In the Examination – Time Management and Understanding the Question

Talk to your teacher about the format of the examination
o how long will I have?
o do I have extra time?
o how many questions will there be?
o how many marks will each question carry?
Marks and time
You should base the amount of time you spend on a question on the number of marks it carries.
I.e. This paper is worth 60 marks and is 2hrs long, so this was how I will roughly divide my time:
1.
2.
3.
4.
(5) – 10 mins
(10) – 20 mins
(20) – 40 mins
(25) – 50 mins
Answering the Question
The importance of highlighting and considering key words:

Tell you topic / focus

Tell you approach / skills you need to use (e.g. explain, describe, summarise, analyse, argue,
persuade)

Tell you format and what to include (full sentences or one word answers, essays or other written
formats, time frame or page/chapter frame, simply using text provided in the examination or do you need
to include your own knowledge as well?)
EXAMPLE QUESTIONS
1. Describe the events leading up to the outbreak of World War I. (10)
2. ‘The single most important event leading up to WWI was the assassination of Archduke
Franz Ferdinand’. To what extent do you agree with this statement? (20)
3. Using the sources given, and your own knowledge, what, in your opinion, was the single
most important factor causing WWI? (25)
4. What were the major factors in Hitler’s rise to power between 1929 and 1933? (10)
5. Find three words used to describe Mr Birling in this extract? (3)
6. What are the stages leading to the formation of an oxbow lake? (5)
7. How is an oxbow lake formed? (8)