Common Exam Mistakes

Ensure to take time to read the question carefully so that you understand what it is actually asking.

Underline or highlight the key words or data, and take notice of the command words in the question.

In particular, make sure you read questions about ratio carefully.

Some questions deal with the whole ratio, while some deal with just one part.

Watch out for questions that involve mixed units, e.g. a diagram where one side is given in mm and another is given in cm.

Be sure to check which unit the answer needs to be given in and convert your answer accordingly so that you don’t miss a mark!

Even if you make a mistake, you can still get valuable marks for showing your method.

Remember, marks are awarded for what is correct, rather than deducted for what is wrong.

Use the number of marks available as a guideline for how many steps your answer should have. Marks are shown in brackets at the end of a question e.g. [2 marks].

In this example, the answer will typically require two steps. This could be something like working out a percentage (step 1) and then adding that onto the original figure to show the increase (step 2).

It is good practice to spend 1 minute per mark as a guide for how much time to allow per question.

This means if a question is 6 marks, it should take you about 6 minutes to answer it. If you follow this guide, you should have some time at the end of the exam to go through the paper and check your answers.

If you're asked to find the length of an unknown side of a triangle using pythagoras (a2 + b2 = c2), remember that you need to square root your answer.

This will give you the length of the missing line. Make sure you include the unit of measurement.

It is really useful to know the common fraction, decimal and percentage equivalents (e.g. knowing that 1/2 = 0.5 = 50%) to help you quickly work out your answers.

Be sure to learn the equivalents for: 1⁄2, 1⁄3, 1⁄4, 1⁄5, 1⁄10

Always check your working out to see if it makes sense.

For example, we know that probabilities must lie between 0 and 1, and be positive. Therefore if your answer is bigger than 1, or is a negative number, then you know this can’t be right and you need to have another go.

It is important to double-check your answers to make sure you haven’t made any errors.

Specifically, make sure that you haven’t misread the question, and that you have used the correct unit of measurement where asked.