StudyDuo
Knowing how to study with friends comes down to rules you agree on before anyone opens a book. Plan the session around questions rather than explanations, put phones on silent and out of reach, keep screens to the work, and save side talk for set breaks. Without rules, friends drift: they're the people you most want to talk to.
What friends actually do in a study session
A 2026 study looked inside study sessions with friends. Williams and Denaro surveyed first-year students in an introductory biology course at a large US public university in Fall 2022. By the end of the term, 19% studied with friends regularly and 45% occasionally (CBE Life Sciences Education). Those who did reported how they spent the time:
| Activity | Share of session time |
|---|---|
| Listening to a friend explain | |
| Explaining to friends | |
| Reading | |
| Answering practice problems | |
| Quizzing each other |
Source: Williams & Denaro, 2026 (introductory biology, Fall 2022)
Asked why they valued it, 38% of these students said they learned from friends' explanations and 32% liked teaching and being taught in turn. Only 12% said it kept them on task, and 10% mainly liked the company.
Studying with friends didn't predict exam scores, up or down. How students used their time did: those who spent more of it listening to friends explain scored slightly lower. The study is correlational, so it can't show that listening caused the lower scores; students who needed more help may simply have listened more.
How to study with friends: 7 rules to agree on first
1. Build the session around questions
Each person brings five practice questions or problems from the material. The session is for answering them and arguing over the answers, with explanations only for what nobody gets. That reverses the split in the chart, where listening took the most time and quizzing the least. For ways to quiz, teach back and check answers in a pair or a small group, see these 8 methods for studying with a partner.
2. Meet while you're learning, not just before the exam
Set a weekly slot from the first weeks of the term, when the material is new. Williams and Denaro recommend exactly that: study groups that meet in the weeks when students are learning, not only in exam week. Their explanation: students reached exam weeks still taking in the material, so time with friends went to hearing it explained rather than practicing it.
3. Phones on silent and out of reach
A phone doesn't have to be picked up to cost you. In a 2015 experiment by Stothart, Mitchum and Yehnert, notifications alone hurt performance on an attention-demanding task, even though nobody touched the phone. The drop was about as large as when people took a call or texted. Put every phone on silent, not vibrate, and in a bag until the break.
4. Screens only for the work, and none in view
Distraction spreads to whoever can see it. Sana, Weston and Cepeda ran two experiments in 2013 around a 45-minute lecture (Computers & Education). Students who multitasked on a laptop scored 11% lower on a test than students who didn't. Students seated behind multitasking peers scored 17% lower than students who weren't: 56% correct against 73%.
The students sitting behind multitaskers rated the distraction as barely hurting their learning. At a study table, that means one tab per task, nothing else open, and seats where nobody can see another person's screen.
5. Calls happen outside
Half a conversation is harder to ignore than a whole one. In 2010, Emberson and colleagues found that overhearing one side of a phone call hurt performance on attention tasks (Psychological Science). Overhearing both sides of the same call, or one person talking, didn't. The cause was how unpredictable half a conversation is. A friend who takes a call at the table is a distraction everyone hears; stepping outside removes it.
6. Talk in set windows, with a timer
Agree on block and break lengths before you start, for example 50 minutes on and 10 off. Run the timer during breaks too, so ten minutes doesn't become thirty. Questions that come up mid-block go on a shared list for the break, unless the whole group is stuck. Give out two jobs and rotate them every session: a timekeeper who calls the end of each break, and a quiz master who runs the question list.
7. Study with the friend who'll tell you you're wrong
The friend you'd most like to spend the evening with may not be the best one to study with. In a 1993 study by Azmitia and Montgomery, fifth graders solved scientific reasoning problems more accurately with a friend than with an acquaintance (Social Development). The edge showed only on the hardest problems. The friends' advantage went with how they talked: they checked their solutions, justified their ideas and criticized each other's reasoning more. The study was with children, but the lesson carries: pick the friend who argues about the work.
Studying with friends on video
The same rules cover how to study with friends online, with one change: the distractions move from the table to the screen. Close the group chat and every tab you don't need, keep cameras on and mics off while you work, and unmute for breaks and the check-in.
On StudyDuo, choose an hour and join Focus Room together. Everyone is on camera with their task under their name, and mics are off, so nobody can start a conversation out loud. Follow each other to get a notification when a friend starts studying, and pin their video to keep it on your screen. If the group can't agree on a time, Study Hour sets one: once a day, everyone works in the same focus block. To quiz each other out loud, a 1:1 session has sound, with one other person; you each need a verified photo. More on how the study together app works, or compare it with other options in our honest comparison of apps for studying with friends.
When a session goes off track
| What happens | What to try |
|---|---|
| One person hasn't prepared | They run the quiz from the answer key, so they still work |
| One friend keeps talking during blocks | Point to the rule ("break topic"), not to the person |
| Everyone's tired after an hour | End early and keep next week's slot |
| The group keeps drifting into a hangout | Switch to silent side-by-side work, with a check-in at the end |
| You get more done alone | Study alone during the week and meet once to quiz each other |
If you're working out how to study with friends who take different classes, rule 1 doesn't apply, but the rest do. Work side by side in silence, each on your own task, and use the breaks to say what you got done. For the findings on group study in general, from memory to effort, see Study Alone or in a Group?
FAQ
Can studying with friends replace a tutor or office hours?
No. Friends can explain what they understand and catch each other's slips, but a whole group can share one misunderstanding. When nobody can settle a question, take it to your teacher, a TA or the tutoring center.
What if my friends don't want rules?
Start with two: phones in bags and a timer for the breaks. Once a session goes better than usual, the rest are easier to agree on.
Is it rude to turn down a study session with a friend?
No. Suggest a format that works for you instead, such as a short weekly quiz session or silent side-by-side work, so you keep the company without giving up the evening.
What should we do in the breaks?
Leave the desk: walk, refill water, talk about anything. Breaks are also when phones come out, which keeps the work blocks phone-free.
