Study plan generator
The CITB study plan generator takes two numbers, the days you have until your test and the hours you can study each day, and turns them into a day-by-day list of practice tasks. It is a planning aid that gives general advice, not a personal assessment, and it stores nothing. You enter the numbers, read the list, and adjust it to fit your own week.
This site is independent and is not affiliated with CSCS or CITB. A plan from this page is not an official CITB study programme, and following it does not guarantee a pass.
Key takeaways
- You give the planner two inputs: the number of days until your test and the hours you can study per day.
- The output is a day-by-day list of practice tasks, labelled as general advice.
- Nothing you enter is stored, so the plan is gone when you close the page unless you copy it.
- A good plan mixes learning topics, answering questions, reviewing mistakes and timed practice, not just question after question.
- CITB publishes its own preparation information, so check the official Prepare for the test page alongside any plan.
What the planner does
Many candidates find that a plan helps them cover the topics they avoid. Without one, it is easy to answer the same easy questions repeatedly, avoid topics you find dull and arrive at the test with gaps you never looked at.
The planner fixes the structure problem. You enter the days left and the hours you can realistically give each day, and it spreads practice tasks across those days. A sensible plan leans towards learning topics early, mixed practice and reviewing mistakes in the middle, and timed papers and light revision at the end. Treat the generated list as a starting draft that you can edit.
The planner makes no claim about how many hours the test needs. Nobody can state that honestly, because it depends on what you already know from work and training. Be realistic about your hours. A plan with one hour a day that you keep is more useful than a plan with four hours that you abandon after three days.
Nothing you type is saved on a server. If you want to keep the plan, copy it into your notes or a message to yourself.
What goes into a good day-by-day plan
A plan is more than a list of dates. The tasks each day should do different jobs, because different jobs build different skills.
Learn
Reading or watching material about a topic so you understand it. This is where you meet ideas such as the difference between a hazard and a risk, or what a worker is expected to do on site. Our safety guides and glossary are useful here.
Practise
Answering questions on that topic. Do this soon after learning, while the material is fresh. Original practice questions are available in our free practice questions.
Review
Going back through the answers you got wrong and writing down why. This is the task that improves scores most, and it is the one people skip. A wrong answer that you do not review is likely to cost you again.
Time it
Doing a full paper against the clock. The CITB Operatives page gives the format as 50 questions in 45 minutes with a 90% pass mark, which means at least 45 correct. Practise this near the end of your plan, once you know the topics, rather than at the start. The free mock test timer on this site can run the clock for you.
How to use the generator
- Work out how many full days you have between today and your test date. Do not count the test day itself.
- Decide how many hours you can honestly study per day. Think about work, travel and family, and pick a figure you can keep on a normal day.
- Enter both numbers and generate the plan.
- Read the list through once, then move tasks around to fit your week. If you work late on Thursdays, put a lighter task there.
- Copy the plan somewhere you will see it, such as your phone notes.
- After each day, tick the tasks you finished. If you miss a day, do not try to double up. Move the missed tasks to the next day that has spare time, and drop the least important one if needed.
If you would rather follow a fixed schedule than generate one, we have a two-week practice plan and a four-week practice plan that are written out in full.
Example of how a plan might be shaped
The table below shows a shape, not a prescription. It is a typical way to spread work across a plan of any length, and the generator applies the same idea to your dates.
| Stage of your plan | Main task | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| First part | Learn topics and answer short sets of questions | Builds a base and shows you where you are weak |
| Middle part | Mixed questions, then review every mistake | Reveals patterns and fixes them |
| Later part | Revisit your weakest topics | Targets the time where it earns the most |
| Final days | One or two full timed papers, then light revision | Tests pace and keeps you calm |
| Day before the test | Rest, check your booking details and travel | A tired candidate makes avoidable mistakes |
The proportions change with the time you have. With very few days, the learning stage shrinks and you rely more on what you already know from work. With many days, you can go deeper and repeat topics more than once.
A checklist for any study plan
- [ ] I know my test date and have counted the days to it.
- [ ] I picked a daily time that I can keep on a normal day.
- [ ] My plan includes learning, practising, reviewing and a timed paper.
- [ ] I have checked the official CITB Prepare for the test page for current guidance.
- [ ] I have a note of my weakest topics and plan to return to them.
- [ ] My last day before the test is light.
Limits of a generated plan
A generated plan cannot know your starting point. Someone who has worked on sites for years will already understand many of the topics, while someone new to construction will have more to learn. The generator treats both the same unless you adjust the output, which is why you should always edit the list.
It also cannot know what the real test will ask. Practice questions on this site are original and written to help you learn the ideas. They are not copies of official questions. Do not rely on any plan, ours or anyone else's, to predict the content of the test.
For current details of the test, how to book it and what preparation material CITB provides, use the CITB Prepare for the test page. If anything on that page differs from this article, follow the CITB page. You can read more about how we write our material on our how we create content page.
Worked example: fitting a plan around a working week
Take a candidate, Dan, who works on a site during the day and has just over a week before the test. After work, travel and family time, Dan can honestly give one hour on weekdays and a little longer at the weekend. Dan enters the days and the weekday figure, and gets a draft list. The numbers here are only an illustration, and the draft is not advice about how long anyone needs.
Dan reads the draft and edits it in three ways:
- Moves heavier tasks to the weekend. A full timed paper needs an uninterrupted block, so it goes on the weekend day before the test, not on a late finish.
- Matches topics to work. Dan works around plant and vehicles all day, so those topics already feel familiar. The draft gets more time on topics Dan rarely meets at work, such as health and welfare. This is the kind of editing a generated plan cannot do for you.
- Protects the review task. On a short day, Dan shortens the question set but keeps a few minutes to look back over wrong answers and write the reason in one sentence.
Mid-plan, Dan misses a day because of overtime. Dan does not double up the next day. The missed learning task moves to the next free evening, and the least useful task, repeating a topic that is already strong, is dropped. By the final days, Dan does one timed paper, reviews it, spends the last evening lightly on the weakest topics and rests before the test.
The point is not the exact split. It is that a plan survives real life when you edit it, protect the review task and accept that some days go wrong.
How the generator fits with the fixed plans
The generator is flexible, which is useful when your timetable is unusual. If you would rather follow a written schedule with no setup, our two-week CITB practice plan and four-week CITB practice plan set out the days for you. A simple way to choose is:
- If you have a fixed amount of time and want to be told what to do each day, use one of the written plans.
- If your days are unusual, or you only have a few days, generate a plan and edit it.
- If you want a mix, read a written plan for its structure and use the generator for your own dates.
Whichever you pick, pair the plan with the original free practice questions. Check the CITB Prepare for the test page for official guidance before you finalise anything.
FAQ
How many hours a day should I put into the planner?
Put in the number of hours you can keep up on a normal day, not the most you could manage on your best day. A smaller, steady commitment usually works better than a large one that collapses. The planner does not set a recommended figure because it depends on what you already know.
Does the planner save my plan?
No. The planner runs in your browser and stores nothing, so your plan disappears when you close the page. Copy the list into your notes if you want to keep it.
Is the generated plan an official CITB study plan?
No. This site is independent and is not affiliated with CSCS or CITB, and the plan is general advice only. For official preparation information, use the CITB Prepare for the test page.
What should I do if I miss a day?
Do not try to catch up by doubling the next day. Move the missed tasks to the next day with spare time, and drop the least useful task if you run short. Keep the review and timed paper tasks, as those do the most for your score.
Sources
Independent guide, not affiliated with, authorised by, approved by or endorsed by CSCS or CITB. Last updated 2026-10-08.