🎒 Back to School Vibes – 20 Useful Expressions for the New Term

Hey everyone! 👋

Summer is coming to an end and it’s time to get back into the swing of things. Whether you're going back to school 🏫, back to work 💼, or just trying to rebuild your daily routine, here are 20 super useful phrasal verbs and idioms related to education and learning to help you sound like a native.

🔹 10 Phrasal Verbs Related to School

1. Brush up (on) – review or practise skills
💬 I need to brush up on my maths before the new term starts.

2. Skim through – read quickly to get the main idea
💬 I just skimmed through the chapter before class.

3. Catch up (with/on) – reach the same level as others
💬 I missed two lessons and now I need to catch up on the homework.

4. Hand in – submit work
💬 We have to hand in the assignment by Friday.

5. Look up – search for information
💬 If you don’t know a word, look it up in the dictionary.

6. Drop out (of) – stop attending a course or school
💬 He dropped out of university in his second year.

7. Jot down – write something quickly
💬 Let me jot down these key points before I forget.

8. Go over – review or revise
💬 Let’s go over the answers together.

9. Take in – understand and remember
💬 It was a lot of information to take in at once!

10. Sign up (for) – register/enrol
💬 I decided to sign up for a course in British history.

🔹 10 Idioms Related to Learning & Education

1. Hit the books – start studying seriously
💬 The holidays are over – it’s time to hit the books! 📚

2. Learn something by heart – memorise something
💬 We had to learn the poem by heart for class.

3. Pass with flying colours – get excellent results
💬 She passed her exams with flying colours. 🎉

4. Teacher’s pet – a student who tries hard to please the teacher
💬 He’s always answering questions – such a teacher’s pet!

5. Pull an all-nighter – stay up all night studying
💬 I pulled an all-nighter to finish my project. ☕😴

6. A quick learner – someone who learns fast
💬 She’s a quick learner and picks things up easily.

7. Learn the ropes – learn how to do a particular job/activity
💬 It takes a few weeks to learn the ropes in a new school.

8. School of thought – a particular way of thinking
💬 There’s a school of thought that says exams aren’t necessary.

9. Put your thinking cap on – think hard about something
💬 We need to put our thinking caps on and solve this problem. 🤔🧢

10. Old school – traditional; not modern
💬 My English teacher is quite old school but I really like her methods.

If you want to practise using these phrases in real conversation, come and join my British English Immersion Club! 🇬🇧🗣️

This week we’re talking all about school & going back to routine — perfect timing to use these expressions 💡

✅ One small group class per week (15 time slots to choose from)
✅ Bonus Business & Exam lessons included
✅ €60 per month

👉 Sign up here: https://www.englishwithlewis.com/buy

See you in class!
Lewis 😊