What should a one-week revision plan contain?
A revision timetable is a schedule of retrieval, not a promise to “cover” every page. Retrieval practice research finds that producing an answer from memory beats another study pass. The week gives you several of those passes. One late-night reread gives you familiarity.
The six-step one-week workflow
- List the exam topics. Use the syllabus, past paper, or lecture list. Cross out anything the exam will not ask.
- Turn each topic into questions. A few questions per topic, written before you reread. SQ3R is enough if a section was never turned into questions.
- Answer a mixed set each day. Pull questions from more than one topic. Interleaving is that mix. Keep each sitting near 25 minutes, as in a Pomodoro.
- Check only the misses. Open the source, fix the wrong answers, and close it. Do not recopy the chapter.
- Keep the same list. Missed questions return on a later day. Correct questions can wait longer. That is the spacing.
- Stop adding new material. The day before the exam, answer the weak questions, pack what you need, and sleep. A new chapter will not become a stable memory overnight.
What does the week look like?
Day 1: 12 topics, about 30 questions. No full reread.
Days 2–6: two or three 25-minute blocks. Notes closed, then a check of the misses.
Day 7: only the questions you still miss. Stop early enough to sleep.
What if the exam is a lecture course?
If the source is a recording, turn it into a transcript and questions first. The lecture-to-exam plan covers that step. This page is the week of practice after the questions exist.
What mistakes waste the week?
- Rewriting notes in nicer handwriting and calling it revision.
- Studying one topic all day, then never mixing it with the others.
- Highlighting a chapter the night before because the questions feel hard.
- Adding new topics on the last day instead of repairing the ones you miss.
How can an app keep the week?
Store the question list in Feynman AI so each block is answering, not searching for a page. The study session planner splits a short block into retrieve and check.
Frequently asked questions
How do you revise for an exam in one week?
On day one, list exam topics and write questions. On the other days, answer a mixed set from memory, check the misses, and repeat the weak questions. Do not spend the week rereading.
Is cramming the night before enough?
A single late reread makes the page feel familiar. Familiarity is not recall. Short retrieval on several days is the better use of the same week.
How long should each revision session be?
About 25 minutes of answering with the notes hidden, then a short break. Two or three of those blocks in a day is enough for one exam.
What if a topic was never learned?
Survey that section once, write questions, and then retrieve. Do not copy the chapter into a new set of notes the night before.
Sources
- Karpicke and Roediger, 2008. The critical importance of retrieval for learning.
- Rohrer, Dedrick, Hartwig, and Cheung, 2020. Journal of Educational Psychology. Mixed practice beat blocked practice on a delayed math test.
Related guides
Start the week with the question list
If the questions do not exist yet, the timetable is only a stack of chapters.
Open the study session planner