Exam periods make most students do the same two things: overestimate what they can do in a day, then panic when they either procrastinate the whole week or burn out. The fix is never to just “Study harder, it’s scheduling properly, so you can actually achieve realistic results. A good exam schedule is a realistic plan that tells you what to do each day, why you are doing it, and how you will know it worked.

First, schedule backwards from the exam date. List every exam, then break each subject into the exact topics you are responsible for. Next to each topic, write what “done” means: a set number of questions, a past paper, or a summary sheet plus recall practice. This stops vague plans like “revise calculus” which feel productive but usually turn into rereading notes and doing nothing that transfers to marks.

Second, prioritise by marks and weakness, not by preference. Most students spend too long on what feels comfortable because it is less stressful. In exams, your score is usually capped by a few weak areas you keep avoiding. Do a past paper for each subject, write down what areas you did best in, compare your marks across subjects, and prioritise your studying weighted off that.

Third, build the schedule around practice, not time. A two-hour block means nothing if it is low quality. Plan sessions around outputs: “20 multiple choice under time”, “two extended responses”, “one full paper plus corrections”. Then budget time for marking and error logs, because that is where improvement happens. And leave buffer time, you’re bound to have interruptions, procrastinate here and there, scroll reels a bit too long…

Following these steps, you’re not only stopping yourself from burning out, you’re also letting your understanding actually grow, rather than cramming together study without learning from it.

Felix Panizza