Students' conceptions of how they initiate, plan, implement and monitor self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies have practical implications for teaching and learning. This study explores the nature and use of SRL strategies employed by university students as it occurs in naturalistic settings, for example, studying in non-classroom environments. Framed within the social cognitive perspective, it focuses on a group of students from an under-researched population. Focus group interviews were used to elicit information about the nature of SRL strategies and contexts for their use. The findings reveal that students employ a range of SRL strategies, from shallow to cognitively rich and deep processing. Furthermore, the use of SRL strategies alters under different contextual influences such as personal goals, SRL phase specific conditions, semester and academic capabilities.