The last 7 days before an exam: a day-by-day revision plan

A week out feels like both too much time and not nearly enough. Here is the good news: the heavy lifting is already done. You have spent a year (or two) learning this stuff. The final week is not about cramming more in. It is about getting what you already know to come out cleanly, on time, under pressure.

This plan counts backwards from exam day. If you have several exams close together, run a lighter version of it for each subject and let the days overlap. Nothing here is official advice from your exam authority; it is practical study advice, drawn partly from the exam tips published by headspace and Kids Helpline, and it sits alongside your teachers' advice, not above it.

Before you start: make a one-page plan

Grab one sheet of paper and write:

• the date and time of the exam (check your personal timetable, not a screenshot a friend sent you);
• the topics or modules on the syllabus, each with a quick traffic light: green (solid), amber (shaky), red (worried);
• which past papers you have not done yet.

headspace suggests a realistic plan with regular breaks and some spare time built in, because things always take longer than you expect. So leave a gap each day for catch-up. A plan you can actually follow beats a perfect plan you abandon on Tuesday.

Day 7 and day 6: find out where you really are

Sit one full past paper under exam conditions. Real timing, including reading time, no notes, phone in another room. Your exam authority publishes past papers and marking guidelines; use recent ones where the course has not changed.

Then mark it properly. Use the official marking guidelines or sample answers, not your gut feeling. Be a slightly mean marker.

Now make a fix list: every question where you lost marks, and why. Sort the reasons into three piles:

1. Didn't know it. A content gap.
2. Knew it but couldn't get it out. A recall or practice gap.
3. Lost marks on technique. Misread the question, ran out of time, didn't show working, didn't answer the verb (explain, evaluate, compare).

That list is your plan for the rest of the week. It is far more useful than rereading your notes from the start.

Day 5 and day 4: fix the gaps, one at a time

Work through your fix list, worst first.

• Content gaps: learn the idea from your notes or a good summary, then immediately do two or three questions on it. Reading alone does not count as fixing it.
• Recall gaps: quiz yourself. Flashcards, blurting (write everything you remember on a blank page, then check), or explaining it out loud to someone. Kids Helpline points out that just rereading and highlighting is passive and hard to remember, and that explaining things to someone else helps.
• Technique gaps: redo the exact question, this time answering what it actually asked. For extended responses, write a quick plan (thesis, three points, evidence) instead of a whole essay.

Short sessions work better than marathons here. headspace suggests trying 40 to 60 minutes of study, then a 5 to 10 minute break, and adjusting to what suits you.

Day 3: a second paper, then shrink your notes

Sit a second timed paper (or a timed section if a full paper will not fit). Mark it the same way. You should see some of the day 7 mistakes gone. That is real progress, and it is worth noticing.

Then make your one-page summary for the subject: the formulas, definitions, key quotes, dates or processes you keep forgetting. Only the things you actually need to look at again. If it does not fit on one or two pages, it is not a summary yet.

After today, leave big new topics alone. Adding a whole new area now usually costs more confidence than it gains marks.

Day 2: rehearse, don't rebuild

• Do a handful of short questions from your weakest areas, timed.
• Practise the first 10 minutes of the exam: reading time, choosing the order you will tackle questions, planning your extended responses. Our guide to using reading time well walks through a routine.
• Read your one-page summary twice, once in the morning and once in the evening.
• Check the logistics now so they are not a worry later: venue, start time and what you are allowed to bring. The rules are different in each state, so check your curriculum's guide (links in the night-before guide below).

Keep the evening light. Go to bed at your normal time.

Day 1: the day before

This is a taper day, not a cram day. headspace's advice for the day before is to skim your notes and key information but avoid cramming, check where and when the exam is and what to bring, do something relaxing, and get a good night's sleep.

• A short morning session: your one-page summary and a few quick questions you know you can do. Finish on something you get right.
• Pack your bag in the afternoon.
• Stop studying in the early evening.

Our night before and exam morning guide has the full checklist.

Sleep is part of the plan

It is tempting to trade sleep for one more hour of study. It does not pay. Kids Helpline explains that sleep is when working memory is consolidated into longer-term memory, and says plainly: don't skip sleep to study. headspace notes that enough sleep helps your energy, concentration and ability to cope with stress.

In practice:

• Keep a regular bedtime and wake time all week, close to the time you will need on exam day.
• Phone out of the bedroom, or at least out of reach.
• If your exam is in the morning, practise being sharp in the morning: do a timed paper at the same time of day as the real one.

Looking after yourself is not optional

A week of revision on no food, no movement and no people is not a better week of revision. It is a worse one.

• Eat properly. Regular meals and some snacks you actually like.
• Move. A walk, a swim, a kick of the footy between sessions.
• See someone. Twenty minutes with a friend or family member is not wasted time.
• Say no to the non-essentials. headspace says it is okay to say no to social plans or late nights in the days just before an exam, and to give yourself something to look forward to afterwards.

If stress is starting to get on top of you, read handling exam-week stress. It has quick techniques that help in the moment, and who to call.

If you have several exams in one week

• Plan backwards from each exam, then merge the plans on one page.
• The subject with the next exam gets most of each day; the others get a short daily touch (15 to 30 minutes of recall) so they do not go cold.
• After each exam, take the rest of that afternoon off before switching to the next subject. Don't post-mortem the paper you just sat: you can't change it, and it can shake your confidence before the next one.

A final word

You will not feel 100% ready. Almost nobody does, including the students who end up doing really well. Ready does not mean knowing everything. It means you have practised getting what you know onto the page, you have slept, and you turn up. That is completely within your control this week.