Exam Pattern and Marking

Tier 1 pattern

• Correct answer: 2 marks
• Wrong answer: 0.50 marks cut
• Not answered: 0

Each section has its own clock

Since 2026, every Tier 1 section runs on its own fixed 15-minute timer. The sections come in a set order, and once the 15 minutes of a section are over you move to the next one. You cannot go back.

This changes how you handle Maths. Earlier, all four sections shared one 60-minute pool, so a student who finished Reasoning early could spend the spare minutes on Maths. Now Maths gets exactly 15 minutes. Any time you lose on one stubborn question comes straight out of the other questions in the same section.

Candidates who are allowed a scribe get 20 minutes for each section.

Tier 2, Paper I pattern

• Correct answer: 3 marks
• Wrong answer: 1 mark cut
• Not answered: 0

Section I lasts 1 hour. Under the 2026 pattern, Maths and Reasoning each get their own 30-minute timer inside it, so Tier 2 Maths means 30 questions in 30 minutes.

How much time you get per question

• Tier 1: 15 minutes for 25 questions, which is 36 seconds a question.
• Tier 2: 30 minutes for 30 questions, which is 1 minute a question.

36 seconds is not enough to read a question, set up an equation and work it out the long way every single time. Some questions will take you 15 seconds and some will take 90. What matters is picking up the quick ones first and not getting stuck.

A simple plan for the 15 Tier 1 minutes:

1. First round, about 10 minutes. Go through all 25 questions. Answer the ones you can do straight away. If a question looks long, mark it and move on. Don't start a calculation you are not sure about.
2. Second round, about 4 minutes. Come back to the marked questions and try the ones you now think you can crack.
3. Last minute. Look at what is still unanswered and decide whether to guess. The next part shows when guessing is worth it.

Tier 2 gives you more time per question, but the questions are usually a step tougher and a wrong answer costs a full mark. Accuracy matters more there than raw speed.

That is why each chapter here has a Shortcuts & Speed Methods section and ends with a 15-minute Chapter Test: you build up to this pace one topic at a time.

Negative marking: should you guess?

It depends on how many options you can rule out. Suppose you rule out some options and pick at random from the $n$ that are left. You are right with chance $\frac{1}{n}$ and wrong with chance $\frac{n-1}{n}$, so on average one such guess gives you

$$\frac{1}{n} \times (\text{marks for a right answer}) - \frac{n-1}{n} \times (\text{marks cut for a wrong answer})$$

Tier 1 (2 marks for right, 0.50 cut for wrong):

• Blind guess, 4 options left: $\frac{1}{4}(2) - \frac{3}{4}(0.5) = 0.5 - 0.375 = +0.125$
• 3 options left: $\frac{1}{3}(2) - \frac{2}{3}(0.5) = \frac{2}{3} - \frac{1}{3} \approx +0.33$
• 2 options left: $\frac{1}{2}(2) - \frac{1}{2}(0.5) = 1 - 0.25 = +0.75$

Tier 2 (3 marks for right, 1 cut for wrong):

• Blind guess, 4 options left: $\frac{1}{4}(3) - \frac{3}{4}(1) = 0$
• 3 options left: $\frac{1}{3}(3) - \frac{2}{3}(1) = 1 - \frac{2}{3} \approx +0.33$
• 2 options left: $\frac{1}{2}(3) - \frac{1}{2}(1) = +1$

So the rule is:

• Rule out even one option and a guess is worth it on average, in both tiers.
• In Tier 2, never guess blind. On average it gains nothing and only adds risk.
• In Tier 1, a blind guess is very slightly in your favour (0.125 marks on average), so leaving a question blank isn't really the "safe" choice. Still, the real gain comes from ruling out options, not from blind luck.

Quick ways to rule out options

In Maths you can often cut one or two options in a few seconds without solving the whole question:

• Rough size. Estimate first. If the question asks for 18% of 640, the answer must be a little less than 20% of 640, which is 128. Any option above 128 is out.
• Last digit. If the answer is a product like 37 × 48, it must end in 6 (because 7 × 8 = 56). Options ending in other digits are out.
• Whole numbers. Number of people, coins or days must be a whole number. A fraction option is out.
• Put the option back. For an equation or an age question, putting an option into the question and checking it is often faster than solving.

You will see these tricks again and again in the Shortcuts sections of each chapter.