Studying is a major part of student life, especially during term time and in the lead-up to exams. Whether you’re in school, college, or at university, a study planner can help you organise your time, manage your deadlines, and stay motivated throughout the study period.

In this guide, we’ll explore how to create a study planner, with free planner templates and examples to inspire you. Best of all, you can design your own weekly or exam-focused planner in a few simple steps with Adobe Express.

What is a study planner?

A study planner is a personalised timetable or template you can use to map your study time. It can help students manage their academic, work, and personal tasks – organised daily, weekly, or monthly depending on your workload. It’s a useful tool for students at any level, from GCSEs and A-levels to university courses.

Personalising your study planner means you can include sections that line up with your unique subjects, goals, notes, and deadlines. These customisations can also help you prioritise and allocate specific times for concentrating on topics you find most difficult.

Customisable study planner template ideas.

Why use a study planner?

The main purpose of a study planner is to help focus and organise your study schedule. Here are some of the benefits of using a study planner.

• Tracking deadlines. By having all your deadlines in one place, you may find it easier to meet coursework due dates or to get the most from revision periods.
• Breaking down workloads. Tackling your tasks in manageable chunks may help you to find your studies less overwhelming.
• Balancing studying with life. Keeping a study planner helps you to align your hobbies and social time with your lessons and part-time work.
• Routine building. Planning in your study time can help to promote better habits and could also improve your time management.
• Staying motivated. Visually ticking off your tasks creates a sense of achievement and can encourage you to keep working through your to-do list.
• Setting priorities. Your study planner will help you plan out what to study first, especially during exam season.
• A personalised approach. The tailored format of a study guide is designed to support your unique learning style and revision needs.

How to make your study planner with Adobe Express.

Making a study planner template can be a fun activity. With Adobe Express, you can create a customised design that perfectly fits your schedule, suits your learning style, and keeps you on track.

1. Find your learning style.

Not all study planners are created equal – the right one for you depends on how you learn best.

• Visual Learners often prefer colour-coded charts, icons, and diagrams that help them quickly make sense of the different sections in their study planner, understanding what they mean using visual cues other than words. If you’re a visual learner, use layouts with symbols and highlights.
• Auditory Learners prefer listening to reading and benefit from memorisation. Digital planners that can be used with text-to-voice tools and include areas for voice notes, discussion-based learning, or recorded lectures can work well.
• Kinaesthetic Learners work best with movement and hands-on interactive learning. A good way to incorporate this into a study planner is with checkboxes, task lists, and any other interactive components that might align with your studies.

2. Browse the different planner templates for inspiration.

You don’t need to be a design genius to create a study guide that works perfectly for you. With our range of planner templates, you can explore free designs tailored for students. Some popular options include weekly, daily, revision-specific, and goal-based planners that can help you define your way of studying. Our templates also come with editable layouts, making it easier to get started.

3. Create your study planner for free on Adobe Express.

Getting started is easy. When you’re ready to create a planner, use the intuitive drag-and-drop interface to edit a template, or build a design from scratch – no design skills needed.

4. Customise the layout of your planner.

Wondering how to make a study planner that suits your study needs? With our customisable templates, you can browse between daily, weekly, or monthly formats before settling for one that matches your needs.

Printable weekly study planners are ideal for keeping an overview of classes, assignments, and prep time. Daily planner templates work well for breaking your revision into specific timeslots – this is especially useful if you struggle to find a dedicated hour or so each day to fit in your revision. You can use Adobe Express to resize, duplicate or remove any layout elements that don’t apply to your way of working.

5. Make space for your schedule.

Your schedule can change, so having a flexible planner is important. Create a schedule that includes hourly blocks or sections per subject that can be shifted in case of emergencies, helping you to manage your time better. This is especially useful for planning focused revision sessions or study group meetings.

6. Play around with your colour palette.

Make your study planner unique by using colour-coding to organise your tasks by subject, deadline, or task type. It’s up to you whether you stick to a calming palette like pastels for focus, or go bold for energy. Adobe Express' colour palette feature has premade palettes or tools so you can create your own aesthetic.

7. Choose your ideal fonts and icons.

Fonts are an important aesthetic choice that can help with the clarity and tone of your planner. For example, clean fonts can promote focus, while fun fonts are good for motivation. You don’t need to stick to one – play with different fonts in different sections of your study planner template with our add fonts feature. And it doesn’t stop with words – you can even add icons for subjects, like a book for English, or a calculator for maths.

8. Add a dedicated list for your study goals.

Listing your study goals can help you track your long-term and short-term goals – whether that’s finishing your coursework, revising three chapters, or submitting a PhD. Your list can sit at the top or to the side of your planner, so you can easily refer to it as you work through your task list.

A top tip for creating an effective list of study goals is to use the SMART Objective Templates, which break down your achievements into Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

9. Leave room for study notes.

Your planner shouldn’t be entirely diary-based. Space for notes is important for jotting down quick ideas, reminders, or key terms you’ll need to come back to. This keeps everything in one place for easier revision. You can include lined or dotted sections depending on your note-taking style.

10. Share your planner with your study buddy.

If you study best as part of a team, you can share your project planner templates with your course group or study buddy to download and share via email or link. This is especially useful for collaborative studying, as you can plan group sessions or divide up topics by the person or people responsible.

Free study planner examples to help you schedule your learning.

Generate AI text effects to personalise your study planner.

Boost your study motivation and add a personal touch to your planner. Use Adobe Express AI text effects tool to add inspiring quotes or headings to your planner like “Let’s do this!” or “Exam countdown”. AI features include 3D lettering, glow, and outline effect to help make your planner feel more inspiring and eye-catching.

Try Adobe Express for free now

Good to know.

Do I need a study plan to be a successful student?

Not strictly. Some gifted students can be academically successful without the organisational benefits of a study planner. However, being organised and methodical is key to academic success for many students, and a study planner can help you bring those traits to your studies.

How do I make a study plan specifically for an exam?

Focus your exam study plan on past papers, high-weight topics, and revision time blocks. Start early and space out your sessions – and remember that the topics you revise first will probably need a refresher closer to the exam date.

Is a study planner for university different from school?

Fundamentally, all types of study planner are essentially the same thing – a document to guide your study. But there are some key differences between a planner designed for school and one designed for university. Primarily, university planners need to factor in more self-study time and may have less structure to them, so flexibility is key.

Is Adobe Express free?

Yes, the free plan includes templates, photo editing tools, animations, and 5 GB of storage. See our pricing page for details and to compare plans.