Exam time-per-question planner
Allocate exam time by question marks after reserving reading and review time. Choose optional questions explicitly and see start and stop checkpoints.
How it works
A worked example
In a 120-minute exam, reserve 10 minutes for reading and 10 for review. Questions worth 20, 30 and 50 marks receive 20, 30 and 50 answering minutes. Reading starts at 0:00; the questions finish at 1:50:00, leaving the last ten minutes for review.
Assumptions to check
Enter the complete allowed session, including reading time only when it belongs inside that session. Choose exactly the required number of questions. All selected questions share time by marks; difficulty and compulsory-section constraints are yours to check. Checkpoints measure elapsed time from session start. Inputs round to whole seconds. This allocates exam time, not study effort or expected marks.
Read all calculation notes ↗A few useful answers
What if I can choose two of three questions?
Enter two as the required number and select the exact two you intend to answer. The unselected question receives no time and contributes no marks to the denominator.
Should I divide equally between questions?
Only when equal marks and your strategy justify it. This model uses marks as a starting allocation; adjust for difficulty during rehearsal.
Can I add these minutes to my study-hours plan?
These are minutes spent answering the exam itself. They are not preparation hours and are not automatically added to semester workload.
Planning estimates, not official academic results. Your course and institution set the rules.
How many minutes should I spend per mark?
Subtract reading and review time before dividing by marks. A two-hour paper does not give two full hours of answering when you reserve a buffer. The displayed minutes per mark uses only selected questions and the actual answering budget.
Optional questions need an explicit choice
Including every optional question can make your per-question allowance look much smaller than it should be. Match the selected count to the paper instructions. Section-specific requirements are not checked automatically, so confirm that your chosen questions form a permitted set.
Practice checkpoints before exam day
Use a past paper and compare your actual pace against the elapsed start and stop times. A proportional allocation is a planning aid; it cannot measure question difficulty or replace the paper’s instructions. Use the exam study planner separately for revision dates.
Guides for this calculation
Check your institution’s rules
These sources explain example methods and policy differences. No university preset is applied.
University of Melbourne: exam structure, marks and recommended time allocations ↗