Achieving Perfect HPAT Time Management
7 months ago by Tom
If you’re sitting HPAT this year, then you’re aware that HPAT test day is rapidly approaching. One thing I found extremely useful on the days coming up to, and the day of the HPAT was the knowledge that I was confident with my HPAT exam timing.
Whilst you have no control over the questions that will appear on the HPAT on the day, you have complete control over your timing. This sense of control can help to ease your nerves on the day of the HPAT exam, and prove extremely useful in keeping calm throughout the HPAT test. Time management also increases the chance of you finishing the HPAT exam… remember, if you do not attempt a HPAT question you have lost a chance at those marks!
Example HPAT Timing Scheme
With 114 multiple choice questions to answer in two and a half hours, I wanted to organise my timing into blocks that were easy to remember, and, more importantly, easy to keep track of from a simple glance at the timer.
An example timing scheme would be:
| Section | Time in minutes | Number of questions | Time per question |
| Section 1 | 60 | 42 | 86 seconds |
| Section 2 | 50 | 42 | 72 seconds |
| Section 3 | 40 | 30 | 80 seconds |
Section 1: 5 questions per 7 mins
This brings you to 59.5 minutes out of the 60 minutes allowed.
Section 2: 5 questions per 6 mins
This brings you to 50 minutes out of the 50 minutes allowed.
Section 3: 5 questions per 6 mins
This brings you to 36 minutes out of the 40 minutes allowed.
Using this as a guide, I knew the time limits I had to keep within by the end of the first 10, 15, 25 etc questions. For example, in section 3 of the HPAT, if I was on question 10, and 15 minutes had passed in this section, I would know to speed up the next few questions slightly to ensure I finished section 3. It is useful to note that for section 3, this timing scheme would allow a few minutes of leniency. You could use this time to go back to questions you skipped, or you could spend some of this time on a tougher HPAT question.
Developing Your HPAT Timing
At the beginning of my HPAT preparation I did not apply time limits to myself because I wanted to see if I could complete the HPAT questions under no pressure. After some weeks of HPAT practice, I added time pressure and began to perfect my timing to ensure I had the chance to attempt each question on the day of the HPAT. It is vital to complete HPAT questions and exams under timed conditions to develop strategies needed to cope with the extreme time pressure. Many students spend too long on untimed practice, leaving them shocked on HPAT test day when they have to face the live HPAT conditions.
Note that it is better to attempt each HPAT question than to give extra time to an extremely difficult question and lose out on answering the last few questions in a HPAT section. That being said, a certain amount of leniency is advisable. Thirty seconds here or there is perfectly okay if you feel like you will crack the question with that extra time. If however, at the end of the allocated time for that question, you still do not have a breeze of the HPAT question, it is better to move on.
If nothing else, a solid timing scheme can improve your confidence on the day of the HPAT which is a great help. So start practising with the same timing as the HPAT and you can achieve perfect HPAT time management too!
Written by H Marshall, a past MedEntry student who achieved 100th percentile in HPAT and is currently studying medicine.
