Answer:
There's no hard and fast rule, but this is a general list of things you could do, based off of my years of taking standardized tests.
1. Check the number of questions and the type of questions.
2. Allocate certain timeframes to finish each type of question, and ensure that you stick to it. Leave at least 15 minutes to check your work, especially if the paper is more than one hour.
3. Really read the information behind a question BEFORE you attempt it.
4. Answer the easiest questions first.
Explanation:
1. Check the number of questions and the type of questions.
You might be wondering why you should bother to do this step. Not only does it help you have a better idea of the timeframe to allocate to each question, it also just gives you a breeze through of what you'll be dealing with for the next hour or few hours.
2. Allocate certain timeframes to finish each type of question, and ensure that you stick to it. Leave at least 15 minutes to check your work, especially if the paper is more than one hour.
So how do you allocate time? Generally, the rule of thumb is to divide the number of questions by the time you have. However, don't do this.
Firstly, subtract the time you want to leave for checking from the time limit.
For Multiple Choice Questions (really depends on the time limit), you might want to generally give yourself 3 minutes to answer each question.
Short-answer questions, perhaps 5 - 7 minutes.
Long-answer questions, 10 - 20 minutes.
3. Really read the information behind a question BEFORE you attempt it.
This sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised how many people get questions wrong just because they didn't read the question properly.
4. Answer the easiest questions first.
Some people think you should allocate all your time to the difficult questions because you can just do the easy ones later right? No. Do the easy ones first. Make sure you have those marks and don't leave it to chance. If a question is too hard, forget it, mark the question number down somewhere and move on to ones you know you can answer.
