Good exam technique is probably less important at Level 1 than at Levels 2 or 3, but it is still easy to throw marks away thoughtlessly.
At A-level, you may have been able to choose to resit modules in order to improve your grades. Once you have passed a module in your degree programme, however, the University does not normally permit you to resit it. Moreover, if you fail a module at the first attempt, the maximum grade you can be awarded in a subsequent resit examination is 40.
Note that if you have evidence of a "good reason" for missing or performing badly in an exam, such as a doctor's note or other appropriate documentation, you can be awarded a result of "NA" (Not Assessed). This means that you must be examined on a later occasion, when you will be awarded a grade that will not be capped, but will reflect your actual performance.
All MBB Level 1 lecture modules follow the same exam formats, with a Part 1 exam in January/February, at the end of the Autumn Semester, and a Part 2 exam in May/June, at the end of the academic year. Each Part 1 exam comprises forty multiple-choice questions to be completed in one hour, and each Part 2 exam comprises 60 multiple-choice questions to be completed in 1½ hours. More detail may be found in the Aims and Objectives document for each module in MOLE.
There is a single exam for the practical module MBB165 in May/June, at the end of the academic year. It is essentially the same as the Part 1 exams in the lecture modules, with forty questions to be completed in one hour.
The rubrics (instructions) for the exams in each Level 1 module are essentially the same. For example, see the rubric for MBB162 Part 1. See also the computer sheet on which you must enter your answers. Note that you MUST complete this using a pencil (the scanner does not detect markings in ink), and that the "candidate number" you must enter is your registration number. It is very important that you answer ALL the questions, even if you have to guess some of the answers.
The questions in each exam will cover the full range of the material that has been covered in the module, and all questions are compulsory. It is quite likely that you will feel more confident about answering questions in some areas than others, but you need to prepare yourself to answer questions on anything and everything covered in each module.
Most students do not find themselves under time pressure in MBB Level 1 exams. It is obviously sensible, however, to check periodically to make sure that you are not falling behind schedule.
We do not set out to trip you up with subtleties of English language usage, but we do aim to test your knowledge and understanding of some quite sophisticated concepts, and of the relevant scientific terminology. If you do not read the questions carefully, you are quite likely to miss the point and select the wrong answer.
If you fail to answer all the questions in the exam, you are throwing marks away. Each unanswered question will be counted as a wrong answer, and you will lose 1/3 of a mark for it. Each time you guess, however, you will have a 1 in 4 chance of scoring +1 by picking the correct answer. For a detailed explanation of how and why we apply a "guessing correction", see "Module Assessment" in the Aims and Objectives for MBB162.