How to Study for Exams in a Week: A 7-Day Revision Plan

Plan the week before you start

Spend the first half hour of the week on a plan rather than on studying. Write down every chapter of every paper and put each one in one of three groups:

• Strengths: topics you get right every time. They need a quick review, not more hours.
• Weaknesses: topics you understand but still make mistakes in. This is where the week's hours make the most difference.
• Threats: topics you still don't understand after several tries. In the final week, learn only their basics, or leave them and protect the marks you can earn elsewhere.

Don't start any new topic this week. You are unlikely to master it in a few days, and the time is worth more on topics you already partly know.

If you are starting late

One week is enough to revise and practise, not to learn a whole syllabus. If you have gaps, pick the chapters you have partly studied, go through your notes or the study material for them, and practise past-paper questions from those chapters. In our experience, a chapter you can answer questions on is worth more than several you have only skimmed.

Check how your papers are spaced

Your time table decides how much revision has to be finished before the first paper. In the institutes' latest time tables:

Sources: ICAI announcements of 23 September 2026 (January 2027 exams) and 2 May 2026 (November 2026 exams); ICSI and ICMAI time tables for December 2026.

If you get a free day between papers, as in the CA exams, use the final week mainly for the first two or three papers and the free days for the next one. With papers on consecutive days there is no free day, so the final week has to cover every paper, and the evening before each paper is only enough for its summary sheet. Check the time table for your own session on icai.org, icsi.edu or icmai.in.

A 7-day revision plan

The plan is for one paper, or for the first paper in your time table. If you have several papers, follow the same pattern for each (notes and summary sheet first, then timed practice) and rotate subjects, so every paper gets at least one timed attempt before the exams start, even if it is only part of a paper.

Practise with full papers against the clock

Writing complete papers is the most useful thing you can do in the final week. You find out what you actually remember, learn how long each question takes, and get used to finishing on time. A few rules make each paper count:

• One sitting, real time limit. Write the paper at the time of day of your exam. Our daily routine for CA, CS and CMA students lists the exam timings for each level.
• Use reading time as you will in the exam. ICAI gives 15 minutes' advance reading time from 1:45 PM in every paper except Foundation Papers 3 and 4, and ICSI's December 2026 time table gives 15 minutes from 2:00 to 2:15 PM. Practise reading the whole paper first and deciding the order in which you will answer.
• Mark it honestly. Check your answers against the institute's suggested answers, note where you lost marks, and revise those topics the same day.
• Answer your strengths first. In the exam, start with questions on your strong topics and spend the least time on your threats.

Where to get official practice papers

• CA: ICAI's Board of Studies publishes a Revision Test Paper and Mock Test Papers before every exam, and suggested answers to the questions set in past exams, on its Knowledge Portal (ICAI Prospectus, June 2025). Our guide to self-study for CA at home explains how to use each of these.
• CMA: ICMAI lists model question papers, an MCQ portal, and the question papers and suggested answers of its last exam among its student resources (CMA Prospectus 2025).
• CS: ICSI says it conducts mock tests, crash courses and revision classes before each exam, along with doubt-clearing classes for June and December exam students and recorded lectures on its e-learning portal (Student Services FAQs, 18 September 2026).

Practise the answer format too

Many papers have a multiple-choice part, and how you mark it matters as much as knowing the answer:

• CA Intermediate and Final: MCQs make up 30% of each Intermediate paper and of Final Papers 1 to 5, and 40% of Final Paper 6 (Integrated Business Solutions), with no negative marking (ICAI guidance notes for the September and November 2026 exams; ICAI FAQs). Mark MCQ answers only on the OMR sheet on the cover page of the answer book; MCQ answers written inside the book are not evaluated. Write the 7-digit question booklet number in the box with a pen, darken the circles below it with a pencil, and check it twice: a wrong number can get your MCQ answers marked wrong (ICAI's guidelines on MCQ responses).
• CA Foundation Papers 3 and 4: these are objective papers with 0.25 marks deducted for each wrong answer (ICAI FAQs), so guess only when you can rule out the other options. If you darken a wrong option on the OMR sheet, erase it neatly before marking the right one; if the machine reads both, you get no marks for that question.
• CMA Foundation: in December 2026 each paper has 50 MCQs of 2 marks each, answered on an OMR sheet, with no negative marking (ICMAI time table), so answer every question.

Revise actively, not by rereading

The common complaint "I forget what I studied as soon as I sit the exam" often comes from revision that is only reading. Reading notes feels productive, but in our experience you remember far more when you make yourself recall the answer before you look. These methods work well in the last week:

• Read your notes aloud, then close them. Say or write the main points from memory, then check what you missed.
• Start with the core material: formulas, standard formats, sections and definitions, important charts and diagrams, and worked examples. You will need them in almost every answer.
• Get someone to quiz you. Give a friend or family member your summary sheets or study material and let them ask the questions. A question you get wrong now is one you are more likely to get right in the exam.
• Use flashcards for definitions, sections, formats and formulas, and go through them in short gaps during the day.
• Rework numerical questions. For accounts, costing, maths and tax computations, solve examples again with a pen instead of reading the solution, using the calculator you will take to the exam. ICAI's calculator rule is explained in our CA Foundation guide.
• Clear doubts quickly. Take a doubt to your teacher, a doubt session or a revision class rather than leaving it. A short video on one specific topic can help, but this is not the week to start a new lecture series.

For more ways to stay focused and remember what you study, see how to improve concentration and memory while studying.

Look after your sleep and stress

Feeling nervous in the last week is normal, but stress makes it harder to concentrate, so build some recovery into each day:

• Exercise for 20 to 30 minutes: a workout, yoga or a brisk walk.
• Walk between study blocks, around the neighbourhood or on your terrace.
• Try a few minutes of meditation or slow breathing, with a guided recording if that helps.
• Do something you enjoy for a short while: music, an instrument, dancing, or time with family and friends.
• Keep your sleep. Go to bed and get up at your usual times. In our experience, a late night of cramming costs more the next day than it adds.

Think positively about the exam, too. Most of the work is already done; this week is about making it count.

Get ready for exam day

Do the practical jobs early in the week so they don't eat into the last day.

Admit card, calculator and phone

• Admit card. ICAI hosts admit cards on its Self Service Portal (eservices.icai.org) generally 14 days before the exam and sends no printed copy. When you print yours, check your name, registration number, centre, medium and group (ICAI guidance notes for the September and November 2026 exams). ICSI makes the Executive and Professional admit cards available on icsi.edu 10 days before the exams (Student Services FAQs), and ICMAI says detailed instructions come with its admit card (Foundation time table, December 2026). Read the instructions that come with yours.
• Calculator. ICAI allows only a battery-operated portable calculator with up to 6 functions, 12 digits and two memories; scientific calculators are not allowed, and using a calculator that does not meet the rule counts as unfair means (ICAI guidance notes). For CS and CMA exams, follow the instructions issued with your admit card.
• Phone. ICAI does not allow mobile phones or other electronic gadgets, apart from the permitted calculator, in the exam hall, and having a phone with you counts as unfair means even if it is switched off or on silent (ICAI guidance notes). Decide in advance where you will leave yours.

The evening before and the exam morning

• Find your exam centre and how long it takes to get there, if you have not done so already.
• Pack your admit card, pens, calculator and anything else the admit card instructions ask for.
• Revise only your summary sheets and flashcards. Don't write a full paper late in the evening or open a new topic.
• Eat a normal meal and go to bed at your usual time.
• In the morning, leave early enough to reach the centre without rushing. In the exam, use any reading time you are given to plan your paper before you start writing.