How to Add Your Exam Timetable to Google Calendar or iPhone
Put every exam (date, time, room and seat) into your calendar from a PDF, screenshot or copied text, with reminders, so you never mix up a morning and an afternoon paper.
October 16, 2026
4 min read
Try it right here — paste your schedule
Drop in your shifts, events or rota exactly as they appear — we'll turn them into calendar events on the next page.
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Exam timetables arrive as a PDF, a screenshot from the student portal or a table in an email. They're dense: subject codes, dates, start times, rooms, sometimes seat numbers. Copying them into a calendar by hand is exactly where a 9:00 exam turns into a 13:00 one.
Quick answer: Copy only your exams (the rows with your subjects) into the text to calendar converter, or upload the PDF to the PDF converter or a screenshot to the image converter. Check the dates and times, download the calendar file, add it to a separate "Exams" calendar, and set two reminders per exam.
Step 1: Get just your exams
Many schools and universities publish one timetable for everyone: hundreds of rows, most of them not yours. Converting the whole thing fills your calendar with other people's exams. Pick the route that matches what you have:
| You have | Best route |
|---|---|
| A personal timetable (only your exams) | Upload the PDF or screenshot as it is |
| A full timetable as a PDF or web page | Copy just your rows and paste them as text |
| A full timetable as an image | Crop the screenshot to your rows first |
Copying your rows is usually quickest. Select the lines with your subject names or codes, including the column headings so the dates and times keep their meaning, and paste them into the text converter.
Step 2: Convert it
- Text: paste into the text to calendar converter.
- PDF: upload to the PDF to calendar converter. It reads tables and grids, including timetables where the date is a column heading.
- Screenshot or photo: upload to the image to calendar converter. Several screenshots can go in one upload.
Each exam becomes its own event. The subject is usually the title and the room the location, and details like seat number or paper code go in the notes.
Step 3: Check every exam before you add it
Spend one minute here. It's the whole point of doing this:
- Date order. Is 03/06 the 3rd of June or March 6th? The converter goes by the document's language and region and flags dates it had to guess, but you know your own exam season.
- Morning vs afternoon. Timetables often say "AM"/"PM" or "Session 1/2" instead of times. Make sure each one has the right start time.
- Length. A 2.5-hour paper should end 2.5 hours after it starts. That matters if you book anything right after.
- Room and seat, if your timetable has them.
Step 4: Add it to a separate "Exams" calendar
Download the calendar file (.ics) and import it into a calendar of its own:
- iPhone: tap the file, choose Add All, and pick (or create) an "Exams" calendar. Step-by-step guide.
- Google Calendar: create a calendar called "Exams" (Other calendars → + → Create new calendar), then on a computer go to Settings → Import & export → Import and choose it. Step-by-step guide.
- Outlook: import the file and choose Open as New to keep exams separate.
Give it a loud color. When exams are over, delete the calendar in one step.
Step 5: Set two reminders per exam
One reminder isn't enough for exams:
- The evening before, to pack your ID, calculator and pens and check the room.
- About 90 minutes before, enough time to travel and find the room.
In Google Calendar, set these once as the "Exams" calendar's default notifications (Settings → click the calendar → Event notifications). On iPhone, open each exam and set Alert and Second Alert.
Step 6: Plan revision around the exams
With every exam on the calendar, gaps become visible: two papers on the same day, or a free week before the hardest one. Block revision sessions in those gaps. Even 45-minute blocks labeled with a topic beat "revise" written on a whole Saturday.
If the timetable changes
Schools sometimes move an exam or a room after publishing the timetable. A converted file doesn't update itself, so when a revised timetable comes out:
- For one change, edit that event by hand.
- For many changes, delete the "Exams" calendar and convert the new version.
Always trust the official timetable over your calendar on the day.
What it costs
The first 3 events are free without an account, and a new account gets 5 more free, which covers most personal exam timetables. For more, the smallest pack is $4 for 50 events: one payment, no subscription.