Professional Certification Exam Success · How to learn: evidence-based study techniques · lesson 5 of 21 · 13 min
Spaced repetition and the forgetting curve
We forget quickly, unless we space our review
In the 1880s, Hermann Ebbinghaus studied his own memory and described the forgetting curve: without review, memory of new material drops rapidly at first, then more slowly. Later research has consistently shown that spacing review sessions over time (distributed practice) produces far better long-term retention than massing them together (cramming).
How spacing works
Each time you review just as you are starting to forget, you strengthen the memory and slow the rate of future forgetting. So intervals between reviews can grow over time.
Illustrative expanding schedule for a new topic
Day 0: learn
Day 1: first review (active recall)
Day 3: second review
Day 7: third review
Day 14–21: fourth review
Monthly thereafter until the exam
There is no single perfect schedule; the principle of gradually increasing intervals is what matters.
Spaced repetition systems (SRS)
Flashcard apps using spaced repetition algorithms (for example Anki and similar tools) schedule each card based on how well you remembered it. Easy cards appear less often; difficult cards return sooner. This automates spacing for large volumes of facts, formulas and definitions.
Tips for SRS use:
- Review every day, even briefly; missed days create backlogs.
- Rate yourself honestly.
- Keep cards short and focused.
- Delete or rewrite cards that you repeatedly fail; they are often badly designed.
- Limit new cards per day so reviews remain manageable.
Spacing beyond flashcards
Spacing applies to practice questions and topics too:
- Revisit each completed topic with a short set of mixed questions after one week, then after three to four weeks.
- Build a weekly "spaced review" block into your plan.
- Use cumulative mock exams that include earlier topics.
Spacing and your study plan
Weekly plan with spacing (illustrative)
Mon: New topic E (learn + practice)
Tue: New topic E (practice) + 15 Qs from topic C (learned 2 weeks ago)
Wed: New topic F (learn)
Thu: New topic F (practice) + 15 Qs from topic A (learned 4 weeks ago)
Sat: Mixed 50-question set across all completed topics
Sun: Error log review + SRS flashcards
Daily: 15–20 minutes SRS flashcards
Cramming: why it fails for professional exams
Cramming can produce short-term recall for a test the next day, but professional exams cover large syllabuses and test application. Material crammed in the final days is fragile, especially under stress, and it is quickly lost afterwards, which matters because professional knowledge is needed in practice and for later exams in multi-part qualifications.
Worked example
Illustrative. Aisha, studying for a multi-part finance qualification in Abu Dhabi, found she had forgotten much of the first topic by the time she finished the fourth. She introduced a daily 20-minute SRS habit and a Saturday mixed-question session. By the time she reached mock exams, early topics were as strong as recent ones, and her mock scores became more consistent across the syllabus.
Hands-on: set up spaced repetition in Anki (or any SRS app)
Anki is a free, widely used spaced repetition app (desktop and AnkiWeb; mobile apps are also available). Other SRS tools work on the same principle.
1. Create one deck per exam, with subdecks or tags by domain (tags let you filter weak areas later):
Deck: CMA-Exam
Tags: domainA domainB formulas errorlog
2. Choose a scheduler setting. Recent versions of Anki offer an optional scheduler called FSRS (Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler), enabled in the deck options. It uses a desired retention setting (the manual describes 90% as the default). Higher retention means more reviews per day; lower means fewer reviews but more forgetting. Check the current Anki manual for the options in your version.
3. Import cards from your notes in bulk using a plain-text file (File → Import), for example tab-separated:
Which control type finds errors after they occur? Detective domainA
Formula for contribution margin ratio? Contribution margin ÷ Sales formulas
What should the auditor do FIRST when...? (scenario) Understand the basis before acting errorlog
4. Daily routine: do due reviews first (15–25 minutes), then add a small number of new cards. Keep new cards low (for example 10–20 a day) so reviews stay manageable; new cards today create reviews for weeks.
5. Turn every error-log item into a card tagged errorlog, then use a filtered deck on that tag in the final weeks.
AI-generated cards: an assistant (or tools such as NotebookLM that build flashcards from your own sources) can draft cards quickly. Edit every card for accuracy against the official syllabus, split multi-idea cards, and delete anything you don't understand yet: learn it first, then card it.
Common mistakes
- Studying each topic once and moving on.
- Leaving all review to the final weeks.
- Letting SRS reviews pile up for days.
- Making too many new cards and then abandoning the system.
- Using spacing only for facts, not for problem-solving practice.
Quick self-check
List the topics you studied more than three weeks ago. When did you last actively test yourself on each? Schedule a short mixed-question review for any topic you have not revisited.
A realistic daily spacing routine
A practical routine for busy candidates: 15–20 minutes of spaced repetition flashcards every day (for example on the commute or at lunch), plus a weekly mixed-question block that deliberately includes topics studied two, four and eight weeks ago. Add no more than 15–25 new cards a day, depending on your available review time, to keep the daily load sustainable. If you miss a few days, clear the backlog gradually rather than abandoning the system; a partial daily habit is far better than none.
Spacing across a multi-part qualification
For qualifications with several exams, such as multi-paper accounting or finance credentials, keep a small deck of core concepts from earlier papers active. Many later papers build on earlier knowledge, and occasional spaced review keeps it available at low cost.
Video lecture: Spaced repetition and the forgetting curve
Lecture coming soon · 14 chapters · about 8 minutes. Read the full transcript below.
- Spaced repetition
- Why it matters
- The forgetting curve
- Watering a new tree
- SRS apps
- Spacing beyond flashcards
- Worked example 1: Aisha in Abu Dhabi (illustrative)
- Worked example 2: Imran in Birmingham (illustrative)
- Why cramming fails
- Multi-part qualifications
- Watch me: Anki set-up
- Measuring spacing
- Common mistakes
- Recap and try this now
Lecture transcript
Spaced repetition
Here's a frustrating experience. You study a topic thoroughly in week two. You understand it. You pass the end-of-chapter quiz. Then in week ten, you take a mixed mock exam, and that topic has almost vanished. It's not that you're bad at studying. It's that memory fades, predictably, unless you review. The good news is that we know how to fight it. In this lecture, you'll learn how forgetting works, how spacing beats it, how to use a spaced repetition app, how to space beyond flashcards, and why cramming fails for professional exams.
Why it matters
Why does this matter? Because professional exams test a broad syllabus that you study over months. By the time you reach the last topic, the first may be fading. Candidates who don't plan for this spend the final weeks relearning, in a panic, what they already learned once. Spacing solves that. And it's one of the most robust findings in learning research. The Dunlosky review we mentioned in the last lesson rated distributed practice, meaning spacing, as high utility, alongside practice testing.
The forgetting curve
Here's the concept. In the eighteen-eighties, Hermann Ebbinghaus studied his own memory and described what we now call the forgetting curve: after learning something, recall drops quickly at first, then more slowly. But each time you successfully review it, the curve becomes flatter, and you remember for longer. So the best time to review is just as you're starting to forget. Here's the key idea: review at increasing intervals, for example a day later, then a few days, then a week or two, then a month. Each review takes less time and lasts longer.
Watering a new tree
Here's an analogy. Think of watering a newly planted tree. In the first week, it needs water every day. After a month, every few days. After a year, it survives on rain, with the occasional deep watering in a drought. If you poured a whole month's water on it in one afternoon, most would run off, and the tree would still struggle. Cramming is that afternoon flood. Spaced repetition is the right amount of water, at widening intervals, until the roots are deep.
SRS apps
Now spaced repetition systems, or SRS apps. They schedule each flashcard for you based on how well you remembered it. Answer easily, and the next review is pushed further away. Struggle, and it comes back sooner. Anki is a free, widely used example. Recent versions offer an optional scheduler called FSRS, the Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler, with a desired retention setting. The manual describes ninety per cent as the default. Higher retention means more reviews each day; lower means fewer reviews but more forgetting. Check the current manual for your version's options.
Spacing beyond flashcards
Spacing works beyond flashcards too. Revisit old topics with mixed question sets every week. Use a weekly cumulative quiz that includes something from every domain you've studied. Re-test error-log items a few days after you log them. And design your study plan with a review slot each week, rather than only moving forward. A useful daily rhythm: do your due reviews first, before adding new material. That way, reviews never pile up into an overwhelming backlog.
Worked example 1: Aisha in Abu Dhabi (illustrative)
A simple worked example. Aisha, studying for a multi-part finance qualification in Abu Dhabi, finds she's forgotten much of the first topic by the time she finishes the fourth. She introduces a daily twenty-minute SRS habit and a Saturday mixed-question session. By the time she reaches mock exams, early topics are as strong as recent ones, and her mock scores become much more consistent across the syllabus.
Worked example 2: Imran in Birmingham (illustrative)
Now a realistic scenario, illustrative. Imran, a project manager in Birmingham, sets up Anki for a certification exam. Enthusiastic, he adds one hundred new cards a day for a week. By week three, he has hundreds of reviews due every day, gives up in frustration, and stops using it. On restart, he makes three changes. He limits new cards to fifteen a day. He does reviews first, every morning, in about twenty minutes. And he only turns error-log items and must-know formulas into cards, not whole chapters. The daily workload becomes sustainable, and he keeps it going until the exam.
Why cramming fails
Why does cramming fail for professional exams? It can work, briefly, for a small amount of material you need for one test tomorrow. But professional exams test broad syllabi and often build on each other across parts, and your career then depends on what you actually remember. Cramming produces fast forgetting, high stress, poor sleep, and weak performance on application questions, which need well-connected knowledge. Spacing takes the same total time or less, spread out. It's not more work. It's smarter timing.
Multi-part qualifications
What about multi-part qualifications, where you sit several papers over a year or more? Keep a slim maintenance deck for earlier papers, especially topics that later papers build on, and review it for a few minutes a day, even after you've passed that paper. It's also worth tagging cards by paper and by domain, so you can suspend or filter them as your focus changes. And remember that knowledge you'll use at work deserves long-term spacing too. The goal isn't just passing. It's still knowing it in the client meeting a year later.
Watch me: Anki set-up
Watch me do it. I set up an illustrative deck for a management accounting exam. I create one deck and add tags by domain, plus tags for formulas and error-log items. In deck options, I check the new-cards limit and set it to fifteen a day. I look at the FSRS settings and leave desired retention at the default for now. Then I import a tab-separated file of twenty cards drafted from my own notes with an AI assistant. I edit them: I split two cards that test two ideas, fix one formula that doesn't match my syllabus, and delete one I don't yet understand.
Measuring spacing
How do you measure spaced repetition? Look at your daily review completion: are you clearing due cards most days? Watch your retention statistics in the app, which should stay broadly in line with your target. Look at mixed mock performance on early topics compared with recent ones: they should be similar. And keep the daily time sustainable, typically fifteen to thirty minutes. If reviews regularly take much longer, reduce new cards for a week.
Common mistakes
Common mistakes. Adding too many new cards and drowning in reviews. Skipping reviews for a few days and letting them pile up. Making cards before understanding the material. Multi-idea cards. Only reviewing flashcards and never mixed questions. Cramming in the final week instead of consolidating. And importing AI-generated cards without checking them against the official syllabus.
Recap and try this now
Let's recap. Memory fades along the forgetting curve, and each successful review flattens it. Review at increasing intervals. Use an SRS app like Anki, with a modest number of new cards and reviews first. Space beyond flashcards with mixed questions and cumulative quizzes. Avoid cramming. Your try this now: set up a deck using the steps in the lesson, add your first twenty well-made cards, including your current error-log items, and do your reviews every day this week. Next, we'll go beyond memorising, with interleaving and deeper learning.
Key takeaways
- Memory fades quickly without review (the forgetting curve).
- Spacing reviews at increasing intervals produces much better long-term retention than cramming.
- Use spaced repetition flashcards daily and schedule spaced practice for topics and questions.
- Build weekly spaced review and mixed sets into your study plan.
Try it
Set up a spaced repetition deck for your exam with no more than 20 new cards per day, and add a weekly mixed-question session covering older topics.