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   How do I time my exam?

RULE #1:  If anything I say on this pages conflicts with what your teachers have told you, they are right and I am wrong.

 

Timing...

is probably the area where pupils foul up most often.

It is certainly the area where good candidates can easily come a cropper.

 

 

REMEMBER!!

Go into the exam knowing how much time you have for each question, and

KEEP A WATCH ON THE CLOCK!

 

Some Suggestions...

  • WORK OUT, before the exam, how long you have for each question you will face. 

    In the AQA Paper 1 Section A/A exam you have:

    • Q1 (How interpretations differ: 4 marks) - 6 minutes (1 minute thinking time and 5 minutes writing)

    • Q2 (Why interpretations differ: 4 marks) - 6 minutes (1 minute thinking time and 5 minutes writing)

    • Q3 (Which interpretation: 8 marks) - 12 minutes (2 minutes thinking time and 10 minutes writing)

    • Q4 (Two problems: 4 marks) - 6 minutes (1 minute thinking time and 5 minutes writing)

    • Q5 (How affected: 8 marks) - 12 minutes (2 minutes thinking time and 10 minutes writing)

    • Q6 (Bullet question: 12 marks) - 18 minutes (3 minutes thinking time and 10 minutes writing)

    In the Edexcel Paper 2 Option 24 (Section A) you have:

    • Q1 (Two consequences: 8 marks) - 13 minutes (3 minutes thinking time and 10 minutes writing)

    • Q2 (Narratve analysis: 8 marks) - 13 minutes (3 minutes thinking time and 10 minutes writing)

    • Q3 (Which interpretation: 16 marks) - 26 minutes (6 minutes thinking time and 20 minutes writing)

  • BEFORE YOU START WRITING, look at the clock and work out the times by which you must have finished each question.

  • KEEP LOOKING AT THE CLOCK throughout the exam, to see how you are doing for time. Constantly be adjusting how you are working to keep yourself on track, timewise.

    

  

If you have gone too slowly...

If, despite all this advice, you look up at the clock and find you have still got questions to do with, say, only 10 minutes left:

  • Don’t just continue writing at the same pace and run out of time with questions not done.

  • Recalculate how much time you have per question,

  • Spend that time just jotting down key points.

  • Always make sure that you write SOMETHING for every question.

  

NEVER!!

leave an exam early.

  • SPEND THE TIME
    trying to add facts and explanations to your answers;

  • READ THROUGH
    what you have written to make sure it makes sense.

 

If you end up with time to spare...

  • you have not said everything you could have said – either because you did not learn it well enough when you revised, or because you have not thought of everything you know.

  • Always leave a few lines after every question so, if you do finish early, you can go back and see if you can think of anything more to say.

  • Read through your work 'out-loud-in-your-head' to see if it makes sense – you’d be surprised how often you have written gobbledegook!

  

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