AAA – Sep 18 New paper format vs time allocation

Bearing in mind that the exam is 3 hours 15 mins with no distinction between reading and planning time and writing time and no time has to be spent on making choices between questions (since there is no choice), I would expect a candidate to spend at least 30-40 minutes and up to 1 hour in reading and planning over the duration of the exam. So I think you could expect to spend 20-40 minutes thoroughly reading and planning Q1 and 5-15 minutes on each of the Section B questions.
You will only know what “works” for you by practicing timed questions. If, for example, you spend 40 minutes planning Q1 but then can’t write out all your answer points in, say, 50 minutes (i.e. leaving 50 mins to plan and write each of the 25-mark questions) – you have over-planned. If you spend only 15 minutes planning and when you’ve written the answer there is still time to spare and you’re repeating yourself or you’re having to think of additional points – you’ve under-planned.