The CA Hub

Free tool

Smart Study Planner

Your exam, planned day by day. Pick your papers and exam date and get a plan that weights every chapter, schedules spaced revision and saves the last stretch for mocks.

How to build a study plan for ICAP, ACCA, ICAI, CIMA, ICAEW and US CMA exams

Professional accountancy exams reward coverage and recall under time pressure. Whether you are sitting ICAP PRC or CAF, an ACCA Applied Knowledge or Applied Skills paper, ICAI CA Foundation or Intermediate, the CIMA Certificate, the ICAEW ACA Certificate Level or US CMA Part 1 or 2, the students who pass are rarely the ones who studied the longest. They are the ones who planned their hours around the syllabus and left time to practise. A good study plan answers three questions: how much time you really have, where the marks are, and when you will revise.

1. Count your real study hours

Start from the exam date and work backwards. Be honest about weekdays: after work, university or articleship, two focused hours beats an imagined five. Weekends can usually carry more. Mark the days you know you will not study (family events, a weekly day off) so that the plan does not quietly assume them. The planner above multiplies these numbers out for you, so you can see the total hours available before you commit to a date.

2. Weight chapters by the marks, not the page count

Not every chapter is equal. In ACCA Financial Reporting, consolidations and IFRS standards carry far more marks than the conceptual framework; in CAF and CA Inter costing papers, a handful of techniques appear in almost every sitting. We use the number of questions in our bank for each chapter as a proxy for how heavily it is examined, then adjust for your confidence: weak chapters earn extra time and strong ones less. That is the single biggest change most students can make to a plan.

3. Schedule revision before you need it

Memory fades fast. Revisiting a topic one day, four days and about eleven days after you first learn it (spaced repetition) keeps it alive with very little extra time. Book those short reviews into the plan from the start, ahead of new material, rather than hoping to "go back over everything" at the end. If you are studying two papers together, interleave them so both move forward each week instead of finishing one and forgetting it while you start the next.

4. Protect the final 15% for mocks

The last two weeks of a ten-week plan should contain no new content. Use them for full timed mocks (in exam conditions, ideally the same CBE format as the real exam) and targeted revision of the chapters that cost you marks. Keep the day before the exam light: a short review, an early night and no new topics.

5. Practise questions every single day

Reading is not studying. Every block in your plan links to free chapter-wise MCQs on The CA Hub, so you finish each session by testing yourself. Tick the task off, watch your progress bar move, and if you miss a day, clear the catch-up list before you start anything new. Then share the planner with your study group on WhatsApp: plans are easier to keep when your friends are following one too.

Looking for questions to go with your plan? Browse the free MCQ practice library or try today's daily challenge.

Study planner FAQ

Is the study planner really free?

Yes. The planner, the calendar export and every linked MCQ practice set are free. There is no sign-up: your plan is saved in your own browser, so it is there when you come back on the same device.

How does the planner decide how long to spend on each chapter?

Each chapter's share of your study time follows its share of the question bank, which tracks how heavily the syllabus tests it. Chapters you rate as weak get up to 60% more time and chapters you rate as strong get less, so your hours go where the marks are.

What is spaced revision and why is it built in?

Spaced revision means revisiting a topic a day, four days and eleven days after you first study it. Each short review interrupts forgetting, so far more survives to exam day than if you studied the chapter once. The planner schedules these reviews ahead of new material on the day they fall due.

Why are the last days only mocks and revision?

Roughly the final 15% of your study days is kept free of new content. Timed mocks build exam stamina and time management, and the revision blocks target your heaviest and weakest chapters. The day before the exam is deliberately light.

Can I plan more than one paper at once?

Yes. Pick several papers and the planner interleaves them so each one moves forward at the same pace, then rotates the mock exams between them in the final stretch.

Can I put the plan in Google Calendar or print it?

Yes. 'Add to calendar' downloads an .ics file that Google Calendar, Apple Calendar and Outlook can import, with one entry per study day and practice links inside. 'Print / PDF' gives a clean printable timetable you can save as a PDF.

What if I fall behind?

Unticked tasks from the past week appear under 'Catch up' in the Today view. If you have fallen far behind, edit your inputs (for example, add an hour a day) and rebuild: your plan is regenerated from today.