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Exam day tips

What actually happens on the day, how the different question types work, and how to not run out of time.

A person sitting an exam

Before the day

Book the exam before you feel ready. Almost nobody feels ready, and having a date is what makes you revise properly.

If you are taking it at home, test your webcam and your internet the day before, and clear your desk completely. People get turned away for a notepad they forgot about.

The question types

  • Single answer. The most common. Read the last line of the question first, it tells you what is actually being asked.
  • Choose two or three. The number is always stated. If you can only see one right answer, you have misread something.
  • Drag and drop. Usually putting steps in order. Work out the first and last step, then fill the middle.
  • Case studies. A long scenario with several questions. Read the requirements section twice, that is where the answer is hiding.
  • Yes or no sets. Each one is scored on its own, so a wrong answer on the first does not cost you the rest.

Managing your time

Divide the minutes by the questions before you start, and check yourself at the halfway mark. If a question is taking more than two minutes, mark it for review and move on.

In some exams you cannot go back to a case study once you have left it, so finish those properly the first time.

How the questions are worded

Watch for the phrases that decide the answer: “with the least administrative effort”, “the most cost effective”, “you must minimise”, “the solution must”. These are there to rule out answers that would otherwise be correct.

The most common mistake: picking an answer that works instead of the answer that works and meets the constraint in the question. Two options are often both technically correct, and only one is cheapest or simplest.

If you fail

You can retake after a short waiting period, and again after a longer one. Your score report shows which areas let you down, so use it. A second attempt that is aimed at those areas is a very different exam from the first one.

Practise reading the constraint, not just the topic

Our scenarios carry the same kind of constraint the exam uses to rule out an answer that would otherwise be right, put the way somebody at work would say it.

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