During the exam

Once you’ve entered the exam room find your table. It will have your name on it so finding it isn’t too difficult.

Sit down and make sure your table and chair are OK. If the table wobbles and is a problem, now is the time to let somebody know about it.

Arrange your equipment on the table so it is ready for use.

When the teacher asks you to, fill in your details on the front page of the exam paper. Do this BEFORE you start the exam rather than waste exam time doing it. Now’s the time to check that you have the right paper in front of you. If you are sitting GCSE Geography and the paper says GCSE French, now’s the time to tell somebody!

Listen carefully to the instructions given to you by the exam staff. They will explain how long you’ve got, what to do if you need to leave the room, how to ask for more paper or to ask for help.

If you feel unwell, or there are other reasons on the day why your ability to sit the exam has been reduced, let the staff know.

Read the instructions printed on the paper, making sure that you understand which questions you must answer, and what options there are if you have to select a number of questions from those offered. There are few things worse than finishing, then discovering there were two more questions on the other side of the page!

Remember that any form of cheating could get you kicked out of the exam so make sure you don’t look at other peoples work, even accidentally. Likewise don’t ask anyone else if you can borrow a pen, etc.

Don’t be tempted to write anything rude or offensive on the answer sheet, no matter how stressed you are. It could count against you.

Answer all the required questions in the correct spaces, and put any ‘working out’ on the official exam paperwork too. When you’ve finished with your working out, put a line through it and hand it in with your answers.

If you feel ill, need to clarify something, or need more paper, put your hand up and wait. Somebody will come to you.

If you use any extra sheets of paper make sure that you put your name and candidate details on every sheet.

At the end of the exam sort your answer sheets into the right order if they are loose, and double-check that your candidate details are on everything.

If you’ve finished early, sit quietly and wait until you are allowed to leave. Sometimes you may be able to leave early, but that’s up to the exam staff in the room.

When you finally leave the room, don’t take any of the exam paperwork with you. Leave all the paperwork, including the question sheet, in the exam room.