Do you read the exam paper before starting?

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Reply 20

If you have to do all the questions on the paper then no, I don't read them. If there's a choice of questions (i.e. you have to do 1 out of a choice of 6) then of course I read them. Reading the whole paper at the start of the exam just wastes time imo - I'd rather spend the time planning/thinking.

Reply 21

x---Emz

I always read the paper first. It really helps in exam like Business, (especially units 2+3, AQA btw), as I don't do them in order. I start with the 2 15 mark questions, then the 8, finishing with the two 6s. It's easier that way to plan your time, plus you get the highest marks for the whole exam while your brain is still fairly refreshed...

Reply 22

Loz2402

maths/fmaths: nah, not much point. sometime i have a quick glince in case i see something REALLY bad for which i know im going to have to spare a lot of time for, but generally no.

French/german: generally yes. in the comprehension questions i read them mainly before reading/listening to the text, but i dont bother reading/looking at the second half of the paper until i get there. but i spose they arent really related.

i suppose its different for every topic.

Reply 23

hyper-little-mushroom-men

I always do, especially with essay subjects where it's a choice between a few questions! :p:

I just like to know what I'm getting into, and it helps me know how to divide my time ( if I know one's hard, then I'll leave more time for it.)

Reply 24

Mina_Harker

I never used to, but I always have a flick through the paper before I write anything. I'd rather know if I'm going to come across some really horrible questions in the paper instead of just stumbling on them after a good run on the earlier questions! It just puts me at ease a bit.

Reply 25

Lex Talionis

I like to read the questions before the texts so that you know what angle to come in for, you'd be surprised but your brain will zone in and pick up on relevant key points in extracts, if it knows what to gear it self to.

Reply 26

starfish321

It depends on the subject.
Essay subjects like Sociology that only have about 4 questions, yes, I do.
Subjects like Maths or Biology that have about 10 questions, I usually flick through to see what sort of topics are coming up, but don't read thoroughly.

Also, I quickly go through the easy questions that I know without thinking, then I do the ones that I know when I think about them, then I go back and try and work out/make stuff up for the hard ones.

Reply 27

starfish321

AisAis

I like to be able to think about the second question whilst writing the first.

I'm like that aswell. I have to keep writing little notes on the side of the paper if I think of something good to write haha!

Reply 28

Matrix

for my history exams i take my time and read the questions, however for my science papers with set questions i just get stuck in!

Reply 29

Confectionary

I check to see if I can answer any of the higher mark questions first but even then I usually just go in order.

Reply 30

Sandhu

I voted wrong :s-smilie:

I don't read the paper, I just start.

Reply 31

Glutamic Acid

I just start right away, I don't have the patience to read the questions first.

Reply 32

Gooner

I hold my hands up and admit, I lied in the poll. On wednesday, when I was sitting AEA French, I looked through the paper before I started to answer the questions properly :redface:

I didn't think I'd ever do or done it before. I blame this thread :p:

Reply 33

Angelil

To be fair, the AEA is three hours, and 1 hour is meant to be for reading time, so I think we'll cut you some slack :p:

How did the AEA go by the way?

Reply 34

Hispanic-Impressions

I just start straight away, because if I start reading all the questions I just end up getting distracted and wasting time.
I made the mistake of reading all my AS psychology essay questions, and then got so hung up about one of them because I didn't have a clue how to answer it and ended up wasting about 5 (precious!) minutes.

Reply 35

calcium878

Occasionally.

Reply 36

Gooner

Angelil

To be fair, the AEA is three hours, and 1 hour is meant to be for reading time, so I think we'll cut you some slack :p:

How did the AEA go by the way?

Well, I didn't think it was too bad, but I'm not entirely sure that i'll have done too well on the writing section, due to the vagueness of the question I chose. I thought it looked easiest, and it actually turned out to be a nightmare to find things to write about :p: