This article is relevant for all candidates preparing to sit the Paper P6 (UK) exam. It is one of a series of five short articles on exam technique. The five articles cover:
These articles (listed under 'Related links') are likely to be particularly useful to those candidates who are not attending a course with a tuition provider, such that they are not receiving ongoing guidance and advice on exam technique.
Time is your most precious resource in the exam. There is enough of it provided you use it efficiently and do not waste it.
You have 15 minutes of reading time available at the start of the exam. You should have a clear idea before you go into the exam as to how you will use this time.
It would certainly seem to make sense to use the time to review the three Section B questions and determine which ones you intend to do. You could then use the remaining time to read through the first question that you intend to answer; this will depend on whether you intend to start with Section A or Section B.
It is up to you to decide on a strategy and then to practise it.
You should be aware of how much time has elapsed and how much time remains for each particular part of each question and you should tailor your answers accordingly. This continuous approach to time management will help you to get to the end of each question in the correct amount of time.
If you do not adopt this approach there is a danger that you will be too expansive at the start of a question, when there appears to be a significant amount of time available, such that you may find yourself rushing the final parts of the question or missing them out entirely.
Exam questions contain the following guidance to help you manage your time efficiently:
Because time is a finite resource in the exam it is important that you do not waste it. With this in mind:
Good exam technique will help you perform to the best of your abilities in the exam and to maximise the number of marks you earn. As a result, you will be able to earn the marks that all of your hard work prior to the exam deserves.
Accordingly, as you prepare to sit your exams, in addition to adding to and refining your technical knowledge, you should be aiming to continually improve your exam technique.
There are three other non-technical articles that focus on the structure of the exam and exam technique (all of these are accessible on the Paper P6 technical articles web page).
Although exam technique is important, and can even be the difference between failing and passing the exam, it is clearly not as important as technical knowledge. Excellent exam technique on its own will not be sufficient to achieve exam success. Accordingly, there are technical articles to support you in your studies – access the article 'Paper P6 (UK) – Summary of available articles' (see 'Related links') for details.
Written by a member of the Paper P6 examining team