Learning & Education
Year-Long Study Plan: Six Phases to Exam Day
Intermediate | 1 whiteboard page · Task board: 5 columns (5 parent tasks, 10 subtasks)
Intermediate: Method names appear, but the whiteboard explains the key points. Use the examples as a guide and fill it in, thinking it through for your own situation.
A year-long study plan template for the final exam year, opened in its first month once your target schools are broadly settled, to split the run-up to the exam into six phases. The whiteboard holds your declared targets and score goals, six phases from foundations to the home stretch, a phase-by-subject table of what done looks like, and a 2x2 sorting subjects by weighting against current score. The task board makes five stages parent tasks — set the year plan, build the basics, track mock results, move to past papers, run the final phase — so every mock result rewrites next month's hours.
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Exam Year Annual Plan
How to use: (1) Write the target schools, score goals, and weekly hours first → (2) Fill the six phases and the per-subject goals, then rebalance every month from your mock results
This year, declared
- Targets and route Name your first choice and two backups, plus the subjects and weightings each entry route uses. A different route changes what matters.
- Score goals Work back from the pass line to a target score rate per subject. These numbers are examples; overwrite them with your own.
- Hours you can protect Write weekday and rest-day hours separately, based on what you actually managed last week rather than the ideal.
- Assume it slips Plans always slip. Book one slot at each month's end to move the missed work into the following month.
Six phases of the exam year
- Foundations Months 1-3. One pass over textbook level in every subject, closing gaps.
- Consolidate Months 4-5. Finish the standard problem set, heaviest-weighted subject first.
- Long break Give the long break to your weakest subject. Fix the daily shape before it starts.
- Applied work Months 7-9. Move to applied questions shaped like your target papers.
- Past papers Months 10-11. Re-sit five years of papers under the real time limit.
- Home stretch Add nothing new. Lock in known ground and your exam-day routine.
What "done" means, phase by subject
| Foreign language | Math | First language | Science & social | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basics | Recall the whole core word list | Solve every textbook example | Recite the grammar rules once | One pass through the glossary |
| Refine | One long passage read daily | Two passes of the standard set | Hold three answer templates | 70% on topic-by-topic drills |
| Practice | Two passages inside the clock | One long question in 20 minutes | Re-mark your own written answers | Frequent topics across past years |
| Final | Fifteen minutes aloud, daily | One problem a day to spot gaps | Reread answers you already wrote | Only the errors from recent sets |
Deciding where the hours go
Vertical axis: Weighting in the exam (small to large) / Horizontal axis: Current score rate (low to high)
- First call on time Heavily weighted, scoring poorly. Send 40% of the weekly hours here and rebuild from basics.
- Protect the marks Heavily weighted and already strong. Two sessions a week to stay sharp; hold rather than push.
- Cap the effort Lightly weighted and weak. Cover only the frequent topics and give the time back to bigger subjects.
- Quick loops only Lightly weighted but strong. One check a month is enough; hand the spare hours to other subjects.
How you run the week
- Set next week's load on Sunday night
- At most two subjects on a weekday
- Drop leftovers, never roll them over
Why plans fall apart
- Favorite subjects eat the hours
- Cram before a mock, drift after
- Too many books, none finished
Review notes
- One line per mock on what improved
- Keep the routine that actually stuck
- Note books you dropped, and why
Task board contents
Not started 15 items
Set the year plan
Write down target schools, score goals, and the study hours you can actually protect each week. Leave this vague and the time split never settles.
Set target scores
List your first choice and backups, the subjects and weightings each entry route uses, and a target score rate per subject. Work back from the pass line.
Count weekly hours
Split weekdays from rest days and count the hours you actually sat down last week. Use the record, not the ideal.
Build the basics
Make one pass over textbook level in every subject and close the gaps. Skip this and later practice spins without traction.
List weak areas
Read your recent scripts and name up to three topics per subject where marks cluster. Judge from the scripts, not from feel.
Finish core books
Pick one core book per subject, set an end date, and finish it. One completed pass beats three books left half-done.
Track mock results
Place mock exams as the milestones of the year and feed each result back into how you split your time. Never just sit them and move on.
Log the mock dates
Lay out every mock across the year and set a readiness deadline two weeks before each one. Note the sign-up cut-offs too.
Rebalance by score
Re-plot each subject on the 2x2 by its score rate and rewrite next month's hours accordingly.
Move to past papers
Shift to applied work shaped like your target papers and sit past papers under real conditions. Familiarity with the format is built here.
Time every attempt
Work through five years of past papers under the real time limit. Do not pause the clock, and record where you ran out.
Sort the mistakes
Split every wrong answer into missing knowledge, slipped method, or ran out of time, then build next week around the largest pile.
Run the final phase
Add no new material, lock in what you already know, and settle your exam-day routine and condition. Keep plan changes to a minimum now.
Fix the weekly plan
Each weekend, move the slipped work into next week and decide openly what to drop. Do not let backlog roll twice.
Prep body and day
Shift your wake-up time to match the exam start, and write out what to bring and how you travel to the venue.
