Past Papers · Paper technique
Timing and Pacing in the 0606 Exam
Written by Rig, our founder
8 years teaching IGCSE & SPM maths · Updated 19 August 2026
Time is a scored resource in the 0606 exam: marks a student is fully capable of earning are lost simply because the clock ran out before they reached them. Good pacing prevents that, and it comes down to allocating time by marks and protecting a margin to check.
Pace by marks, not by feel
Each 0606 paper gives two hours for the paper’s marks. With 80 marks in 120 minutes, that’s about a minute and a half per mark (check your session’s paper, but this is the standard). Translate that into a rough budget: a 6-mark question is worth around nine minutes, a 2-mark one about three.
The value isn’t in timing every question to the second. It’s in noticing when a question has taken far longer than its marks justify, which is the signal to move on. A student who sinks twenty minutes into a 4-mark question, then runs out of time for easier marks later, has mispriced their effort.
Protect a checking margin
Aim to reach the last question with a few minutes to spare, not at the final second. That margin is what lets you check the answers most likely to be wrong, a quick substitute-back on an equation, a sanity check on a suspiciously large number. Those recovered marks are often worth more than a last desperate attempt at a hard part.
Don’t let one question sink the paper
0606 papers usually rise in difficulty, so start in order, but treat that as a default, not a rule. When a question stalls you, flag it, move on, and come back with the time that’s left. One stubborn question is not worth the five accessible marks it might cost you elsewhere. The goal across the whole paper is to reach every mark you can do, before spending time on the ones you can’t.
Build the instinct in practice, not on the day
Exam pacing is a trained habit, not a plan you improvise under pressure. Doing full papers under timed conditions is what makes the mark-per-minute sense automatic, so that on the day you feel when to move on without watching the clock. A specialist can spot exactly where your child loses time, often a slow topic that needs drilling rather than a pacing problem at all. A trial class can diagnose it. Message us on WhatsApp to book.