Exam Strategy
Board Revision Timetable: 45 Days, Five Subjects, No Panic
A revision plan that assumes you have not finished the syllabus, because most students have not. Built around chapter weightage rather than page count.
Every revision timetable you find online assumes you have completed the syllabus and just need to revise it. Most students in February have not. This plan assumes there are chapters you have never properly read, and puts them in the right place.
Days 1 to 5: audit, do not study
Go through every chapter of every subject and mark it green, amber or red. Green means you could attempt a board question today. Amber means you knew it once. Red means you have not read it. Do not study during these five days; the audit is the work.
Days 6 to 25: reds, weighted by marks
Sort your red chapters by board weightage and start at the top. A ten-mark chapter you have not read is worth five four-mark chapters you half-know. This is the part of the plan students resist and it is the part that moves the score.
Days 26 to 38: papers, not chapters
One full-length paper per day, timed, on paper, without the book. Then two hours of checking against the marking scheme. You will learn more from checking than from writing.
Days 39 to 45: greens and formats
The last week is for the chapters you already know and the formats you write from memory. No new material. Sleep normally. The marginal chapter learned on day 44 is not worth the four hours of concentration it costs you on day 45.
- One full-length paper per day between days 26 and 38
- Check against the marking scheme, not the answer key
- No new chapters after day 38
- Eight hours of sleep from day 40 onwards — it is part of the plan
