How do I break up my time during the paper 1 exam?

So in the paper 1 for English Lit you’ve got 1hr 45 and two questions which are equally weighted. You want to divide your time equally between them – and you want to plan!

So lets say you’ve got 50 minutes for each question then. I would use 10-15 minutes of that time reading the question carefully and planning my answer – look for the key words in the question, what are they looking for? Use examples from the given extracts to demonstrate your points (I normally draw on the question sheet and circle the ones I think I’ll use). Look at the language and form as well as what is being said. Start with these when planning and then open the answer out to the rest of the text using the quotes you’ll have memorised - be sure to try to place the extract within the text to show your knowledge. Then get writing. If you have messy handwriting like me, you might want to double-space your lines to make them easy to read. Keep an eye on the clock, you want to round your answer off and give yourself 5 mins to read your answer through briefly before moving on when your 50 minutes is up.

Repeat that for the second question and you’ll have 5 mins to skim through at the end for any silly mistakes :)

It seems like a lot of time for planning and checking but these are really important to make sure you’re making clear points that answer the question!