Reading the Question Properly

It sounds almost insultingly simple: read the question. But every year, examiners report that misreading or skimming questions is one of the top reasons students lose marks. Not because they do not know the content — but because they answer a question that was not asked.

This lesson is about the marks you are currently throwing away by not reading carefully enough.

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The Marks Most Students Throw Away

Consider this: a student sits a 90-minute exam worth 80 marks. They know the subject well and have revised thoroughly. But they:

• Write about the wrong source because they did not notice "Refer to Source B"
• Give three reasons when the question said "Give one reason" — and their first one was wrong
• Describe when the question said "Explain" (losing half the marks on a 6-mark question)
• Forget to answer the second part of a two-part question
• Write about the advantages when the question asked about disadvantages

Each of these errors has nothing to do with knowledge. They are all reading errors. And collectively, they can easily cost 10–15 marks on a paper — the difference between one or two whole grades.

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