How many hours will your syllabus take?
Pick your exam and type the minutes a unit takes you. The calculator multiplies by the units the syllabus prints and by your rounds, then divides by the hours you can study each week. It shows every sum.
How it counts
For each ticked subject, hours for one pass are units × minutes per unit ÷ 60, and hours for all rounds are that figure times your rounds. The total is the sum over the subjects. Hours you can use each week are your weekly hours times 100% minus the buffer. Weeks needed are the total hours divided by that.
The units are the headings each syllabus prints, copied from the exam body's documents on the exam pages. Exam bodies print units at different sizes, so a unit count is not a measure of difficulty and totals cannot be compared between exams.How many hours does a syllabus take? explains each step, and How to split study hours across subjects shows how marks, units and your pace fit together.
The figures are your own inputs. This tool does not say how many hours any exam needs, and it makes no estimate of anyone's chances.
A worked example
Example, with made-up numbers. One subject has 40 units and takes you 25 minutes a unit. One pass is 40 × 25 ÷ 60 = 16.7 hours, and two rounds are 33.3 hours. A second subject has 30 units at 20 minutes: 10 hours a pass and 20 hours for two rounds. The total is 33.3 + 20 = 53.3 hours.
You study 20 hours a week and keep a 15% buffer, so you can use 20 × 85% = 17 hours a week. The weeks needed are 53.3 ÷ 17 = 3.1.
Questions about this calculator
How do I find my minutes per unit?
Time yourself on three units, from sitting down to finishing a first pass, with pauses and breaks left out, and average the three. Use a figure for each subject, because a unit in one subject is not the same size as a unit in another.
Does the calculator say how many hours my exam needs?
No. It multiplies the units the syllabus prints by the minutes you type. No exam body publishes an hours figure, and this tool does not invent one.
Why can I not compare the totals of two exams?
Each exam body prints its syllabus at its own level of detail. A unit here is a heading as printed, so a unit count is not a measure of difficulty and totals do not compare between exams.
What is a round?
A round is one more pass through the same work. If you plan two rounds, the hours of one pass are counted twice.
What does the buffer do?
It keeps a share of every week free. The weekly hours you can use are your weekly hours times 100% minus the buffer, so a 15% buffer on 20 hours leaves 17 hours.
Does it save my numbers?
No. It runs in your browser and nothing leaves the page.
Let the app keep the sums.
Install the app, set a target in hours for each subject, and see how many hours short or spare you are.