Solution · Education & Learning · Updated 2026-11-01 · Reviewed by Monirujjaman Monjil
How to make a study plan for an exam
Count back from the exam date, list every topic you need to cover, and rate how well you know each one. Give weak topics more sessions, spread every topic over several sessions with gaps between them, and build in regular practice tests. The review by Dunlosky and colleagues (2013) found that testing yourself and spacing study over time are the most effective study techniques. Leave one day a week free for catching up.
The problem
What it looks like
The exam is weeks away, the material is huge, and you don't know where to start, so you start with what you like, run out of time and cram the rest.
Who it affects
Students facing end-of-year exams, professionals studying for certifications, and anyone preparing for a test with a lot of content.
What it costs you
Last-minute cramming, gaps in difficult topics, poor sleep before the exam and results below what you could have achieved.
Why it happens
Without a plan, study follows mood rather than need. Easy topics get too much time, hard ones too little, and there's no time left for practice tests.
A plan is a budget of study sessions. Once you know how many sessions you have, you can share them out deliberately instead of hoping it works out.
Plan for testing, not just reading. The 2013 review rated practice testing and distributed practice as the highest-utility techniques, so a good plan schedules self-testing and spaced revisits from the start.
Plans fail when they are too full. A weekly catch-up slot keeps one bad day from wrecking the whole plan.
Common mistakes
- Planning every hour of every day.
- Giving every topic the same time regardless of difficulty.
- Leaving practice papers to the last week.
- No time off, leading to burnout.
- Abandoning the plan after falling behind instead of adjusting it.
How to fix it, step by step
- Count your sessions
Count the days until the exam and how many focused sessions (for example 45 to 60 minutes) you can realistically fit each day.
- List every topic
Use the syllabus, course outline or exam guide so nothing is missed.
- Rate each topic
Mark each one red (weak), amber (partly known) or green (confident). Red topics get the most sessions.
- Spread each topic over several sessions
Schedule a first session, a review a few days later and another a week or two after that, rather than one long block.
- Schedule practice tests
Add timed past papers or practice questions every week, more often in the final weeks.
- Add a weekly catch-up slot
Keep one session or half-day a week empty for anything that slipped.
- Review the plan every week
Update your red, amber and green ratings from your practice-test results and move sessions to where they are needed most.
Doing it without an app
You do not need to download anything to solve this. Any of these work:
Paper wall calendar
Colour-code topics on a printed calendar and cross off sessions as you go.
Spreadsheet
Rows for topics, columns for dates, and a cell for each planned session and test score.
Tools that can help
- Calendar apps for study sessions
- Flashcard apps with spaced repetition
- Timers for focused study blocks
Questions
How many hours a day should I study?
Quality matters more than hours. Several focused sessions with breaks usually beat one long, tired session. Choose a number you can keep up every day.
What if I'm already behind?
Re-plan with the time you have: put the most important and weakest topics first, and switch most of your time to practice questions.
Should I study the night before?
A light review of key points is fine. Sleep is more useful than a late cram.
Sources
- Improving Students' Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology, Psychological Science in the Public Interest (via PubMed), 2013
Checked 2026-11-01. Found a mistake? Tell us. Read our editorial policy.
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More in Education & Learning
- How to remember what you study (and stop forgetting it a week later)Why rereading and highlighting feel productive but don't last, and the two study methods research rates highest: testing yourself and spacing your study over time.