What to Include in a Student Pilot Study Plan
A good study plan bridges the gap between lessons. Without one, students show up and you spend the first 15 minutes re-teaching what they should have reviewed on their own. With one, they arrive prepared, and the lesson starts where the last one left off.
But what should actually go into a study plan? And how detailed does it need to be?
The Problem with Generic Study Plans
Most training syllabi include a list of required readings and maneuvers for each lesson. That's a curriculum, not a study plan. A curriculum tells a student what topics exist. A study plan tells them what to focus on based on what happened in their specific lesson.
A student who just flew their first solo pattern and struggled with crosswind corrections needs a very different study assignment than a student at the same stage who nailed the pattern but blanked on radio calls when tower changed runways. Same lesson type, completely different study priorities.
Personalization is what turns a study plan from a checklist the student ignores into a tool that actually improves their flying.
Five Components of an Effective Study Plan
1. Lesson Summary
Start with a brief recap of what was covered. This anchors the study plan to a specific experience the student remembers. Keep it to 3-5 sentences: what you flew, what the focus was, and the overall outcome.
Example: "Today we practiced steep turns, slow flight, and power-off stalls at the practice area. Steep turns were solid with consistent altitude control. Slow flight entry needed work on power management, and stall recovery was delayed on the first attempt."
The summary isn't where the teaching happens — it's context for everything that follows.
2. Key Takeaways
These are the 2-4 most important things the student should remember from the lesson. Not a transcript of everything discussed, but the critical points that drive the next lesson's performance.
Good takeaways are specific and actionable:
- "Begin adding power before reaching the target slow flight speed to prevent over-decelerating."
- "In stall recovery, lower the nose and add full power simultaneously. Don't wait to feel the break before acting."
Avoid vague takeaways like "Practice slow flight more" — that's an instruction, not a takeaway.
3. Study Tasks with Time Estimates
This is the core of the plan. Give the student a concrete list of tasks they can complete before the next lesson, with realistic time estimates. Students are more likely to follow through when they know the commitment: "This will take about 20 minutes" is much less intimidating than an open-ended reading list.
Example study tasks:
- Re-read PHAK Chapter 4, sections on slow flight and stalls (15 min)
- Chair-fly the slow flight entry procedure from cruise to slow flight config three times (10 min)
- Watch the King Schools video on stall recognition (8 min)
- Review the POH V-speeds for your training aircraft, especially VS0 and VS1 (5 min)
Total: about 40 minutes. Manageable for a student who works full-time and flies twice a week.
4. Oral Practice Questions
Every checkride has an oral component, and students who only practice flying — without practicing explaining — struggle during the oral. Including 3-5 questions in each study plan builds oral confidence gradually over the entire training program, rather than cramming before the checkride.
Match the questions to the lesson content:
- "What are the indications of an approaching stall?"
- "How does load factor change in a steep turn, and why does stall speed increase?"
- "What is the difference between VS0 and VS1?"
- "Describe the procedure for recovering from a power-off stall."
These questions should be things the student can answer from their reading, not trick questions. The goal is to build confidence and reinforce knowledge.
5. FAA References
Point the student to specific sections of FAA publications. Not "read the PHAK," but "PHAK Chapter 4, pages 4-3 through 4-8." The more specific the reference, the more likely the student will actually look it up.
Common references to include:
- PHAK (Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge)
- AFH (Airplane Flying Handbook)
- AIM (Aeronautical Information Manual)
- FAR/AIM for relevant regulations
- POH for aircraft-specific procedures
How Often Should You Send Study Plans?
After every lesson. The plan only takes a few minutes to create and directly improves the next lesson's productivity. If you're only sending study plans before stage checks or checkrides, you're leaving months of potential learning on the table.
This is where the time problem hits hardest. Writing personalized study plans for every student after every lesson is unsustainable if you're doing it from scratch each time. Some CFIs use templates. Others skip it entirely because they're exhausted after a full day of flying.
LessonDebrief was built for exactly this situation. You record a quick voice debrief or tap through a few prompts, and LessonDebrief generates a complete study pack with all five components: summary, takeaways, study tasks with time estimates, oral questions, and FAA references. You review and edit it, then send it to the student. They get an interactive checklist and you can see their prep status before the next lesson.
The Compound Effect
A single study plan might save you 10 minutes of re-teaching in the next lesson. But over 50 or 60 lessons to a private certificate, those 10 minutes add up to hours of training time. Students progress faster. They need fewer total hours. They show up with confidence instead of uncertainty.
The difference between a student who gets a study plan and one who doesn't is real. It's the difference between passive training — where the student is along for the ride — and active learning, where every lesson builds on the last.
Build the bridge between lessons. Your students will meet you halfway.