Exam Strategy – F5 Dec 14

Chris: There is not really a ‘best’ strategy with regard to which section to attempt first. The most important thing is to allocate your time and not fall into the trap of spending too long on either section (especially not to spend too long on just one multiple choice question that is causing difficulty, when it is only 2 marks and the time could be better spent elsewhere).

My own personal approach would be to do Section A first, but ignoring any questions that either required a lot of reading or were on topics that I know I always have problems with. Then I would move on to Section B, and afterwards go back to Section A and try to complete the questions that I ignored the first time round. (And, of course, as soon as there are only a few minutes left i the exam, I would guess any missing Section A answers – there are no ‘negative’ marks for getting one wrong, guessing one correctly just could make a vital difference 🙂 )

With regard to the 15 minute reading time, I would first read the requirements of the Section B questions (not the body of the questions, just the requirements) and underline key words. (For example, it is quite common for a requirement to ask you to calculate and comment on something. In the pressure of the exam it is very easy to calculate but then to forget to comment, which is just wasting marks. By underlining the key requirements you are less likely later to miss any)
Then I would do as you suggest and start to answer the Section A questions. You are correct in saying that you are not allowed to open to answer booklet until the 15 minutes reading time is finished, but you are allowed to write on the question paper.