How to Study for Exams: A Step-by-Step Plan

Updated 2026-09-29 · By the Notes for iPad team

Good exam prep isn't about studying longer. It's about knowing exactly what's on the test, spreading your study over several days and spending most of the time testing yourself. Here's a plan you can start today, whether the exam is in three weeks or five days.

Step 1: Turn the syllabus into a topic list

Start by finding out what the exam covers. Collect the syllabus, the course schedule, any review sheet from the instructor, your lecture notes and past exams if they're available. Then write a list of every topic that could be tested, one per line.

Next to each topic, rate how well you know it right now:

• Green: I could explain it and solve problems on it without notes.
• Yellow: I recognize it but would struggle to explain or apply it.
• Red: I don't really understand it, or I missed that class.

Also note how heavily each topic is weighted. A red topic that's a third of the exam comes first; a green topic worth one question comes last. This list is the backbone of your plan, and it takes about 30 minutes to make.

Step 2: Build a study guide

A study guide is a condensed version of the course, organized by your topic list. The key is to write it as questions and short answers, not as a summary to reread. For each topic:

• 3–10 questions that cover what you need to know ("What are the three branches of government and what does each do?").
• Key definitions, formulas and dates.
• One worked example for problem-based topics.
• A note of anything the instructor stressed in class.

Building the guide is itself studying, because you have to decide what matters and put it in your own words. If you took Cornell notes, your cue columns already contain most of the questions. The study guide template gives you a ready layout with space for topics, questions and key terms.

Step 3: Schedule spaced sessions

Spread your study across several days instead of cramming it into one. Seeing each topic several times, with gaps in between, is what spaced repetition means, and it generally leads to longer-lasting memory than one long session.

Count the days until the exam and plan backward. An example for an exam in 10 days:

Put each session on a specific day and time, with a specific topic. "Study bio Tuesday" rarely happens; "Tuesday 4–5 pm: cell respiration questions" usually does. A study planner template makes this easy to lay out for several subjects at once.

Step 4: Study by testing yourself

In each session, spend most of your time retrieving information from memory rather than rereading it:

1. Warm up (5 minutes): answer a few questions from the previous session without notes.
2. Learn (15–20 minutes): go through the new topic in your notes or textbook until it makes sense. If something doesn't, try the Feynman technique: explain it simply and find where you get stuck.
3. Recall (15–20 minutes): close everything and answer the study guide questions for that topic, or write down all you remember on a blank page. Check and mark what you missed.
4. Wrap up (5 minutes): update the topic's color in your list and note which questions to repeat next time.

Mix topics once you've covered them. Doing a set of problems from several chapters together (sometimes called interleaving) is harder than doing one chapter at a time, but it's closer to what the exam asks: figuring out which method a problem needs. Our active recall guide covers more techniques, like blurting and flashcards.

Step 5: Take practice tests

A practice test is the most realistic rehearsal you can do. Use past exams, the textbook's review questions or questions you wrote yourself, and set up exam conditions: timed, no notes, no phone.

After the test, the review matters more than the score. For each mistake, write down why it happened:

• Didn't know it: go back to that topic in your study guide.
• Knew it but misapplied it: do more mixed practice problems.
• Careless error or ran out of time: practice timing and a habit of checking.

Redo every question you got wrong a day or two later, without looking at the solution.

Step 6: Final review

In the last day or two, don't try to learn big new topics. Go through your whole study guide once, answering questions from memory, and spend extra time on anything still yellow or red. Make a one-page sheet of the facts that keep slipping (formulas, dates, exceptions) and read it over a few times. This is also a good moment to check the logistics: time, room, what you're allowed to bring.

The night before

• Do a short review, not a cram session. An hour with your one-page sheet and a few recall questions is plenty.
• Pack your bag: ID, pens, pencils, calculator (with working batteries), water, anything else allowed.
• Sleep. Pulling an all-nighter trades a little extra review for a tired brain during the exam. Aim for a normal night's sleep.
• Set two alarms and plan how you'll get there, with time to spare.

Exam day

• Eat something and arrive early so you're not rushed.
• Skip the last-minute panic chat outside the room if it makes you anxious. Glance at your one-page sheet instead.
• Read the whole exam first. Note how many points each section is worth and budget your time.
• Start with questions you know to build momentum, then return to the hard ones.
• Write down formulas as soon as you're allowed, before you forget them under pressure.
• Leave time to check your answers, especially calculations and questions you skipped.

Keeping it all on an iPad

If your notes are on an iPad, keep the topic list, study guide and planner in the same notebook as your class notes so everything is in one place. You can duplicate a page of study guide questions and answer them from scratch each session, and import past exams as PDFs to write on directly. Notes for iPad has study guide and study planner templates built in, plus PDF import for past papers.

Summary: List every topic and rate it, build a question-based study guide, schedule spaced sessions starting with your weakest and heaviest topics, spend each session testing yourself, take at least one timed practice test, and finish with a light review and a full night's sleep.

Free study guide template → · Study planner template

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