Can you use extra paper if you run out of space in the answer booklet? A-Levels

I noticed on one of the AQA A-Level History past papers, it said that you must write your answers in the 16-page answer booklet. I write a lot more than this in my mock exams however, I wrote 25 pages on one of the history exams in the mock. So, if I run out of space, am I allowed to ask for extra paper? I always have done so in mocks but I wasn't sure about the real exam (which is this summer).

Maybe this seems like a stupid question but I just wanted to check and see if anyone knew?

I noticed on one of the AQA A-Level History past papers, it said that you must write your answers in the 16-page answer booklet. I write a lot more than this in my mock exams however, I wrote 25 pages on one of the history exams in the mock. So, if I run out of space, am I allowed to ask for extra paper? I always have done so in mocks but I wasn't sure about the real exam (which is this summer).

Maybe this seems like a stupid question but I just wanted to check and see if anyone knew?

Yes you can ask for additonal paper but do fill in the header and secure it to the booklet.

Yes. Along with what Muttley said, either ask for extra paper as soon as the exam begins or when you have half a page left. Do not ask for more paper as soon as you’ve used up all the paper that you already have because then you will be sitting there waiting for more paper to arrive. It’s a waste of time and every minute counts in an exam.

Good point about not waiting .. my school would not give out paper at the beginning though as it can end up wasted.

Thank you! I mean I would ask for it at the beginning because I know I will need it based on every mock I’ve done before but if they don’t allow it, I will do half a page down maybe so I’m not waiting.

You really shouldn't actually need extra paper to write a good answer, particularly reams of it. The amount of space provided should be sufficient to write a first-class answer. You might want to look at tightening up your answers and eliminating waffle and irrelevance, to see if you can write good answers more concisely.

Thank you but I think it might be the size of my handwriting as it’s quite big and I can’t write smaller when I’m trying to write so quick!

And I’m hesitant to change it tbh as I got 100% on the history mock paper that I wrote 25 pages for. I might have a go though at reducing it because I don’t want to risk running out of time in the real A-Level as I usually don’t have any time leftover haha.

Well, don't fix it if it aint broke, I guess Super result - so you're obviously answering the questions excellently and if you're not habitually running out of time there isn't a problem (i.e. there is enough time to check through your work at the end, and you're not writing right up to the 'put your pens down' point).

Have you applied to Cambridge with such good results? Oxford at a push.

Thank you! I usually have a couple of minutes left so I think it’s probably alright!


I applied to Oxford for History and English but I was rejected I’m waiting to hear back from Durham at the moment actually!

Yes. Along with what Muttley said, either ask for extra paper as soon as the exam begins or when you have half a page left. Do not ask for more paper as soon as you’ve used up all the paper that you already have because then you will be sitting there waiting for more paper to arrive. It’s a waste of time and every minute counts in an exam.

Centres have been told they can't hand out additional answer sheets for candidates to use for planning (shame as I've always though that a sensible thing to do as you can refer to it more easily as you write) so they probably won't give you paper at the beginning as they will think this is what you want it for. If you need extra paper then you will get a 4 page booklet if it is AQA or if you finish the 16 page really early they might just give you an 8-page straight away.

Wow, 25 pages? Impressive! May I ask how you write so much so quickly - do you use an essay plan? (Personally, I tend to take too much time gathering my thoughts, plus my handwriting is quite small.)

Thank you! Well my handwriting isn’t that small (it’s not absolutely massive though either haha, but over average size) so that factors into it. But I don’t spend much time planning, for the AQA A-Level History paper I spend about 7 minutes max. annotating the extracts/sources and then about 2-4 minutes planning the essay questions roughly.

But to write so quickly, I think playing piano has improved my skills there as ever since I took up playing (a few years ago now) and strengthened the hand muscles, I’ve been writing so much quicker. Another thing is I use Stabilo Exam Grade Pens because they write super smoothly and make writing quicker and less painful. I do practice writing fast too actually just generally and I always time myself to do say 2 minutes on the intro and 10 minutes on para 1 so I set the pace I need to write at from the start of the exam.