Full Exam Walkthrough

This final lesson brings everything together: how to approach a single OCR GCSE Mathematics (J560) paper from the moment you turn it over to the moment you put your pen down. Each paper is 100 marks in 1 hour 30 minutes, so good exam-day technique — pacing, the order you attempt questions, flagging, and checking — is worth real marks on its own. We will walk through a sensible routine, work a short mixed mini-set the way you should in the exam, and finish with a spec-mapping table showing how the six LearningBro content courses cover OCR J560's content areas 1–6.

Exam-day technique touches every objective: keeping calculations accurate under time pressure is AO1, presenting reasoning clearly is AO2, and managing your time and choosing where to spend it is an AO3 problem you solve in real time. By the time you reach the exam room, the mathematics is as learned as it is going to be — what is left to win or lose is technique, and that is entirely within your control on the day.

Timing: Roughly One Mark per Minute

Each paper gives you 100 marks in 90 minutes. That is a little under a minute per mark, so a clean planning rule is about 1 mark per minute, leaving a buffer to check.

Question size	Rough time to spend
1–2 marks	up to ~2 minutes
3–4 marks	~3–4 minutes
5–6 marks	~5–6 minutes
Leave at the end for checking	~5–10 minutes

If a question is taking far longer than its marks justify, that is the signal to flag it and move on — every mark is worth the same minute, so a stubborn 3-mark question is not worth ten minutes while easy marks later in the paper go unattempted. A glance at the clock at the halfway point is a good discipline: with 90 minutes and 100 marks, you should be roughly halfway through the marks at the 45-minute mark. If you are well behind, speed up and prioritise the accessible questions; if you are ahead, you have banked time for checking.

A Sensible Order of Attempt

You do not have to answer in order. A reliable routine:

1. First pass — sweep for the marks you can definitely get. Work through from the start, answering everything you can do confidently and quickly. Bank the accessible marks first.
2. Flag the hard ones. If a question needs more thought, mark it clearly and move on — don't let it stall the whole paper.
3. Second pass — return to the flagged questions with the easy marks safely banked and your mind warmed up.
4. Attempt everything. Even on a question you can't finish, write the opening method — a correct first step earns method (M) marks.
5. Final pass — check. Use the buffer to re-read answers, verify units and form, and sanity-check magnitudes.

This order guarantees the secure marks are captured before time pressure builds, and it uses the "method marks survive a slip" principle from the command-words lesson.

Managing nerves and getting started

A blank first question can spike anxiety. The first-pass strategy is itself a calming tool: you are looking for the questions you can do, not trying to crack the whole paper at once. Start with anything that looks familiar — it need not be Question 1 — and let a few quick successes settle you. If your mind goes blank on a topic, move on and let your subconscious work on it; very often the method comes back when you return on the second pass. Slow, deliberate reading of each question (underlining the command word and the marks) also steadies the nerves and prevents the rushed misreads that cost easy marks. The aim is to spend the 90 minutes calmly collecting marks, not racing the clock.

Before You Turn the Paper Over

Good exam-day technique starts before the paper does. Bring the right equipment: two black pens, a pencil and rubber for diagrams, a ruler, a pair of compasses and a protractor for constructions and accurate drawing, and — for the calculator papers — the calculator you have used all year, with working batteries. Knowing your kit is ready removes one source of last-minute panic. In the first moments after turning the paper over, take a breath, check it is the right tier and paper, and note whether it is a calculator or non-calculator paper (remember: on the middle paper of your tier you will not have a calculator). A calm, organised start sets the tone for the whole 90 minutes.

When You Get Stuck

Every student hits a question they cannot immediately do. The wrong response is to freeze and burn five minutes staring at it; the right response is a quick decision tree:

1. Re-read the question — the method is sometimes hiding in a clause you skimmed.
2. Write down anything relevant — a formula, a first step, a labelled diagram. This may earn a method mark and often unlocks the rest.
3. Flag it and move on — bank the easier marks elsewhere, then return with fresh eyes.
4. On the return visit, try a tactic — draw a diagram, try smaller numbers, work backwards, or name the unknown (from the problem-solving lesson).

The key principle is never to leave a question completely blank and never to let one hard question swallow the time you need for several easy ones. A partial attempt can score; a blank cannot.

It also helps to remember that a hard question late in the paper is worth no more than an easy one early on — both pay the same marks per minute. So the moment a question starts costing more time than its marks justify, the rational move is to flag it, secure the marks elsewhere, and come back. Students who refuse to move on from a tough question often run out of time before reaching easier marks further down the paper. Discipline about moving on is one of the most valuable exam-day habits there is.

Reading and Checking

• Read each question fully before starting — note the command word and the marks.
• Show your working on anything worth more than a mark, so partial credit is always available.
• Watch the calculator rule: on the middle paper of your tier (Foundation Paper 2, Higher Paper 5) you have no calculator — bring your by-hand methods. On the outer papers, use the calculator efficiently and don't round early.
• Check at the end: units present and correct, answer in the form requested, magnitude sensible (a quick 1-s.f. estimate), and — above all — did I answer the question asked?

A Worked Mini-Set (Approached the Exam Way)

Here is a short mixed set, worked as you should in the exam — read the command word, show the method, state the answer in the right form and units.

Q1 (Work out, 2 marks). Work out $\dfrac{3}{5}$53​ of £45.

"Of" means multiply; find one fifth, then multiply by 3: $45 \div 5 = 9$45÷5=9, and $9 \times 3 = 27$9×3=27. Answer: £27. (A quick AO1 banker — capture it on the first pass.)

Q2 (Solve, 3 marks). Solve $4x - 7 = 21$4x−7=21.

Add 7 to both sides: $4x = 28$4x=28. Divide by 4: $x = 7$x=7. Answer: $x = 7$x=7. (Check: $4 \times 7 - 7 = 28 - 7 = 21$4×7−7=28−7=21 — correct.)

Q3 (Calculate, 3 marks, calculator paper). A cylinder has radius $3$3 cm and height $10$10 cm. Calculate its volume to 1 decimal place. (Volume $= \pi r^{2} h$=πr2h.)