Lekto
A good revision timetable starts from your exam dates and your real free time, not from an ideal week. List every topic, give each one several short sessions spread over the weeks before the exam, and leave buffer days for catching up. This guide walks you through it step by step.
What a revision timetable is for
A revision timetable turns a vague goal ("revise for my exams") into a list of small, dated sessions. Its real job is to stop two things: leaving everything until the last week, and spending all your time on the subjects you already like.
It is not a promise that every hour will go to plan. Illness, extra homework and bad days happen. A timetable that has no slack breaks the first time something goes wrong, and most students then abandon it completely. The goal is a plan that bends rather than one that looks perfect on paper.
Think of it as a budget. You have a limited number of hours before the exams. The timetable decides where they go, so you are not deciding again every evening.
Plan your revision timetable in pencil or in an editable file. You will change it every week, and a plan that is easy to change is a plan you keep using.
Step 1: collect exam dates and topics
Start with facts. Write down every exam with its date and, if you know it, the paper or unit it covers. Then list the topics for each subject. Use the specification, your exercise book contents or the list your teacher gave you – not your memory.
Next to each topic, mark how confident you feel: green (I could answer questions now), amber (partly) or red (I barely remember it). This takes twenty minutes and is the most useful part of the whole process, because it tells you where the time should go.
- one line per exam: subject, paper, date, time,
- one line per topic under each subject,
- a red/amber/green confidence rating for every topic,
- a note of past papers or practice questions you have available.
How to make a revision timetable in 6 steps
- List exams and datesWrite down every exam with its date, time and the paper or unit it covers.
- List and rate topicsBreak each subject into topics and rate your confidence red, amber or green.
- Mark your free slotsUse your school timetable and commitments to find the real time you have each day.
- Spread topics across slotsGive each topic several short sessions a few days apart, with more for red topics.
- Add buffers and restLeave about one slot in five empty and keep one evening a week free.
- Review weeklyEvery Sunday, tick off sessions, move missed ones and update your ratings.
Step 2: find your real free time
Look at your school timetable and your fixed commitments: travel, sport, work, family. Only the time left over is available for revision. Be honest – if you are always tired after a seven-lesson day, do not plan a two-hour session that evening.
Most students find that weekdays give room for one or two short sessions of 25–45 minutes, and weekends for three or four. If your school runs a week A / week B timetable, check both weeks: one is often noticeably heavier than the other.
Write the free slots into an empty weekly grid before you add any subjects. You now know your real capacity.
Step 3: fill the revision timetable with spaced sessions
Now place topics into the slots. The key rule is spacing: each topic should appear several times, with gaps of a few days between sessions, rather than once in a long block. Memory lasts much longer when it is refreshed after a gap.
Give red topics more sessions than green ones. Mix subjects within a day so that you are not doing four hours of the same thing. Put the hardest work in the slots where you usually have the most energy.
Every session should end with retrieval: closing the book and writing or answering questions from memory. Reading notes alone feels productive but usually leaves much less behind.
- red topics: 3–4 sessions before the exam,
- amber topics: 2–3 sessions,
- green topics: 1–2 sessions, mostly past-paper questions,
- the last week: mixed practice papers rather than new material.
Step 4: build in buffer days and rest
Leave one slot in every four or five empty. When something gets missed, it moves into the next buffer slot instead of pushing the whole plan back. If nothing gets missed, use the buffer for extra practice on a red topic.
Plan at least one evening a week with no revision at all. Rest is part of the plan, not a failure of it. Sleep matters too: late-night cramming before an exam tends to cost more in recall than it adds.
Sample revision timetable for one week
Here is an example for a student with exams in five weeks, school until about 3:30 pm and sport on Tuesdays. Adapt the subjects and times to your own week.
Notice that every subject appears more than once, no day is overloaded, and Saturday afternoon is left free as a buffer.
- Monday: 30 min chemistry (red topic), 25 min French vocabulary,
- Tuesday: sport – 15 min flashcards only,
- Wednesday: 40 min maths practice questions, 25 min history from memory,
- Thursday: 30 min chemistry (second session), 25 min English quotes,
- Friday: 30 min maths mixed questions,
- Saturday: 2 × 45 min past paper (history), afternoon buffer,
- Sunday: 45 min biology (red topic), 20 min plan next week.
Keeping your revision timetable on track
Review the plan once a week, ideally on Sunday. Tick off what you did, move what you missed into buffer slots and update the red/amber/green ratings. Topics that turn green get fewer sessions; stubborn red topics get more.
Keep exam and test dates where you will see them every day. In Lekto you can pin a test to the actual lesson it happens in and get a reminder 1, 2 or 3 days or a week before, so a mock exam never catches you by surprise. A timetable widget on your home screen shows what is now and what is next without opening anything.
Finally, keep the plan visible but simple. A timetable you can understand in ten seconds is one you will actually check.
Revision timetable FAQ
When should I start my revision timetable?
Many students start six to eight weeks before major exams, but it depends on how many subjects you have and how confident you feel. Starting earlier lets you use shorter sessions with more spacing between them.
How many hours a day should I revise?
There is no single right number. On school days one to two hours of focused work is realistic for most students, with more at weekends and in study leave. Focus and retrieval matter more than total hours.
Should I revise one subject per day?
Usually it works better to mix two or three subjects in a day. Switching subjects and returning to topics after a gap helps you remember them for longer.
What if I fall behind my revision timetable?
Move missed sessions into your buffer slots rather than cramming them into the next day. If you keep falling behind, the plan is too full – cut sessions on green topics first.