Time management for attempting paper

This is a common plaint of many students that although they know the answers, but 3 hrs time is not enough to finish them. They end up leaving one question or two.


But the rule is:

Its better to complete 5 questions partially than to do 3 or 4 questions fully and leave the fifth one attempted even when one knows the answer.

Such things happen due to mismanagement of time.

So here we will examine the situation from examination point of view.

Case 1

Suppose, in a paper you have to do five questions in all. And exam is of 3 hrs.

So first, one must divide and allocate the time to each question. If all the questions are of equal weightage i.e equal marks then you will give equal time to each question while answering.

So in this case (a little math) it becomes -

180 minutes/5 = 36

So you have 36 minutes to each question. keep your watch in front of you and start answering. Suppose 36 minutes are over and you havn't finished the answer, just leave some space ( you know would be sufficient) and switch to the next answer. You can come back to it later.

In this way you will be able to finish all the answers.

And remember, its tough for teachers to give mark to an answer which has not been attempted at all as compared to the one in which at least 5 correct lines have been written.

Case 2

Generally in some cases Question no 1 is longer.

In this case allocate a larger chunk of time to first question say 45 minutes. And then divide the rest of the time equally to other answers.

One advice

Question no 1 is sometime not very lengthy .

Sometimes only two words or one sentence is sufficient.

e.g If the question is : Who is considered the father of genetics?

The answer would be : Gregor Mendel.

And don't start like : Gregor Mendel. And his wife was Mrs X Mendel. And she was sooooooo beautiful that I can't even explain!

End of the joke.

This may be exaggeration but some students go on beating about the bush. So don't do this and use the saved time for lengthier questions.

Wish you a lot of time!

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