Creating a BMAT Revision Timetable
It’s hard to know how much practice to do for the BMAT, and it's really easy to compare yourself to others and spiral. Here are a couple of ideas on how to structure your BMAT revision timetable for success.
Remember, revision is never one size fits all, so if you panic at this and don’t feel it will work for you, do something different!
The "Marathon" Theory
The BMAT and UCAT are sometimes described as a marathon, not a sprint. If you run, you might see some flaws in this, but think of it as a broad analogy from someone who doesn’t run marathons!
If you were to run a marathon, you would want to train over a select period that will get you the best results. You wouldn’t want to run the marathon every day, and it would probably take you a few weeks of building up stamina, running further and further and eventually faster and faster. You also want to make sure you don’t run too fast, too far, for too long, or you will tire yourself out.
Accuracy
First, let's take your BMAT accuracy as you run further and your BMAT timing as you run faster. So for the first week of your preparation, you want to make sure you can get yourself up to a distance, or in the BMAT you want to get yourself some accuracy, familiarise yourself with the exam and identify any weak points.
Timing
After you’ve built up your accuracy, the next 4-7 weeks you are going to spend getting faster. Or in other words, practising the BMAT timed. You can still improve your accuracy here and identify weak points, but in a marathon, you would want to build speed, even if it’s on shorter runs.
Avoiding BMAT Burnout
The final thing is your stamina. You want to make sure you don’t tire yourself out or, in revision terms, burn out.
BMAT preparation should only be for 5-8 weeks, ideally 6 or 7 weeks, as it’s intense and takes a lot of time out of your day. It’s shown if runners continue preparing for intense races for too long, their performance drops, as is the same with the UCAT and BMAT.
You should also build up your preparation. Start with an hour a day for the first week, two hours a day for the second week, three hours a day for the third week, and so on and so forth. Don’t push this all the way up to eight hours. This is way too much. But, three hours in the morning and two hours in the evening is a good absolute maximum for the last few days of your preparation.
Example BMAT Revision Timetable
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
Week 1 | 30 minutes section 1 revision before school 30 minutes section 2 revision after school | 30 minutes section 2 revision before school 30 minutes section 3 mock after school | 30 minutes section 1 revision before school 30 minutes section 3 mock after school | 30 minutes section 1 revision before school 30 minutes section 2 revision after school | 30 minutes section 3 mock before school 30 minutes section 2 revision after school | Day off BMAT prep | Busy this day 20 minutes section 1 revision in the evening |
Week 2 | 30 minutes section 1 revision before school 30 minutes section 3 mock after school 1h section 2 revision after school | 30 minutes section 2 revision before school 30 minutes section 3 mock after school 1h section 1 revision after school | 30 minutes section 1 revision before school 30 minutes section 3 mock after school 1h section 2 revision after school | Day off BMAT prep | 30 minutes section 2 revision before school 30 minutes section 3 mock after school 1h section 1 revision after school | Busy this day | Full BMAT mock and mark |
Week 3 | Full BMAT mock and mark | 30 minutes section 2 revision before school 30 minutes section 3 mock after school 2h section 1 revision after school | Full BMAT mock and mark | Day off BMAT prep | 30 minutes section 1 revision before school 30 minutes section 3 mock after school 2h section 2 revision after school | Felt a bit burnt out this day and wanted to do something with some friends | Full BMAT mock and mark |
Week 4 | Full BMAT mock and mark | 1 hour 30 section 1 revision 1 hour 30 section 2 revision 1 x 30 minute section 3 mocks | 1 hour 30 section 1 revision 1 hour 30 section 2 revision 2 x 30 minute section 3 mocks | Full BMAT mock and mark | Day off as planning to do 2x mocks tomorrow | Full BMAT mock and mark morning Full BMAT mock and mark evening | Day off before busy week 5 and test day |
Week 5 | Feeling a bit burnt out so extra day off and doing something fun in the evening | 1 hour 30 section 1 revision 1 hour 30 section 2 revision 2 x 30 minute section 3 mocks | Full BMAT mock and mark Full BMAT mock and mark | Rest day before test day! | Made it to test day! | | |
If you would like some further help making a BMAT timetable, our tutors are available to help!