels played a big part in our win.

Nathan started the business to help his son overcome his procrastination, and aims to use a simple approach to managing study in a structured way.

He added: “The pandemic has obviously had a huge impact on education this year.

"It’s not just time lost in school but it's also a knock-on effect on the confidence, readiness and motivation that many students feel.

“We work to the basis that exams will take place in the summer. So, it’s especially important that teens consolidate the learning that happens in the classroom by study independently at home.

“Cramming is never a sensible approach to exams.

"More than ever, students should be looking at ways they can knuckle-down and make a start sooner rather than later.

"It can be tough, but the clarity and structure of our approach has helped students all over the country.”

The Study Buddy revision method is free to use and Nathan says he is always happy to talk to local families about the newly award-winning system and how to go about creating revision plans.