The three-pass method for any timed test
A pass structure that stops one hard question from eating the time for five easy ones.
Most marks are lost to bad sequencing, not to questions you couldn't solve. A question you could have answered but never reached is the most expensive mistake on any timed test.
Pass 1 — Harvest (about 40% of the time)
- Read each question once. If you can see the method within 15 seconds and it takes under your pacing target, solve it now.
- Otherwise, mark it and move on. Don't half-start it.
Pass 2 — Work (about 45% of the time)
- Come back to the marked questions. These are the "I know how, it just takes time" problems.
- Give each one a hard cap of 2× the pacing target.
Pass 3 — Gamble or verify (about 15% of the time)
- With negative marking, guess only when you can eliminate options so that the expected value is positive (see MCQ elimination).
- Otherwise use the time to re-check Pass 1 answers for silly mistakes (units, signs, the question's exact ask).
How ExamSense trains this
- In guided mode, each question shows its pacing target and a timer ring.
- On the result page, time per question vs target shows where your passes broke down.
- Challenge mode gives slow correct answers only partial credit, which trains speed as well as accuracy.