Spaced repetition: a simple four-week revision plan

28 October 2026 · 2 min read

Cramming feels productive because everything is fresh in your head the night before. A week later, most of it has gone. Spaced repetition fixes that by bringing a topic back just as you're about to forget it. Each return makes the memory last longer.

The idea in one minute

When you learn something, you start forgetting it almost straight away. If you review it after a day, then a few days, then a week, then a few weeks, each gap can be longer than the last. You spend less total time and remember more. The exact numbers don't matter much. What matters is spreading things out and testing yourself each time.

A simple review pattern

For each topic, review it:

1. The same day you learn it (quickly, from memory).
2. One day later.
3. Three or four days later.
4. One week later.
5. Two to three weeks later.

You don't need an app for this. A page in a notebook with the topics down the side and the review dates across the top will do.

A four-week plan you can copy

Say you're revising six topics across two subjects.

Week 1: learn and test

• Learn two topics each day (about 30 to 40 minutes each).
• Finish each with 5 minutes of blank-page recall.
• Tick off the same-day review.

Week 2: first reviews

• Spend 15 minutes each evening testing yourself on last week's topics (day-1 and day-3 reviews).
• Learn any remaining new topics.

Week 3: second reviews and practice

• Do the one-week review on everything from week 1.
• Add exam-style questions on the weakest topics.

Week 4: mixed practice

• Mix topics together in one session.
• Do timed questions or a past paper section.
• Keep the 2 to 3 week review for the topics you found hardest.

The paper method: a Leitner box

If you use flashcards, make three piles or boxes: Daily, Every few days and Weekly.

• Get a card right: move it to the next box.
• Get it wrong: back to Daily.

Each day, go through Daily, and the others on their days. Hard cards naturally show up more often.

Making it stick

• Test, don't reread. A review means trying to recall, then checking.
• Be honest. If you hesitated, count it as wrong.
• Protect the habit. Ten minutes every day beats two hours on a Sunday.
• Don't start too late. Spacing needs time. Even two weeks of it helps.

Where tools help

Apps and AI helpers can make the flashcards and quizzes for each review, so you spend your time recalling rather than preparing. Study Buddy's Cards and Quiz pages do the preparing from your own notes. The spacing is up to you, so put the review days in your calendar.