How to Manage Time in Exams

In A-Level, GCSE, University by Think Student EditorLeave a Comment

Exams can be extremely stressful and difficult. Memorising and understanding the content for each subject is hard enough. However, in each exam, you have to make sure that you are reading the questions and writing your answers down as quickly as possible. This is because of the time frames each exam inevitably has, one thing that every student dreads about exams. Most of the time, the time limit is very restrictive. This is especially true for essay questions!

There are many tips and tricks to help you manage time in exams. The most important piece of advice is to practice questions before the exam. Practice exam papers as much as you can! This means that you will get used to how many minutes you need to spend on each question in order to complete the paper in time. Make sure that you have a rough idea for how many minutes should be spent on each question. Move on as soon as the time for that question is up. This should create more marks for you.

Being able to manage time is one of the most important skills you need in order to take an exam. To find out how to manage time the most effectively, read on!

How do you manage time during exams?

As already stated, practising each paper you will be sitting for your exams is essential for improving your time management skills. Give yourself the same amount of time you would have in the exam and keep an eye on the clock. This means that you will get used to the sort of pace that you need to work at when completing an exam paper.

As a result of completing practise papers, you will then be able to calculate how many minutes you should be spending on each question. Therefore, in the exam, you can monitor the length of time each question is taking you. If you feel you are spending too long on one question, move on and come back to it if you have time later.

A vital skill for managing time is being able to write quickly. If you practise enough at writing at a good speed before your exam, this can definitely help you complete the paper in time. If you want to find out how to write quickly, check out this article on Think Student.

How do you manage time during essay papers?

Essay questions are definitely difficult. Many students panic when they see each question because it is not one that they have seen before. However, panicking can waste time! Make sure that when you see each essay question, you take a moment to breathe. Create a rough plan and take about five minutes to calm down.

The amount of time you spend doing these exercises will definitely be less compared to the time wasted as you panic and try to answer the question immediately! This is because panicking can cause your mind to become blank and then a good, quality answer wouldn’t be written.

If you struggle with exam stress and are worried that you will panic in the exam, check out this article on Think Student. It gives tips on how to cope with the large amount of stress that exams bring.

It is also important to keep an eye on the clock during essay questions. If you know that you should only be spending forty-five minutes on a question, only spend forty-five minutes. If you spend any longer, this could cause a snowball effect and you might not have time for the other questions as a result.

How do you manage time during maths and science exams?

Before you begin, a good idea is to have a flick through the exam paper. See which questions take the least time and which take the most. Complete the questions which can be answered quickly first. This means that you can spend more time on the other questions afterwards, whilst being confident that you have secured a good number of marks.

If you are trying to answer a really hard question and find that it is taking you way too much time, move on! If you spend too much time on one question, you may not have time to answer the others, which you could get loads more marks on. If you have time at the end, go back to the questions you struggled with. However, do not prioritise these harder questions. This is especially the case if they are not worth a lot of marks!

Therefore, always answer what you do know first. To discover more tips on how to manage time in exams, check out this article from the Oxford Royale website.

What is the importance of managing time during an exam?

Managing time in an exam is super important! You must know how easy it is to get carried away with answering a question- especially if it is an essay. You could write the best answer ever written, with pages and pages of fantastic ideas. However, this comes at the expense of your other questions.

If you spend too long on one question, then the other questions will suffer. You will not be able to answer them in time, resulting in fewer marks for you. This means you will end up with a low grade! Low grades not only destroy your confidence, but they can also affect the outcomes of your future.

Exams may seem pointless sometimes. Students are taught content which they have to memorise just to answer questions on an exam paper, which determines their grade. However, you need to be aware that getting a good grade in an exam doesn’t only show that you revised well. Getting a good grade also shows that you are able to think quickly and divide time up effectively.

 A high grade shows that you can time manage well. Employers definitely look for this quality in a person and it is seen as desirable. If you want to discover even more tips on how to manage time effectively, check out this article from the Birmingham City University website.

What happens if you still can’t manage time during an exam?

It can be very difficult to learn how to read and write quickly in a short space of time. If you really struggle with time management in exams, you could be given extra time. Twenty five percent extra time is given to students who suffer with dyslexia. To find out more about how to receive extra time for exams visit this Think Student article.

If you feel as if you may suffer with dyslexia, you are entitled to apply for extra time. This is because this disorder can result in students not being able to write or read as quickly as students without it. This would put the students with dyslexia at a slight disadvantage if they were given the same amount of time as everybody else.

However, not everyone can apply for this extra time. You will be thoroughly tested to see if you are entitled to it. More information can be found about this on the JCQ website.

How do you manage time whilst revising for an exam?

One of the best pieces of advice is to create a revision plan. You can discover how to make an effective revision timetable by checking out this article on the Think Student website. Look at the date of your exams and identify which topics you need to revise.

Work out how many hours you would like to spend on each topic and use this to plan your revision. Making a revision timetable is so easy once you know how! If you want to discover an easy way to do this, check out this article from the iCloud website.

When you are ready to revise, make sure there are no distractions. This includes turning your phone off or removing it from your eye line. This means that you could actually spend less time revising because the revision which you do carry out will be of high quality. To find top tips on revising for exams visit this Think Student article.

Make sure that you revise in blocks of half an hour or slightly less. Any longer than this can result in you losing concentration, meaning you will have to spend more time revising in the long run. This is to make sure that everything has gone in. To find out exactly how long you should revise for and the science behind it, visit this article.

Always take breaks in between these blocks. If you do this, you are more likely to be able to maintain concentration. Following these tips should lead to the highest quality of revision. You will be able to use your time effectively and revise less overall as a result! To help you with revision, check out this article on Think Student, which gives some great revision tips.

Try your best to stick to the revision timetable and you will see the benefits.

As you can see, time management is essential in order to get a good grade in an exam. However, you need to remember to read the questions carefully and not rush too much. As long as you have revised well and followed the tips in this article, there is no reason why you will not get the very best grade.

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