Time management inside the exam hall
Your per-question budget, the two-pass method, when to move on and how to keep ten minutes for checking.
In the exam hall, time is the scarcest resource. Every serious aspirant should know their per-question budget by heart before walking in.
Know your budget
| Exam | Time ÷ questions | Budget |
|---|---|---|
| ADRE Grade III | 180 min ÷ 150 | 72 s |
| ADRE Grade IV | 150 min ÷ 135 | ≈ 67 s |
| APSC CCE Prelims GS | 120 min ÷ 100 | 72 s |
| APSC CSAT | 120 min ÷ 80 | 90 s |
| SSC Tier 1 | 60 min ÷ 100 | 36 s |
| Assam TET | 150 min ÷ 150 | 60 s |
| JEE Main | 180 min ÷ 75 | 2 min 24 s |
| NEET UG | 180 min ÷ 180 | 60 s |
| Assam CEE | 180 min ÷ 120 | 90 s |
The two-pass method
- First pass
Go through the whole paper. Answer everything you know quickly. Mark anything that needs thought.
- Second pass
Return to marked questions. Attempt those where you can rule out options (see the negative marking arithmetic).
- Final ten minutes
Check OMR bubbles or answer status. Never start a new long question now.
The two-budget rule
If a question has used twice its budget and you still have no answer, move on. It is costing you two easier questions later in the paper.
Practise it
- Mini mocks in joyjatra Go use each exam’s real pace per question.
- Full mocks show your time per question in the review. Find where minutes disappear.
- Tag “Time pressure” mistakes in the notebook; if the count grows, do more timed drills.
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