Study habits

A one-week revision loop for one DP unit

Reading a unit again feels productive, but it rarely shows you what you cannot yet do. A short loop of recall, practice and correction does, and it fits around a full DP timetable.

By TeachAI IB7 October 2026

Why a loop works better than rereading

Two habits are widely supported by learning research: retrieval practice (bringing ideas back from memory instead of rereading them) and spacing (returning to them after a gap). The loop below uses both, and it ends with evidence of what you still need to fix.

The week at a glance

Day	Task	Time
1	Read one section of the unit, then close it and write what you remember. Check and fill the gaps.	30 min
2	Read the exam tips and common mistakes for the unit. Turn each into a question for yourself.	20 min
3	Do the unit’s practice questions under time, without notes.	40 min
4	Mark your answers against the mark scheme. Log every lost mark and why you lost it.	30 min
6	Retest yourself on the logged mistakes only.	20 min

Leave day 5 and day 7 free. The gap before the retest is part of the method.

Keep a mistake log

Write the question, the mark you lost and the reason: missing knowledge, misread command term, missing unit or label, or ran out of time.
Rewrite the corrected answer in full, not just the right option.
Start next week’s loop by retesting last week’s log.

Scale it to SL or HL

If you take a subject at SL, skip the HL-only sections the first time through and spend that time on practice. At HL, give the HL-only sections their own day 1, because they are often where the longer questions come from.

Check your own course

Assessment details and command-term definitions are set by your subject guide and can change between guide editions. Check the guide for your examination session and follow your teacher’s advice. The methods and examples above are written by TeachAI IB.

Put the idea into practice

Explore your unit notes →