How to make a revision timetable you will actually keep

Work backwards from your exam dates, split each subject into small named topics, and give each topic a short block in the hours you really have. Then leave some slots empty, because the timetable that lasts is the one that can absorb a bad Tuesday.

Most revision timetables fail for a boring reason. They are drawn on a good day by someone imagining a better one. The version below takes about an hour to make, and it starts from what your week already looks like.

Start from the last exam and count backwards

Get your actual dates first. In 2026, Ofqual's student guide gave a GCSE, AS and A level exam window of 7 May to 23 June, with 24 June held as a contingency day. Next summer's dates will differ, so take yours from your school or college, or from your statement of entry if you are entering privately. That contingency day matters more than it looks. It is only used if an exam has to be moved nationally, so keep the equivalent date clear of holidays until the season is finished.

Write the exams on a calendar in order. Then look for the crowded patches. Three papers in four days needs more planning in the fortnight before than one paper with a week either side, even if the subjects are equally hard for you.

Turn subjects into topics you could finish

A timetable slot that says "biology" tells you nothing when you sit down. Use the specification or your teacher's topic list, and write each topic on its own line. "Enzymes" works. "Paper 1 biology" does not. Mark each one with a highlighter: green if you could explain it now, yellow if you half remember it, pink if you are lost.

Pink topics get the early slots, when there is still time to ask a teacher. If you are sitting GCSE maths, physics or combined science in 2027, you can also take something off the list: AQA says full maths formulae and physics equation sheets will come with the relevant papers, and the 2027 sheets are unchanged from 2026. You still need to practise using them, but you can skip memorising them. Check the arrangements with your own board if it is not AQA.

A filled-in week, with notes

Here is a made-up example for a Year 11 student with football on Tuesdays and a Saturday job. The subjects and hours are illustrative. The shape is the point.

How many hours should you revise?

We have not found an official figure from a regulator or exam board, and we would be wary of anyone quoting a precise one. Starting points differ too much. A student with six subjects and a part-time job has a different week from one with nine subjects and none.

A more useful test is what you can repeat. Pick a block length you can start without bargaining with yourself, perhaps 30 or 40 minutes, and see how many fit into a normal week for a fortnight. Then adjust. The timetable should cover sleep too: the NHS says teenagers need about 8 to 10 hours a night, suggests allowing around half an hour to wind down after screens or study, and warns that "cramming all night before an exam is usually a bad idea".

What goes inside a block

Each block should end with you having produced something: an answer, a list written from memory, a timed paragraph. There is reasonable evidence, with some caveats, that testing yourself and spreading practice out serve you better than rereading. We go through it in our piece on self-testing. As exams get closer, more of those blocks should become exam questions, and this guide to past papers has a way to phase them in that also applies at GCSE.

Where these plans usually go wrong

• Everything is colour-coded and nothing has started. Give yourself one sitting to make the plan, then begin the first block the same day.
• Favourite subjects get the most slots. Count the slots per subject at the end and compare them with your pink topics.
• A missed block feels like failure. Move it to an empty slot once. If it gets missed twice, the slot was unrealistic, so change the plan.
• The plan never changes. Re-mark your topic list every two weeks. Green topics should drop down to an occasional check, and that frees up time.

If worry is starting to take over your sleep, appetite or mood, tell someone. The NHS page above lists signs of exam stress for parents to watch for, and suggests a GP is a good place to start if anxiety or low mood is severe, lasting and affecting daily life.

Revising as an adult

The method is the same, with smaller numbers. If you work full time and are retaking a GCSE, three protected blocks a week that survive contact with your job are worth more than ten that do not. Start further from the exam, and treat the empty slots as non-negotiable, because shifts and children will need them.