How do I make an exam timetable?

Start from the official timetable your school or exam board publishes, then enter every paper (subject, paper number, date, start time and room) into one place, giving each subject its own colour. Doing the whole season in one sitting takes about ten minutes and is what makes the timetable useful rather than just complete.

1. Get the official dates

Your school issues a personalised timetable, usually a term ahead. If you only have the board's general one, check it against your actual subjects and tiers. That is where mistakes creep in.

Take the start time and the room as well as the date. Both matter on the day, and neither is memorable a month out.

2. Put the whole season in at once

The temptation is to add papers as they come up. Resist it. A timetable is only useful when it can show you the whole run, and half a season tells you nothing about where the pressure is.

3. Give every subject a colour

One colour per subject, kept consistent across every paper in it. Make adjacent subjects contrast: if Chemistry and Biology are both green you will misread your own list. An icon per subject helps as much as the colour does.

4. Look at the shape before you plan revision

Now look at the whole thing on a month view. Almost everyone finds one or two stretches they had not noticed: three papers in four days, or a fortnight gap. Those clusters are what a revision plan should be built around.

5. Set reminders and stop thinking about it

A reminder a month out, one a week out and one the day before covers most people. After that, the timetable does the remembering and you can get on with revising.

Exam Countdown is free and does all of the above: unlimited exams, colours and icons, reminders, and a widget so the next paper is on your Home Screen. See Add your first exam.