Last September, I sat in a Manchester coffee shop watching my colleague finish an entire business book while I was still stuck on chapter three of mine. Properly embarrassing, that was.
I’d started it weeks earlier with all the enthusiasm in the world, and there I was, still plodding through like some primary school kid.
That moment kicked off my hunt for the best speed reading course UK had going. What happened next genuinely surprised me—I went from 180 words per minute to over 600 in about ten days. Not exaggerating.
If you’re tired of that growing pile of unread books mocking you, here’s what I learned.
Why Most of Us Read Like We’re Still Seven Years Old
Here’s the thing nobody tells you: the way we learned to read as kids is absolutely rubbish for adult reading. We were taught to sound out every single word, reading one at a time, using that annoying inner voice. It worked brilliantly for learning, but we never upgraded the system.
Most British readers manage about 200-250 words per minute. Sounds decent until you realize that 300-page book requires six solid hours. When exactly are you finding six uninterrupted hours? Between work emails, reports, news articles, and books we actually want to enjoy, we’re drowning in unfinished reading.
The best speed reading course UK programs don’t teach you to skim or sacrifice understanding. They teach you to process information the way your adult brain is actually capable of handling it—way faster than that childhood method allows.
How I Stumbled Onto StudyFast UK
After going down a proper research rabbit hole, Jordan Harry’s name kept appearing everywhere. The bloke runs StudyFast UK from Kington and claims to be the UK’s number one speed reading coach. Normally I’d roll my eyes at that kind of claim, but he’s trained over 50,000 people and his TEDx talk has 3.4 million views, so maybe there’s something to it.
What grabbed me wasn’t flashy marketing—it was the ridiculously simple commitment: 15 minutes daily for one week. That’s genuinely it. No twelve-week programs, no weekend workshops destroying your Saturday plans, no classroom sessions across town.
The StudyFast speed reading course costs £37. I’ve wasted more money on takeaway. They even split it into three payments of £12.33 through Klarna if money’s tight this month.
But here’s what properly sold me: full-year money-back guarantee. Not some stingy 30-day window. An entire year. Double your speed with 65% comprehension or get everything refunded. They’re either extremely confident or completely mental. Turns out, extremely confident.
What Actually Happens When You Train
Right, let me be honest about what worked and what felt properly weird at first.
That Internal Voice Has to Go: You know how you “hear” every word in your head as you read? That’s subvocalization, and it’s murdering your speed. I’d done it my entire life without realizing. Breaking that habit felt bizarre for about three days—like trying to breathe differently.
The best speed reading course UK teaches visual processing instead of internal speech. Your brain recognizes words way faster than your inner voice can speak them. Once I stopped trying to “say” every word mentally, everything clicked into place.
Chunking Changes Everything: Instead of reading word-by-word like primary school, you train your eyes to grab entire phrases at once. It uses peripheral vision the way footballers scan the whole pitch instead of staring at just the ball. First time I got this working properly, felt like I’d discovered some hidden cheat code.
Memory Techniques That Actually Work: What’s the point of reading faster if you forget everything? Jordan includes memory palace methods and proper retention techniques. I was skeptical—sounded like pseudoscience rubbish—but it genuinely works. My retention improved alongside my speed.
My Results and What Other UK Students Found
Week one, I tested at that embarrassing 180 words per minute. Week two, I hit 620. Six hundred and twenty. I retested multiple times thinking the system was broken or I’d somehow cheated.
My comprehension hit 72%, which makes zero sense until you realize slow reading lets your mind wander constantly. Faster reading keeps you engaged and focused.
I’m not unique though. Other UK students shared similar experiences:
Sarah from Bristol mentioned finishing her insane law school reading lists with time left for actual socializing. Before StudyFast, she’d pull all-nighters just keeping up.
Mark, a financial analyst in London, calculated he’s saving 10+ hours weekly on client reports. That’s over 500 hours yearly. At his hourly rate, the £37 course paid for itself in one workday.
Emma in Edinburgh reads three novels weekly now instead of struggling through one monthly. She’s not skimming—she’s eliminated the inefficiencies we all carry from childhood.
What Separates Good Courses from Overpriced Rubbish
After wasting money on two dodgy programs before finding StudyFast, I learned what actually matters.
Real Science, Not Marketing Fluff: The best speed reading course UK offers should use neuroscience-backed methods, not some guru’s “secret system.” Jordan bases everything on how brains actually process visual information.
Immediate Practice: You’re not watching endless theory lectures. You’re practicing with real texts from day one, building actual skills through repetition.
Different Techniques for Different Materials: Fiction needs different approaches than technical documents. Printed books versus screens require adjusted methods. StudyFast teaches you to switch seamlessly.
Proper Comprehension Testing: Built-in checks ensure you’re understanding more, not just moving your eyes faster. I was paranoid about sacrificing comprehension—these tests proved I wasn’t.
Other UK Options I Tested
PTP Training charges £490 for in-person workshops. Their instructors are brilliant, genuinely good program, but you’re committing a full day and nearly five hundred quid. Plus you need to be near Manchester, London, or Birmingham.
Iris Reading runs £40-£100 for online courses. Well-established globally, solid content, but feels very Americanized. Not bad, just not tailored to UK learners like Jordan’s program.
Speed Reading London offers two-day intensives around £300+. Jan Cisek and Susan Norman have over 20,000 hours of teaching experience combined. Properly brilliant, but again—major time commitment, location requirements, substantial cost.
StudyFast just makes more sense for most people. Affordable, flexible, entirely online, UK-focused. The best speed reading course UK offers doesn’t require breaking the bank or consuming your entire weekend.
Why Online Training Actually Works Better
I thought I’d prefer classroom learning. Completely wrong about that.
Train whenever suits you—6 AM before work, lunch breaks, 11 PM when everyone’s asleep. My commute became practice time. No classmates watching you struggle. Test yourself when ready, not when instructors demand it. Lifetime access to everything versus hoping you took brilliant notes in a workshop.
Location doesn’t matter. Rural Scotland or Central London—same quality training. No travel costs, no accommodation expenses.
The best speed reading course UK provides is probably digital because it removes every barrier except your own commitment.
My Honest Recommendation
Don’t overthink this. You’re either going to keep struggling at 200 words per minute, perpetually behind on reading, or you’re going to sort it out.
Start with StudyFast’s £37 Speed Reading Mastery course. Give it one week—15 minutes daily. If it doesn’t work, get your money back. If it does, you’ve permanently doubled your reading speed for less than a night out. That stack of unread books isn’t disappearing. Work reports keep coming. Your reading speed won’t magically improve by itself. The best speed reading course UK has is right there. What’s stopping you?
