Timing practice exams: how to rehearse under real conditions

01

Untimed practice is half a rehearsal

A question done without a clock and the same question in an exam hall are not the same task. A time limit adds the decision of what to abandon. That decision is a skill rather than knowledge, and if you never train it you will be attempting it for the first time under maximum pressure.

Two failures are common. One is sinking into a hard question early and never reaching easy marks at the end. The other is finishing with no time to check. Both come from the same cause: working without knowing how much time was left.

So what a rehearsal has to reproduce is not only the total duration. It has to include noticing the remaining time partway through.

02

Setting the duration

Rough section lengths for common exams. Always confirm against the current regulations for your sitting, since these change.

Tap the digits to enter hours, minutes and seconds directly. For a length you rehearse often, use Copy settings link and bookmark the address so you never retype it.

03

Checkpoints matter more than the total

A single 100 minute timer only creates urgency at minute 90. What an exam actually requires is the habit of checking progress partway.

The method is simple. Before starting, write your targets in the corner of the page.

• ThirdsFor 100 minutes: "question 10 by minute 30, question 20 by minute 60, last 20 minutes to check." Every glance at the timer then answers a question rather than just reporting a number.
• Subtract the checking time firstTake the review window out of the total before planning the rest. Treated as leftover time, it always disappears.
• Timing sections separatelyFor stricter practice, restart the timer for each third, for instance three runs of a 30 minute timer. It diverges from the real exam, so use it early in preparation and switch to one continuous run later.

04

Building the conditions

1. Finish preparing before you start

   Water, bathroom, pens. If you will not leave the hall mid-paper, do not leave the desk mid-rehearsal.

2. Start the timer and detach it

   Working on screen, keep the PiP window in a corner. Working on paper, stand a laptop beside the desk with the digits facing you.

3. Block notifications

   Turn on do-not-disturb. A message arriving mid-rehearsal is a variable the real exam will not have.

4. Never pause

   Not even for a question you cannot start. The moment you pause, this stops being pacing practice and becomes ordinary revision.

The circular dial display shows the remaining proportion at a glance. Many people find it less agitating than falling digits, so try both before the real thing.

05

Two things to record afterwards

Marking the paper and stopping there throws away half the value of a timed run. Write down two things.

• Where you fell behind the planAlready five minutes late at the first checkpoint, or fine until the final stretch? Someone who loses time early and someone who collapses late need different fixes.
• Which question you should have abandonedNote roughly how long the worst one took. The question types that eat your time are usually consistent, and recognising them is worth marks on the day.

How to split ordinary study time is covered in how long should a study session be. Even if daily revision runs in short blocks, sitting the full length before the exam is not optional.

06

Cautions

• Keep a backup for anything that mattersA web timer ends if the browser or tab closes. For an important rehearsal, set a phone alarm alongside it.
• Check the power settingsA closed lid or a sleeping machine stops the browser. Before timing a long paper, check when the display is set to switch off.
• Exam hall rulesMost halls prohibit electronic devices. This is for rehearsal; on the day, use whatever analogue watch the rules allow.