19 Oct 2017

Multiple choice sections are the perfect place to pick up marks you know you won’t get in short or long answer exam questions. Some people like to smash through them at the start of the exam, others at the end when they know they’re running out of time. Theoretically, multiple choice shouldn’t be too hard, the answer is right in front of you so it’s just a matter of picking which one. But we all know it’s easier said than done, so when you’re trying to tackle a set of multiple choice remember these tips:

1. Set a time limit and don’t stall

Just like any other part of the exam you need to set a time limit for finishing your multiple choice. Even if you get to the end of your allocated time and haven’t finished answering, don’t stall and waste extra time on them; you’ll be costing yourself marks in other areas. Instead, leave a little note for yourself to remember to answer them or quickly guess for the remaining questions and come back to them if you have time at the end.

2. Skip the hard ones first time round

The perk of multiple choice is you can build up a good momentum and when you continually know the right answer, your confidence will swell and put you in a good mindset for the rest of the exam. On the other hand, if you get stuck on a tricky question it doesn’t take long for you to overanalyse everything and start to doubt yourself. If you really don’t know the answer, don’t let yourself get bogged down on it.

3. Mark the one’s you’re unsure about

This could just mean a little x or a tick next to the questions you’re not 100% sure on. This way, if you have extra time, you can easily see which questions you need to put thought into and which ones you know you’ve nailed.

4. Look for answers in the rest of the exam

Read through the wording of questions and see if anything in there will help you answer the multiple choice you’re stuck on. While it probably won’t be explicitly mentioned anywhere, you might get lucky and have a familiar term help you answer.

5. Guess and hope

Worst comes to worst you’re just going to have to wing it. Honestly, the odds are too bad in this situation either so if you’ve only got two minutes left and ten blank multiple choice staring at you, start scribbling in random bubbles and hope for the best.