In order to realise their full potential as learners, it is essential that students have good self-directed learning skills. It is also important that students develop their own roles in learning by continuously monitoring their own learning progress, identifying areas of deficit and making a conscious effort towards self-improvement. In this paper, Swapna Naskar Williamson reports on the development and testing of a self-rating scale of self-directed learning in higher education, and considers how it might be used in practice in order to enhance the requisite skills for becoming independent and lifelong learners.