How to Make a Revision Schedule for Exams (With Example)
How do you make a revision schedule that stops you forgetting old topics? A weekly example built on spaced repetition, interleaving and self-testing.
7 min read
One of the most common complaints during exam prep goes like this: "I keep finishing topics, but when I look back, I've forgotten the earlier ones." Most study plans focus on new material, and revision happens "if there's time." The result: practice exams expose gaps in topics you thought you'd already covered.
This guide shows how to build a revision schedule on two of the most solid findings in memory research: spaced repetition and interleaving. It works for high school finals, university exams, entrance exams and professional certifications alike. Adapt the timings to your own classes, job or commitments.
Why do you need a separate revision schedule?
Forgetting is fastest right after learning and slows over time. If you study a topic once and don't return to it for months, you'll largely have to relearn it before the exam. Spreading reviews out over time (spaced repetition) produces more durable learning for the same total effort. See what is spaced repetition for the details.
Cepeda et al. (2008) showed that the further away your test, the longer the ideal gap between reviews. With months to go, you don't need to revisit every topic every day; returning every few weeks can be enough. As the exam approaches, the gaps should shrink.
5 principles of a good revision schedule
- New material and revision every day. Reserve part of every session for older topics. Revision should be a fixed part of the plan, not leftover time.
- Revise with questions, not rereading. Instead of rereading notes on an old topic, do practice questions or quiz yourself. Roediger and Karpicke (2006) showed that self-testing beats rereading substantially when memory is tested a few days later.
- Widen the gaps. Revisit a new topic the next day, a few days later, a week later, and then less often.
- Mix it up. Instead of 40 problems from one topic in a row, mix problems from different topics.
- Return to weak topics more often. Topics where you make the most mistakes in practice should appear more often in your plan.
What is interleaving and why does it work?
In the traditional approach, you finish a topic, do a stack of problems on it, then move on (blocked practice). With interleaving, you mix problems from different topics. In a math session, for example, you'd mix derivatives, functions and probability instead of doing only derivatives.
Rohrer and Taylor (2007) found that students who practiced different kinds of math problems in mixed order struggled more during practice but outperformed blocked learners on a test a week later. Kornell and Bjork (2008) showed that interleaving made it easier to tell categories apart, even though most participants believed blocked study was more effective.
Real exams don't group questions by topic. Interleaving trains you to answer "which topic is this, and which method solves it?" before the exam does. That's why it feels slower and harder at first.
Dunlosky et al. (2013) rated interleaving as promising ("moderate utility"), while spaced practice and practice testing were the only two techniques rated high. So the backbone of your plan should be spaced revision with practice questions, with interleaving as an extra layer. For the full picture, see our overview of effective study techniques.
Sample weekly revision schedule
The table below is a template for a student with about 3–4 hours of study time per day after classes. Subject names are only examples; swap in your own courses and weak spots.
| Day | New material (≈ 2 h) | Revision (≈ 1 h) | Mixed practice (≈ 30–45 min) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Math: new topic | Yesterday's topics + flashcards | Mixed: math + reading/writing |
| Tuesday | Physics or literature: new topic | Yesterday's topics + topics from 3 days ago | Earlier weeks' math topics, mixed |
| Wednesday | Chemistry or history: new topic | Yesterday's topics + flashcards | Mixed science or humanities |
| Thursday | Math: new topic | Yesterday's topics + topics from 1 week ago | Mixed: math + reading/writing |
| Friday | Biology or geography: new topic | Yesterday's topics + flashcards | Mixed questions from all of this week's topics |
| Saturday | Full practice exam | Review every mistake | Extra questions on the topics you missed |
| Sunday | Light day / rest | Weekly review + topics from 2–4 weeks ago | Short mixed quiz |
The revision column is a simple version of spaced repetition: each topic comes back the next day, a few days later, a week later and a few weeks later. As topics pile up, tracking this by hand gets harder; a simple "topic – date studied – next review" log, or a spaced repetition app, makes it manageable.
A lighter version for busy weeks
If you're juggling school, work or other commitments, keep the same principles and shrink the time:
| Block | Time (suggestion) | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Today's class topic | ≈ 30–45 min | A few questions and a quick recall of what you covered today |
| Older topics | ≈ 20–30 min | Questions or flashcards from yesterday, a few days ago and last week |
| Mixed practice | ≈ 20–30 min | Mixed questions across subjects |
| Weekend | Flexible | One practice test, mistake review and a weekly recap |
These times are only examples. A plan that eats into sleep and rest isn't sustainable. A modest plan you keep beats an ambitious one you drop after a few weeks.
How should your schedule change as the exam gets closer?
- Months out: Focus on new material and let review gaps stretch to a few weeks.
- Last few months: Cut back on new material; add more practice exams and mixed questions.
- Final weeks: Shorten the gaps and revisit weak topics and practice-exam mistakes more often.
- The night before: Skip new material; do a short review and get a good night's sleep.
Common revision schedule mistakes
- Saving all revision for the weekend. That crams it into one day; short reviews spread across the week work better.
- "Revising" by rereading notes. It feels familiar but doesn't stick; revise with questions whenever possible.
- Taking practice exams without reviewing mistakes. A practice exam is the best way to find gaps; skipping the review wastes half its value.
- Never updating the plan. Do a quick review each weekend: which topics have stuck, and which need more frequent revision?
Automating your review tracking
In Recallow you can upload your study PDFs or notes and generate quiz questions and flashcards for each document. Cards come back on a spaced repetition schedule: hard ones sooner, easy ones later. On the review page you can filter cards by document or study cards from different documents mixed together. Practice exams and mistake reviews should still be their own part of your plan.
The bottom line
A good revision schedule balances new and old material, spreads reviews over time, uses questions instead of rereading, and mixes topics. Start small this week: spend the last half hour of each session on questions from yesterday's and last week's topics. To prepare the material itself, see how to summarize lecture notes.
Frequently asked questions
How much time should I spend on revision each day?
There's no single right amount. A practical start is to give roughly a quarter to a third of your daily study time to older topics, ideally through practice questions or self-testing, and adjust as you see your review load.
How many times should I revise a topic?
Focus on gaps rather than a fixed count: revisit a topic the next day, a few days later, a week later, then every few weeks. Return to hard topics more often and easy ones less often.
Should I interleave topics I've only just learned?
When you first learn a topic, it makes sense to focus on it and work through the basic problem types. Once you've grasped the basics, mixing it with older topics is more beneficial.
Can practice exams replace revision?
Practice exams are a great form of self-testing and interleaving, but they're not enough on their own. Add the topics behind your mistakes to your spaced revision plan and revisit them regularly.
References
- Cepeda, N. J., Vul, E., Rohrer, D., Wixted, J. T. & Pashler, H. (2008). Spacing effects in learning: A temporal ridgeline of optimal retention. Psychological Science, 19(11), 1095–1102. doi.org (opens in a new tab)
- Rohrer, D. & Taylor, K. (2007). The shuffling of mathematics problems improves learning. Instructional Science, 35(6), 481–498. doi.org (opens in a new tab)
- Kornell, N. & Bjork, R. A. (2008). Learning concepts and categories: Is spacing the "enemy of induction"? Psychological Science, 19(6), 585–592. doi.org (opens in a new tab)
- Roediger, H. L. & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255. doi.org (opens in a new tab)
- Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J. & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students' learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58. doi.org (opens in a new tab)