Exam technique: how to stop losing easy marks
When students get a paper back, the marks they are most annoyed about are rarely the hard ones. They are the easy marks lost to rushing, misreading and running out of time. These are the cheapest marks to win back, because they cost technique rather than more knowledge. Here are the common ones and how to stop losing them.
Read the question, then read it again
The single most expensive habit is answering the question you expected rather than the one in front of you. Underline the command word and the exact focus before you write. A brilliant answer to the wrong question scores almost nothing.
Watch the marks, not the question
The mark allocation tells you how much to write. A two-mark question wants two points, not a paragraph. A six-mark question wants six marks of substance, not two ideas padded out. Writing a page for two marks wastes time you needed for the questions that were actually worth it.
Roughly one point per mark. If a question is worth four marks and you have made two points, you are probably half a mark scheme short.
Show your working
In maths and the sciences, marks are awarded for method, not just the final answer. A wrong final answer with correct working often still earns most of the marks; a right answer with no working can earn fewer. Always show the steps, even when the answer feels obvious.
Manage the clock deliberately
Running out of time is lost marks in their purest form: questions you could have answered, left blank. Work out roughly how long each question is worth before you start, and move on when your time is up even if a question is unfinished. A half-answered last question beats a blank one.
Never leave a blank
An empty answer scores zero with certainty. An attempt might catch a mark for a correct step or a relevant point. If you are stuck, write what you do know. The expected value of an attempt is always positive.
Practise the technique, not just the content
Exam technique is a skill, and like any skill it improves with practice under realistic conditions. Sit past papers timed, then mark them and look specifically at where technique, not knowledge, cost you marks. Marking your answers with the Response Marker makes those patterns easy to see.
Mark a practice answer
See exactly where marks are won and lost, with reasoning against the rubric and a model answer.
Common questions
Why do I lose marks even when I know the material?
Usually to technique: misreading the question, writing too much or too little for the marks, not showing working, or running out of time. These are fixable without learning anything new.
How much should I write per question?
Let the marks guide you: roughly one point per mark. Writing far more than a question is worth wastes time you need elsewhere.
Is it worth attempting a question I cannot fully answer?
Always. A blank scores zero for certain, while an attempt can pick up marks for a correct step or a relevant point. Never leave an answer empty.