Take time to read through every question carefully as you come to it. If you recognise that you won’t be able to answer the question quickly, write down everything you know about it, mark it and move on to the next one. Similarly, if you’ve started a question and it’s taking too much time, move on and come back to it later.
If you leave questions out, you must try to make sure that you have time at the end of the paper to return to them. Even if you don’t manage to get the full answer, writing down some working may still get you some marks. Time for checking is essential. Check arithmetic, units, negatives and whether your answer looks sensible.
Spend a little time before the exam remembering any formulae you might need. Write these down at the start of the exam so you have easy access to them and don’t have to stress about trying to remember them mid-question.
This is important for collecting marks, but also important for you if you start a question and then decide to leave it for later. You need to know where you left off and this is much easier if you can work out what you’ve already done.
Check them! And then check them again! Don’t kick yourself for losing easy marks. This is all about being able to stay calm and collected during the exam. Don’t rush through questions in a panic. Take a moment to breathe and give yourself a quick pat on the back every time you complete a question. Use this to sanity check the answer you have put down.
