Having a reliable and well-thought-out revision timetable will serve as the bedrock for ensuring everything that’s coming up in your exams is thoroughly covered. They also have the benefit of breaking subjects down into smaller topics, making the otherwise daunting revision feel slightly more manageable.
In this article, we’ve provided a step-by-step guide on how to create a revision timetable. We’ve also provided a revision timetable template that you can easily use to maintain a work/life balance while ensuring you’re fully prepared for upcoming exams.
Google Calendar
If you’re making a revision timetable, then one of the best ways to do it is through Google Calendar. This digital solution is a great way of building out your time for a couple of reasons. For starters, a digital calendar will always be with you – it can be accessed through your phone or laptop. They’re also flexible and easy to change. Unlike paper timetables, they aren’t set in stone, meaning you can make adjustments as needed.
1. Figure out your available time
Your first step is to figure out how much time you actually have available. After all, there’s no point planning out loads of revision, only to realise it clashes with other commitments. Trying to cram everything in amongst what you already have going on in your life will only lead to a build-up of unnecessary stress and anxiety.
What you should do then, is give yourself enough time to make your revision goals realistic and achievable. With this in mind, we’d recommend filling in your current commitments and day-to-day activities first. Once done, your schedule might look something like our example below.
Add in everything you can think of, including lunch, dinner, sport, lectures/classes and any social activities.
2. Choose which subjects/modules are most important
Chances are, you won’t want to spend an equal amount of time revising for all your subjects. This might be because you feel more comfortable with some subjects than others so don’t feel the need to dedicate as much time to them. Or maybe it’s because you just strongly value certain subjects.
You can create this module hierarchy by devising a quick list in Sheets/Excel, putting your weakest subjects at the top and your strongest subjects at the bottom.
The above example shows the ranking of a Politics & International Relations university student.
When making this list, some things worth taking into account are:
- How much material needs learning within each subject
- How much each subject is worth (some university modules are worth more than others and some individual pieces of work within modules are worth more than others)
- The order of your exam timetable. You’ll likely want to put more time towards earlier exams and then focus on later exams further down the line
3. Split these subjects/modules into individual topics
Subjects/modules as a whole can be pretty scary. What’s slightly less frightening is when these subjects are broken down into individual, bite-sized topics. If you’re studying maths, then rather than dedicating several hours to ‘maths revision’, you should instead focus on individual topics within maths. This also makes sense as it’ll help you highlight the topics within a subject that you find tricky. Like before, these are then what you’ll dedicate the most time to.
If you’re struggling with how to break a subject down into lots of smaller topics then a quick way of doing this is by going onto the relevant university module page/exam board website to find a syllabus that lists everything you could possibly be examined on. Finding these isn’t difficult. All you need to do is type the name of your university module/exam board into Google and locate the relevant exams on their website.
4. Divide your time into 30-minute chunks
There’s plenty of scientific data to suggest that revising in 25-30 minute chunks will provide the best return on investment (how much you can learn in a short amount of time). The Pomodoro timer helps break work down into 25-minute intervals before taking a 5-minute break.
Here are a few tips for effectively scheduling your workflow:
- Place the most challenging topics in times of the day when you’re able to work best
- Try and balance more and less difficult topics using the list created in step 2. This’ll help prevent having to spend entire days struggling on what you find most challenging
- Leave some time slots near the end of the day for reviewing material and testing yourself. You should also leave some slots free to provide a better degree of flexibility
30-minute chunks are an excellent way to revise as they stop revision from becoming less monotonous while providing an active time goal that should help with motivation and discipline.
Below, we’ve continued with our Google Calendar scheduling example, adding in revision slots for the Politics & International Relations university modules mentioned earlier. Remember, these modules/subjects could also be placed into the calendar as more specific topics.
Note: We aren’t suggesting that this is how much revision you should be doing each week. It’s just an example of how you can fit work into 30-minute slots. Where revision sessions last for longer (such as Diaspora Politics from 09:00-10:30 on Monday, we’d recommend taking a short break within this 90-minute slot every 30 or so minutes).
5. Make the most of your revision time
Once you’ve got your workload laid out using the first four steps, you should then turn your attention to the actual process of revising and how to go about tackling meaty subjects. The best revision techniques allow you to easily remember and recall information.
Exactly how to revise with maximum effect will vary from person to person, with different people having different ways of absorbing the most information. Some of the most popular methods include:
- Flashcards – This is the revision technique that most frequently comes up. Flashcards use prompts and questions to test your knowledge. You can keep subjects separate by using different colours, with an individual card for each topic
- Active recall – This involves stimulating your memory for a piece of information. In other words, trying to remember something stored in your brain. For example, adding questions to the end of your notes to see if you can recall the necessary info
- Spaced repetition – As the name suggests, this is the process of spacing out when you revise. If revising about the human heart, the idea is to learn about it, then learn about it the next day, then again a week later, then the week after that and so on. This method is effective as your level of forgetfulness decreases over time
You can learn more about active recall and spaced repetition here!
6. Allow yourself some leeway
You aren’t going to work at the same rate every day. Sometimes you’ll struggle to get into a rhythm while on other days you’ll be able to fly through different topics.
The key is to maintain discipline by revising within the time chunks you’ve already set out. If you’re feeling the momentum at the end of a 30-minute slot then keep going. If not, then it’s okay to take a 5-10 minute break before cracking back on. One way to help yourself ease into a topic is by beginning with some easy-to-digest information, before moving on to the harder stuff.
Over time, you’ll be able to make timetable adjustments to cover any information you’re still not fully clued up on. You might also find that you’re more/less productive on certain days and during certain parts of the day. Again, if this is the case then you can adjust your timetable accordingly.
7. Keep your timetable realistic and achievable
While revision and coursework are important, properly managing your health and stress levels so you don’t completely burn out is just as important. Within the hours of work, you should try and find time for exercise, socialising and generally being able to put your feet up. The first step that we went over should help with this.
Be sure to regularly refer to your revision timetable and check how you’re getting along. Just remember that not every day will be the same. Some days will probably require some extra work to get through everything, while other days will afford you the luxury of being able to ease off a little.
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