A LOCAL A-level student has set up free study help services on online platforms, including one on the video-sharing site Tik Tok that has attracted more than 200,000 followers around the world.

Blair Fiander decided to live stream herself studying after feeling a little demotivated and within weeks was being viewed by tens of thousands of other young students.

She uses the Pomodoro study technique in which she and her viewers speak for 10 minutes and then quietly study for 20 minutes in a series of sessions.

Blair calls the followers to her twice daily live streams “Blair’s Braniacs” and also runs question and answer sessions on Instagram.

Her other project is on the interactive website Discord, which offers free advice to A level and university students from other students in a wide variety of subjects.

“My aim was to be a role model and encourage other students,” Blair said.

“Education is so important and this is about changing the stigma of people being ‘nerds’,” she added.

Blair said the motivation is two-way with her followers sending her pictures of themselves studying and inspiring her to get on with her own studies.

She recruited a number of mentors for the Discord service and was initially under pressure from the extra work but has now received help from college friends Ed and Archie, as well as Kevin and Isaac, who are both at university.

Blair said the interaction with students around the world has been inspirational.

“It’s phenomenal to see how much people are being helped. I’ve had someone say their grandad died a couple of weeks ago and they weren’t able to study until they got on to the site, and someone else who has gone up three grades.”

Her other initiative is a textbook recycling scheme in which students and former students send their unwanted books to young people who can’t afford to buy their own.

Blair’s success led to her appearing on Jeremy Vine’s TV show on Channel 5 where she was interviewed by Anne Diamond.

“It was a fantastic experience and an amazing opportunity to talk about what I’ve been doing,” she said.

The appearance led to Blair interviewing Sarah Jarvis, a doctor and regular guest on Vine’s radio and TV programmes.

The discussion, about exam stress, will feature on Blair’s YouTube channel.

She is studying for A levels in psychology, sociology, and biology as well as an Extra Project Qualification, “Are we being desensitised by the media?” She has applied to several universities, including Cambridge, to study psychology.

When she was 11, Blair was appointed UK ambassador for Child and Youth Finance International and spoke at the United Nations in New York. The following year, she won the Woking Young Civic Award and was named an Eagle Radio Local Young Hero.

Blair’s various study services have grown so quickly that she has had to swiftly set up terms and conditions under data protection regulations and is getting help from Howard Freeman, MD of the Addlestone-based GDPR Compliance Consultancy.

She is also looking for a local lawyer to give her advice about other legal aspects of the services. Anyone who is able to help should email Blair’s mother Jo at [email protected].