Choose tasks by asking how much time they need, how shaky the topic is, and how often it appears in your class work. Then fit the tasks into the hours you really have. If the total does not fit, cut tasks, not sleep.
This page is for students whose first goal is a solid pass. You do not need a perfect plan. You need one that survives a normal week.
Why does everything feel urgent?
When the exam is close, every topic looks equally important because you have not sized them. A list of twenty topics with no time estimates feels like twenty emergencies.
Sizing turns a wall of worry into a budget. Once each task has a rough time and a rough value, the choice becomes arithmetic.
How do I pick tasks, step by step?
- Count your real time for the next two weeks, block by block.
- List topics from your syllabus checklist (check your own entry and syllabus year on the Cambridge subject page).
- Rate each topic for shakiness: 1 (secure), 2 (partly), 3 (shaky).
- Estimate minutes to do one useful round: a few questions plus a check.
- Fill the time with shaky topics first, and leave a buffer of about one block per week.
Worked example
A student has two weeks.
Each week: five weekday blocks of 40 minutes, and one Saturday block of 90 minutes. One week is 5 × 40 + 90 = 290 minutes, so two weeks give 580 minutes.
The student keeps one 40-minute block per week as a buffer, which leaves 580 − 80 = 500 minutes.
The student lists six topics with a rough time for one useful round:
| Topic | Shakiness | Minutes for one round |
|---|---|---|
| Fractions and percentages | 2 | 60 |
| Algebra: solving equations | 3 | 120 |
| Ratio and proportion | 3 | 90 |
| Graphs | 2 | 90 |
| Geometry: angles | 1 | 40 |
| Statistics: averages | 2 | 60 |
Total for one round of everything: 60 + 120 + 90 + 90 + 40 + 60 = 460 minutes. That fits in 500 with 40 to spare, but leaves no time for a second round on shaky topics.
Better: give the two shaky topics a second round of 45 minutes each (90 total) and shorten the secure angles round to 20 minutes.
New total: 460 − 20 + 90 = 530. That is 30 too many, so drop the statistics round to 30 minutes. New total: 500 minutes.
The plan now fits exactly, and the student chose to use spare time on shaky topics.
What is a common mistake?
The common mistake is to plan every topic every day, for example a 10-minute slice of each of six topics in one evening. Short slices with constant switching mean nothing is finished.
Mistaken plan: 30 minutes each evening with five topics in rotation, six minutes each.
Six minutes is barely enough to open the notes and read one question. Nothing is completed or checked.
The correction is to give each block one topic and one outcome, such as “finish five ratio questions and check the answers”. Variety across the week, not inside a single block, keeps the work finishable.
Check yourself
1. You have five blocks of 30 minutes and want one 30-minute buffer. How many minutes can you assign to tasks?
Show answer
Total is 5 × 30 = 150. Remove the buffer: 150 − 30 = 120 minutes.
2. Your task list needs 210 minutes but your plan has room for 150. Give two sensible ways to fit.
Show answer
The shortfall is 210 − 150 = 60 minutes. Drop or shorten the secure topics first, and remove the lowest-value task. Do not add late-night blocks. Another way is to move one task to a later week if the exam date allows.
3. A student rates algebra 3, angles 1 and ratio 2. In what order should they use their first blocks?
Show answer
Algebra first (most shaky), then ratio, then angles if time remains. Shaky topics get the first blocks while energy is highest.
What should I do next?
The realistic revision planner lets you enter your blocks, your own exam dates and your topics, and shows any overload clearly. Then read separating required scope from optional extension, and reviewing a partial answer constructively for what to do with practice you have finished.
For other situations, see the students’ guide.
A pass plan is easier when someone checks that the tasks are matched to your own syllabus. You can discuss that in the trial hour of online one-to-one Mathematics tuition. Fees, schedules and any later arrangement are confirmed directly with your assigned teacher after the trial.