What is a study plan?
A study plan is an organised schedule that students create that outlines study times and learning goals. Creating a study plan not only helps you become more organised, but it also holds you accountable for your own learning outcomes.
Why do I need a study plan?
A study plan is an effective way to help you navigate through your education in an organised way. When creating your personalised study plan, you will need to do some self-evaluation of your current schedule and time management. Find days when you have fewer personal commitments when you can fit in some study periods.
You’ll have to identify your learning goals for each study session in order to maximise these scheduled study times. Determine why you are studying, and develop a plan that can help you achieve those goals.
Lastly, create a study plan that is reasonable. Although you must set aside enough time in your schedule dedicated to your studies, blocking off five hours with no break will set you up for failure. You can spend less time studying if you do it correctly.
The two most useful planning aids you can use are:
- Weekly study timetable. This lets you know when you should be studying and when you should be off doing something else (without feeling guilty).
- Subject planner. This gives an overview of what is needed in a particular subject.
Making a Weekly Study Timetable
Making a study timetable is one of the most important things you can do to help you study effectively. For a detailed look at how to make a personalised study plan, explore the step-by-step instructions below.
- Block out the time you’re doing extracurricular activities
- Block out the times you really don’t want to study
- Pick the times you will study
- Fill in the subjects you will study in each time slot
Weekly Study Timetable
Before looking at the amount of time you need to spend studying, remember the following points:
- Some subjects consume more of your time than others. This is natural and it will depend on how much work you need to do in each one.
- It’s easy to focus on the subjects we like most, so be careful not to neglect other subjects.
- Plan to study at least three subjects each day (to keep your study varied and stimulating).
- It can be difficult to keep on top of everything during the week, so the weekend can be a good time to catch up in some areas.
- Remember, Friday evening is a great time to complete homework for the weekend and leave Saturday and Sunday free for study purposes.
- It is recommended that a Leaving Cert student should aim to study between four and eight hours at the weekend.
Every student is different, but here is a rough guide to how many hours you should spend every day on homework and study combined.
- First year – 1.5 hours per day
- Second year – 2 hrs per day
- Third year – 2.5 – 3hrs per day
- Fifth year – 3 – 4hrs per day
- Sixth year – 3.5hrs – 5hrs per day
Making a Subject Planner
The next useful thing you can make is a subject planner. It contains a list of all the topics in that subject so that you have some idea of what’s done and what needs to be done. Your teacher may provide this list.
The planner we use allows students to rate the difficulty of the topic so they know which ones might need further revision and then record whether they have made notes and tried exam questions on that topic.