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Study hours planner
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Your study hours before an exam are the study days you have left times the hours you can give each day. Enter your exam date, hours per day, study days per week and your subjects with weights. The planner shows the total hours, a share set aside for revision and full mocks, and the hours each subject gets in total and per week.
How the planner counts
- Days left. From your start date up to the exam date. The start day is included and the exam day is not.
- Study days. Days left × study days per week ÷ 7, rounded down. Studying 6 days a week for 93 days gives 79 study days.
- Total hours. Study days × hours per study day.
- Revision and mocks. A share of the total, 20% by default, is set aside for revision and full-length mock tests. The 20% is our starting suggestion, not an official figure, so change it.
- Hours per subject. The remaining hours are split in proportion to your weights. A weight of 40 gets twice the hours of a weight of 20, and the weights need not add up to 100.
Choosing weights
The presets come from the structure of each paper. They are starting points, not official study-time advice.
| Preset | Weights | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| TNPSC Group 4 | General Tamil 100, General Studies 75, Aptitude and Mental Ability 25 | Questions in Parts A, B and C |
| NEET | Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Zoology: 45 each | Questions per section |
| Bank exam prelims | English 30, Numerical Ability 35, Reasoning 35 | IBPS CSA prelims marks |
| GATE | General Aptitude 15, Engineering Mathematics 13, core subjects 72 | Marks in most engineering papers |
After any preset, adjust. Raise the weight of a subject where your mocks show you losing marks. For Group 4, Part A also carries a 60-out-of-150 gate, so the Tamil weight is not only about marks. The Group 4 study plan and the GATE preparation strategy turn the same idea into week-by-week routines.
Worked examples
Example 1: Group 4, exam on 10 January 2027. Start on 9 October 2026 with 3 hours a day, 6 days a week and 20% for revision.
| Step | Result |
|---|---|
| Days left | 93 (13.3 weeks) |
| Study days | 79 |
| Total hours | 237 |
| Revision and mocks (20%) | 47.4 |
| Left for subjects | 189.6 |
| General Tamil (100 of 200) | 94.8, about 7.1 a week |
| General Studies (75 of 200) | 71.1, about 5.4 a week |
| Aptitude (25 of 200) | 23.7, about 1.8 a week |
Example 2: a sample exam on 7 March 2027. This is an invented date to show the arithmetic. Start on 1 November 2026 with 2 hours a day, 5 days a week and 20% for revision. Days left are 126, exactly 18 weeks, giving 90 study days and 180 hours. Revision takes 36, leaving 144. With English 30, Numerical Ability 35 and Reasoning 35, the subjects get 43.2, 50.4 and 50.4 hours.
A full mock is 3 hours for TNPSC Group 4, NEET and GATE. In Example 2, twelve of them would use the whole 36-hour reserve, so count review time too. If the hours look too small, add study days before you add hours per day.
PrepMatic builds a day-by-day study plan from your exam date, daily study hours (light, moderate or intense) and study days, with a Today view and a Roadmap. Its free assessment shows your weakest subjects first, so you can set weights from evidence instead of a guess.
Frequently asked questions
How many hours a day should I study for an exam?
It depends on your exam, your starting level and how many months you have. Use the planner to see what your hours add up to, then compare that with the syllabus.
How much time should I keep for revision and mock tests?
The planner starts at 20% as a suggestion. Move it up as the exam gets closer, since full mocks and their analysis take real time.
Does the planner know the syllabus?
No. It splits your hours by the weights you choose and does not know which chapters you have finished.
Official sources
The planner needs only your exam date. Take it from the official site:
Exam dates can be revised. Check the official site before you plan around one.
Get a study plan built around your weak subjects
Take a free assessment on PrepMatic. It shows where you stand, then builds a day-by-day study plan and mock tests focused on your weak subjects.
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- Group 4 study planA week-by-week TNPSC Group 4 study plan with a 6-month schedule, a compressed 3-month version, daily routines and a mock-test calendar.
- How to prepare for GATEHow to prepare for GATE 2027: a plan for the 17 weeks left, plus 6-month and 12-month plans, subject order, revision, mocks and tips for working aspirants.