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Can’t read exam clock/ prefer a digital one with seconds.

For my alevels I find timing on my politics exams quite difficult to manage it’s a case where even 30 seconds could make a difference. I wish they would give us at least a digital clock but sometimes they place a small round clock at the front of the room where I can see it or quickly see how I’m doing with time.

They also don’t permit wrist watches especially not apple watches etc so it’s a bit of a frustrating situation.

Any suggestions on what I could do about this would be appreciated. Thanks

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Reply 1
Original post by TheFlash2024
For my alevels I find timing on my politics exams quite difficult to manage it’s a case where even 30 seconds could make a difference. I wish they would give us at least a digital clock but sometimes they place a small round clock at the front of the room where I can see it or quickly see how I’m doing with time.

They also don’t permit wrist watches especially not apple watches etc so it’s a bit of a frustrating situation.

Any suggestions on what I could do about this would be appreciated. Thanks

If it bothers you that much bring a full on digital clock to the exam room 😭
Why not ask to be sat closer to the front of the room and to get a small digital timer?

Or ask permission to leave this on your desk (or something similar) but ensure you get a quiet one. Just in case you disturb candidates in the room who get extra time.

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Original post by Slx.24
If it bothers you that much bring a full on digital clock to the exam room 😭


I highly doubt that would be allowed💀
I can read a clock just not from the distance I’m usually placed from the front of the exam hall. Also it obviously takes make longer to read than a digital
Original post by TheFlash2024
For my alevels I find timing on my politics exams quite difficult to manage it’s a case where even 30 seconds could make a difference. I wish they would give us at least a digital clock but sometimes they place a small round clock at the front of the room where I can see it or quickly see how I’m doing with time.

They also don’t permit wrist watches especially not apple watches etc so it’s a bit of a frustrating situation.

Any suggestions on what I could do about this would be appreciated. Thanks

what exactly is it about clocks that you are not able to read???
Reply 6
Original post by TheFlash2024
I can read a clock just not from the distance I’m usually placed from the front of the exam hall. Also it obviously takes make longer to read than a digital

How long does it take to read a clock 😭
Original post by TheFlash2024
I highly doubt that would be allowed💀

You never know till you try :colondollar:
Reply 7
Original post by TheFlash2024
For my alevels I find timing on my politics exams quite difficult to manage it’s a case where even 30 seconds could make a difference. I wish they would give us at least a digital clock but sometimes they place a small round clock at the front of the room where I can see it or quickly see how I’m doing with time.

They also don’t permit wrist watches especially not apple watches etc so it’s a bit of a frustrating situation.

Any suggestions on what I could do about this would be appreciated. Thanks

I can tell the time from a clock but it also takes me quite a while when working out how long I have from specific times I start and stuff, idk why I've always had trouble since I was small with reading clocks, I spoke to the exams officer and she let me have a digital clock on my desk that they provided so they knew I wasn't going to be able to cheat or anything with a clock I brought in myself. it's really nothing to be embarrassed about :smile:
Reply 8
Original post by Slx.24
How long does it take to read a clock 😭

if you're at the back of the exam hall its hard to see and read the small hand of the clock which shows you the seconds, obviously anyone can see the hour and minutes but when you're in an exam its helpful to see the seconds as well which I think is what OP means.
Reply 9
Original post by aliaa03
if you're at the back of the exam hall its hard to see and read the small hand of the clock which shows you the seconds, obviously anyone can see the hour and minutes but when you're in an exam its helpful to see the seconds as well which I think is what OP means.

I read slightly wrong and thought the op said that he was usually placed at the front of the class not at a distance from the front :h:
Yeah well we can try my method of rolling into the exam hall with a 2 kilo block of 90's clock technology :colone:
Original post by aliaa03
when you're in an exam its helpful to see the seconds as well which I think is what OP means.

Just my 2p, but is it really helpful? It sounds a bit like procrastinating and literal timewasting? I'm quite at home with a clock in an exam room and the concept of roughly timing my questions/answers... but seconds? It honestly sounds counter productive to me.
Original post by Slx.24
You never know till you try :colondollar:


Like 5 seconds, idek who invented that sort of clock when you’re gonna have to convert it anyway. Trust me I’m not stupid I just find digital clocks easier as I’m sure most people do
Original post by StriderHort
Just my 2p, but is it really helpful? It sounds a bit like procrastinating and literal timewasting? I'm quite at home with a clock in an exam room and the concept of roughly timing my questions/answers... but seconds? It honestly sounds counter productive to me.


For essays it really is because if you don’t stop writing at a certain point you’re not going to finish the entire paper and it’s really tight imo. Maths however I think you have more than enough time and don’t really need to worry about the seconds
Are you sure you don't need glasses? I only ask because I couldnt see the board in year 9 and thought the teachers were just using really faint pens. Turns out I needed glasses.
Original post by CoolCavy
Are you sure you don't need glasses? I only ask because I couldnt see the board in year 9 and thought the teachers were just using really faint pens. Turns out I needed glasses.


I still need to book an eye test, but I’d be surprised if anyone behind the 7th row could read the clock in the exam halls, I have struggled reading the board recently so maybe you’re right
Original post by StriderHort
Just my 2p, but is it really helpful? It sounds a bit like procrastinating and literal timewasting? I'm quite at home with a clock in an exam room and the concept of roughly timing my questions/answers... but seconds? It honestly sounds counter productive to me.

in my business exam i wasn’t sure whether to keep writing or not because i couldn’t tell how many seconds were left on the clock and it looks bad if you leave a sentence unfinished / don’t continue the chain of analysis. I knew there was a minute left but as ridiculous as it sounds i couldn’t tell how much was left of it because all the hands of the clock confuse me and it was at a bit of a distance too. :smile:
Original post by TheFlash2024
For my alevels I find timing on my politics exams quite difficult to manage it’s a case where even 30 seconds could make a difference. I wish they would give us at least a digital clock but sometimes they place a small round clock at the front of the room where I can see it or quickly see how I’m doing with time.

They also don’t permit wrist watches especially not apple watches etc so it’s a bit of a frustrating situation.

Any suggestions on what I could do about this would be appreciated. Thanks


I went through GCSE-masters mostly looking at *****y clocks on walls from weird angles. (one of university exam halls was a giant sports arena and they had a giant scoreboard they'd use which was awesome, but that an exception to the norm).

It's the same for everyone, you just learn to live with it, if you are down to the last 15 seconds every paper id say you need to practice more because this sounds like a lack of preparation thing to me.
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by aliaa03
in my business exam i wasn’t sure whether to keep writing or not because i couldn’t tell how many seconds were left on the clock and it looks bad if you leave a sentence unfinished / don’t continue the chain of analysis. I knew there was a minute left but as ridiculous as it sounds i couldn’t tell how much was left of it because all the hands of the clock confuse me and it was at a bit of a distance too. :smile:

You write until the invigilator says put your pens down.
Reply 18
The fact that many students have never learnt to read an analogue clock face is a subject of regular discussion on the Exams officers coven. It never ceases to amaze us.
Reply 19
get an analogue wrist watch and get used to it

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