Dental exam study planner
Pick your exam date and the hours you have each week. You get a week by week plan that gives each area the share of time it has on the exam, with mock checkpoints.
Build your plan
Your plan appears here.
How the plan is built
The planner counts the days from today to your exam and rounds up to whole weeks. Every week gets the hours you chose. A week with a mock spends part of those hours on the mock, and the rest goes to study.
With 3 weeks or more, the last week is a review week: no new material, a look back at the areas that still need work and a final free mini mock. All the other study hours are added up and divided across the nine blueprint areas by their weight, down to the half hour.
The areas are handed out in blueprint order. A big area can span several weeks, and a week can hold the end of one area and the start of the next. The plan is a schedule of what to open and for how long. It does not know what you already understand, so move a block earlier or later whenever your own results say so.
How your hours are split
The AFK has 9 areas. The planner gives each one the share of your study hours that it has on the exam, so a 100 hour plan spends 20 hours on Applied Biomedical Sciences and 5 on Evidence-Based Dentistry, Prevention, Infection Control and Ethics.
| Area | Share of the exam | About this many of the 200 questions | Hours in a 100 hour plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Applied Biomedical Sciences | 20% | 40 | 20 |
| Restorative, Prosthodontics, Implants | 16% | 32 | 16 |
| Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology | 15% | 30 | 15 |
| Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Local Anesthesia, Medical Emergencies | 14% | 28 | 14 |
| Orthodontics, Pediatric Dentistry, Geriatric Dentistry, Special Needs Patient | 8% | 16 | 8 |
| Periodontics | 8% | 16 | 8 |
| Oral Surgery, Trauma, Orofacial Pain, Dental Emergencies | 8% | 16 | 8 |
| Endodontics | 6% | 12 | 6 |
| Evidence-Based Dentistry, Prevention, Infection Control, Ethics and Jurisprudence | 5% | 10 | 5 |
Why weight by the blueprint
Every question is worth one point and there is no penalty for a wrong answer, so a point from any area counts the same. The areas differ in how many questions they supply. At 20%, Applied Biomedical Sciences is about 40 questions. Endodontics at 6% is about 12. An hour spent on the larger area is worth more on average than an hour spent on the smaller one.
NDEB gives each share as approximate, within 5 points either way, so a real paper can lean a little toward or away from any area. The weights are a guide to where hours pay off. They do not mean an area can be skipped.
NDEB reports a test equated, re-scaled score of 75 or more as a pass. See how the AFK is scored for what that means, and the AFK format for the two parts and the timing.
Last checked 23 October 2026. Source: NDEB AFK Protocol 2026.
Mock checkpoints and why they sit where they do
A plan with only reading in it tells you nothing about how you answer under time. The mocks are the measuring points. Each one is placed by the number of weeks you have.
- Free mini mock (0.5 hours): in week 1, to see where you start, and again in the last week when there are 3 weeks or more. The first one sets the baseline and the last one shows what moved.
- Part mock (2 hours, one part of the exam): around the middle of a plan of 6 weeks or more, and a second one about a quarter of the way in when you have 10 weeks or more. Two hours is the length of one real part, so it trains the pace.
- Full mock (4 hours, both parts): two weeks before the exam when you have 4 weeks or more, and again 6 weeks before it when you have 12 weeks or more. The real AFK is 200 questions in 2 parts of 120 minutes, so a full mock is the only place to learn how you hold up for the whole sitting.
When a week holds fewer hours than its mock needs, the planner marks the mock as split and you take it in two sittings. After each mock, look at the areas you missed most and give them the next block of study time.
NDEB also publishes a free self-assessment of 100 multiple-choice questions on its AFK page. It gives a tally of correct answers and, NDEB says, it does not guarantee a passing score. It fits well in week 1 or in the review week next to a mini mock.
An example: 12 weeks at 8 hours a week
This plan runs 12 weeks at 8 hours a week, 96 hours in all. It has 5 mocks: free mini mock in week 1, part mock in week 3, part mock in week 6, full mock in week 10, free mini mock in week 12. Week 12 is review.
| Area | Hours |
|---|---|
| Applied Biomedical Sciences | 16 |
| Restorative, Prosthodontics, Implants | 12.5 |
| Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology | 12 |
| Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Local Anesthesia, Medical Emergencies | 11 |
| Orthodontics, Pediatric Dentistry, Geriatric Dentistry, Special Needs Patient | 6.5 |
| Periodontics | 6.5 |
| Oral Surgery, Trauma, Orofacial Pain, Dental Emergencies | 6.5 |
| Endodontics | 4.5 |
| Evidence-Based Dentistry, Prevention, Infection Control, Ethics and Jurisprudence | 4 |
The hours above leave out the mocks and the review week. Change the date and the hours in the planner and these numbers move with them.
If you fall behind
Plans slip. A shift runs long, a week goes to family, a mock shows a gap you did not expect. Three adjustments keep the plan honest.
- Rebuild it from today. Enter the same exam date and the hours you can really give. The planner starts again from the blueprint with the weeks that remain.
- Protect the mocks first. Cut study blocks from the smallest areas before you cut a mock, because a mock is the only thing in the plan that tells you what to fix.
- Take the later sitting if the first one is out of reach. The AFK is offered twice a year, and a plan that fits the real time you have is worth more than a date you will not meet.
Check sittings and registration deadlines on the AFK exam dates page. NDEB sets dates about a year ahead and they can change, so confirm on its site before you build a plan around one.
How many weeks to plan
200 questions across nine areas is a lot of ground, and the honest answer to how long it takes is that it depends on what you already know. NDEB gives no recommended study time, and we have no data on how long candidates typically plan, so we do not quote one.
What the planner does is simple. It accepts anything from 1 to 52 weeks. Below 4 weeks it warns you that the plan is a short run. From 4 weeks it adds a full mock, from 6 a part mock and from 12 a second full mock. A longer plan gives more mocks and more time to repeat weak areas, with the same blueprint weights throughout.
Choose the length from the sitting you are aiming at and the hours you can keep up. If your first mock comes back lower than you hoped, that is information about where to spend the next block of hours. The pass rate page shows how first-time and repeat takers have done in recent years.
Last checked 23 October 2026. Source: NDEB AFK page.
Questions about the planner
How many hours a week should I study for the AFK?
NDEB gives no recommended study time, so no number on this page is an official one. The planner takes whatever you can keep up, from 1 to 60 hours a week, and shows the total it adds up to. Pick a number you can repeat every week.
Why does the plan start with Applied Biomedical Sciences?
The planner walks the areas in the order of the NDEB blueprint, which lists the largest area first. That puts the heaviest share of the exam early, while there is the most time to come back to it, and the smaller areas fill the later study weeks.
Does the plan replace reading the NDEB Protocol?
No. NDEB asks candidates to read the AFK Protocol carefully in preparation, and it holds the format, scoring and rules for the day. The planner only spreads your hours over the blueprint. Read the Protocol once, early, and again in the last week.
What if my exam is only a few weeks away?
Under 4 weeks the plan says so and keeps to the heaviest areas first. With 3 weeks or more, the last week is for review and a final mini mock. With less, every week goes to study and mock questions, so the plan is thinner by design.
Can I plan further out than a year?
The planner stops at 52 weeks. A plan that far out changes too much to be useful: sitting dates move, work changes and you learn where you are weak. Pick the sitting you are aiming at, plan to it and rebuild the plan after your first mock.
What happens if I do not pass?
NDEB allows a maximum of three AFK attempts. Rebuild the plan from the next sitting date, and spend the first weeks on the areas where your mock results were weakest. The planner does not know your scores, so it starts from the blueprint again each time.
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