Seven, fourteen and thirty-day revision plans
Three realistic revision plans depending on how long you have, and the principles behind them.
Whatever length of plan you use, four principles do the heavy lifting.
- Start with what you are worst at. Revising what you already know feels productive and teaches nothing.
- Test yourself instead of rereading. Retrieving something from memory is what makes it stick. Rereading produces a comfortable feeling of familiarity and very little else.
- Mix topics. Answering fourteen questions about tyres in a row is easier at the time and worse a week later than mixing them up.
- Space it out. Twenty minutes a day for a fortnight beats five hours on a Sunday, by a wide margin.
The study plan builder will lay any of these out around your actual test date, ordered by your own weakest topics.
Seven days
Tight, but workable if you are starting from some knowledge.
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1 | Readiness check, then the two weakest topics it finds |
| 2 | Next two weak topics: lessons, then the topic tests |
| 3 | Road signs and markings — the biggest single share of the paper |
| 4 | Mixed practice, plus everything in your mistake notebook |
| 5 | Hazard perception — it is half the test and needs its own time |
| 6 | Full mock test under exam conditions, then a proper review |
| 7 | Only what the mock exposed. Then stop early and sleep |
Fourteen days
The version we would actually recommend.
- Days 1–2 — Readiness check, then the weakest three topics.
- Days 3–6 — Two topics a day: read the lessons, take the topic test, note the mistakes.
- Day 7 — Signs and markings, plus mixed practice.
- Days 8–9 — Hazard perception: potential versus developing hazards, scanning, then timed practice.
- Day 10 — First full mock. Review it properly — spend longer on the results than on the test.
- Days 11–12 — The topics the mock exposed, plus your mistake notebook daily.
- Day 13 — Second full mock, on a different day from the first so it tests retention rather than short-term memory.
- Day 14 — Light review of your key points. Stop by early evening.
Thirty days
Best if you are starting from nothing, or coming back after a fail.
- Week 1 — Readiness check, then work through the four or five topics you are weakest on. One topic per session, lessons then questions.
- Week 2 — The remaining topics, two per session. Add ten minutes of sign flashcards to each day.
- Week 3 — Hazard perception, mixed practice, and your first two full mocks on different days. Start using the mistake notebook every single day.
- Week 4 — Two more mocks, spaced. Between them, revisit only what the mocks and your mistake list say is still weak. Final two days light.
Where people go wrong
- Revising only multiple choice. You must pass both parts. A perfect 50/50 with 40/75 on hazard perception is a fail.
- Doing question after question without reading the explanations. The explanation is the lesson. The score is just a number.
- Only ever practising one topic at a time. Real papers interleave, so your practice should too.
- Cramming the night before. It raises anxiety and displaces sleep, both of which cost you more marks than the extra hour gains.
See also: the most common mistakes people make.
Sources checked for this page
We summarise official guidance in our own words. Where the rules matter legally, check the official source. This site is not affiliated with DVSA.