Science Paper 1 Exam Tips and Techniques For Scoring Well

The Paper 1 of science subjects are always thought to be easy. Despite being called Paper 1, the multiple-choice question (MCQ) section is usually scheduled as the last paper of the subject in the exam timetable in secondary school and JC exams. As a result, many students think that they have already studied enough and they don’t need to pay special attention to prepare for this exam section.

Well, from experience, Paper 1 is not always the easy paper students think it is!

In fact, Paper 1 is often full of traps and trick questions that cause students to lose marks. Many of these are due to careless mistakes like misreading the question or making a wrong calculation. To make matters worse, some students have become complacent or lazy by this point, which makes them even more susceptible to committing these errors.

So, how do you ensure you don’t fall into the trap of Paper 1 and instead secure as many marks as you can? Here are some strategies to tackle Paper 1 MCQ like a pro!

Don’t forget to also check out our science topic guides:

How To Nail Kinematics Questions By Avoiding These Mistakes

5 Useful Study Tips For Surviving Organic Chemistry

Acids & Bases: Clarifying Common Misunderstandings

How To Understand Turning Effect of Forces in Physics

1. Write down the formulae

As you advance through the MCQ paper, it’s common to sometimes get mind blocks and moments where you may suddenly be unable to recall a formula. Prevent this problem by having these difficult formulae at the top of your head right when the exam starts, and write all of them down on the first page – or anywhere you can quickly refer back to later.

Essentially, you would have created your own formula sheet and you can free your mind to think about the questions more carefully, rather than be worried about forgetting the formula later on.

2. Read the question twice

More haste means more waste – wasted marks, we mean. It’s easy to gloss over important details when you speed read and only read the question once. That’s why we always remind students: read the question at least twice over before attempting to answer it!

Some important and very commonly misread parts of the questions include: number values, units, and whether the question is asking for statements that are TRUE or UNTRUE. It may help you to underline or circle these vital pieces of info so you don’t just skip over them.

3. Consider all the options

Some students approach MCQ like this: they read the question, and then look at the options in order. If option B looks correct, they immediately shade that answer and move on.

Don’t do this!

MCQs are designed to trick students with the most common errors and misconceptions masquerading as correct answers. Some options look correct but they may not be the BEST answer. Some are outright wrong, as they might have been derived based on a common mistake – which you also made when you chose that answer.

Instead, what you should do is read ALL the options before selecting your answer.

4. Skip difficult questions first

Have you seen those MCQ questions that are very tedious to read, requires you to do lengthy calculations, or absorb data in the form of graphs and tables? If you think data analysis questions only appear in short-answer questions, you are wrong. Some MCQ also involves data analysis, involving graphs and experimental results.

These questions usually take a longer time to complete, and may disrupt your rhythm or morale if you can’t finish it within 1 or 2 minutes. If you think you might spend a long time on a question, skip it first and do the ones you are confident in first. Circle the questions you skipped so that you won’t miss them when you come back later. 

5. Double-check your OAS shading

It sounds so trivial but this happens so much! A huge source of mistakes in MCQ papers are wrongly shaded answers in the optical answer sheet (OAS). Whether you choose to write down your answer in the question paper first before shading all your answers at the end, or shading each answer as you go along, don’t ignore the need to check your answers.

Even if you don’t have time to check all your answers thoroughly, try to spend the last 5 minutes of your exam duration checking that you have at least shaded the correct circles in the right rows and columns.

Conclusion

Science Paper 1 can be harder than you think, because most people mistake it for being easy. But if you follow the tips above, we are quite sure you can cut down on those careless mistakes and enable you to perform your best in the MCQ paper.

Want more tips and advice on how to perform well for your science subjects? Discover more strategies in our Secondary Science Tuition classes or if you are an IP student, in our IP Science Tuition classes. The small group tuition format enables you to ask any questions you have and get answers quickly, as well as enjoy close individual guidance from your tutor.

Contact us today to book your class!