How to use exam reading time: a simple routine for the first minutes

Those first few minutes can feel like the longest of the exam: paper in front of you, pen on the desk, heart going. Used well, they're some of the most valuable minutes you get. Here's a routine that works, then the official rules for each state so you know exactly what you're allowed to do.

A five-step reading time routine

1. Read the instructions on the cover (30 seconds)

How many sections? Which questions are compulsory and where do you get a choice? Is there anything unusual, like answering in a separate booklet? Missing an instruction is one of the few truly avoidable ways to lose marks.

2. Skim the whole paper (a couple of minutes)

Flip through every page. The point isn't to answer anything, it's to remove surprises. You'll spot the questions you're happy to see, the ones that look hard, and where the big marks are.

3. Decide your order

You don't have to go front to back (unless your paper says so). Many students like to start with a section they feel confident in to build momentum. Others go straight to the long, high-mark questions while they're fresh. Either works; what matters is deciding now, not dithering later.

4. Read the big questions properly

For extended responses and essays, read the question slowly. What's the verb (explain, analyse, evaluate, compare)? What exactly is it asking about? Start building your plan in your head: your line of argument, your main points, the examples or evidence you'll use. In states where you can't write in reading time, you can still rehearse the first sentence mentally.

5. Set a rough time budget

A handy rule of thumb: work out how many minutes of working time you have per mark and stick roughly to that. TASC's own exam tips suggest about one minute a mark (including thinking time) as a rough guide for its exams. Your paper's working time and total marks tell you the number for yours. Decide when you want to be moving on from each section.

If you blank or panic

breathe out slowly, longer than you breathed in, a few times. Then go back to the question you felt best about during your skim and plan that one. Confidence is easier to rebuild from something you know.

The official rules, state by state

These rules come from each authority's 2026 documents (linked at the bottom). If your paper or supervisor says something different, follow them.

A few state-specific notes:

• HSC: if you're allowed a dictionary, you can read it but not write on or mark it during reading time. Write your student and centre numbers in writing time, not reading time.
• VCE: you can read the instructions, the question book and any permitted dictionary or bound reference.
• SACE: with no separate reading time, it's up to you to take a few minutes at the start to read and plan. The SACE Board encourages students to use the exam time to read texts and questions carefully and plan answers before they begin writing. The routine above still works; it just runs on the clock.
• TASC: TASC suggests using preparation time to write down anything you're worried about forgetting on the notepaper provided. Work on rough notepaper isn't marked.

Using reading time when you can't write

In most states your pen stays down, so the planning happens in your head:

• Pick your essay or extended-response question and decide your main line of argument.
• Line up your evidence mentally: the quote, the case study, the formula, the example.
• For maths and science, identify the method for the first few questions you'll attempt, so you can start writing the moment the supervisor says go.
• Note the traps: questions with two parts, "use the information in the stimulus", "show your working".

When writing time starts, jot your plan for the first extended response quickly (a few words per point) before you dive in. It takes a minute and saves you from drifting.

After reading time

Stick to your time budget, and if a question is eating your time, leave a gap and come back. Before the end, use any spare minutes to check you've answered every part of every question and haven't left anything blank that you could have had a go at.

For the full exam-day run-through, see the night before and exam morning.