What is a good spaced repetition schedule?
A good spaced repetition schedule reviews new material 1, 3, 7, 14 and 30 days after you first learn it. If you recall an item easily, wait longer before the next review. If you miss it, bring it back the next day. Fit the schedule to your exam date, and put the last review one or two days before the test.
In more detail
The idea is simple. Each time you pull something from memory just before you would forget it, it stays longer, so the gaps between reviews can grow. The 1-3-7-14 pattern is a standard version, taught for example by the University of Arizona's Thrive Center, and the 2357 method taught at Birmingham City University is a similar short ladder. Add a 30-day review for material you need for a whole semester.
The gap should match how long you need to remember. Research on spacing by Cepeda and colleagues (2008) found that the best gap grows with the time until the test: roughly a day for a test a week away, and a few weeks for a test a year away. A practical rule is a first gap of about 10 to 20 percent of the time you have. With four weeks to go, that means your first review lands 3 to 5 days after learning.
Then adjust to how it went. An easy recall earns a longer gap, about double. A miss resets that item to tomorrow. Apps such as Anki do this arithmetic for you with their Again, Hard, Good and Easy buttons. On paper, a calendar with the review dates written in the day you learn something does the job. Keep each review short and active: test yourself, do not reread.
A 1-3-7-14-30 review ladder
| Review | When | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Day 1 | Quick recall test with no notes |
| 2nd | Day 3 | Test again and fix what you missed |
| 3rd | Day 7 | Mixed test with other topics |
| 4th | Day 14 | Test from scratch and focus on weak items |
| 5th | Day 30 | Final check, then monthly if the exam is far away |
Step by step
- 1
Learn the material and write down the date. That is day 0.
- 2
Test yourself without notes on day 1, then day 3, day 7, day 14 and day 30.
- 3
After each review, sort the items: the ones you recalled move to the next longer gap, and the ones you missed come back tomorrow.
- 4
Squeeze the gaps to fit your exam date, drop any review that falls after the exam, and put the last one a day or two before it.
- 5
Keep each review to 15 to 30 minutes of recall, not rereading.
- 6
Put the review dates in your calendar on the day you learn something, not later.
How StudyPDF helps
Set an exam date in a course's Plan tab, plus your hours per day and the weekdays you study, and StudyPDF builds a dated plan of sessions (read, flashcards, quiz, exam, review, rest) up to the exam. It reads your mastery per concept, so topics you keep missing get earlier and repeated sessions. That is a calendar built from your weak spots, not the fixed 1-3-7-14 ladder above. If you want Anki's own scheduler, flashcards export to Anki (.apkg). The free plan covers about 4 materials a week, no card needed.
See also
More questions
How many reviews does it take for something to stick?
There is no fixed number. The ladder above uses five reviews over a month, a common starting point. Keep reviewing an item until you can recall it without effort, and shorten the gap again whenever you miss it.
Does spaced repetition work if my exam is only a week away?
Yes, just compress it. Review on day 1, day 3 and day 6, and put the last review the day before the exam. The gaps are shorter, but spreading the same study time over several days still beats one long session.
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