One of the most underrated aspects of exam preparations is the answer sheet presentation part of it.

Think about it; students read thousands of helpful articles on preparation techniques, memorization tricks, procrastination hacks, and productivity boosters. These lay the groundwork for their high grades, and help them get ready with the subject matter at hand. However, few are prepared well for what happens after they enter the examination hall.

From the first fifteen minutes of reading the question paper to the last fifteen minutes of frenzied writing — every chunk of time has its own significance. More than often, the key to scoring your best does not include memorising the most notes or writing down the most words in your answer sheets. Crude hard work is just one aspect of it. 

What matters just as much is how you present what you have learnt, how relevant your keywords are, how efficiently you manage your time while writing the answers, and how level-headed you stay even in the last fifteen minutes of your time.

All these factors cumulate in helping you score the best possible marks for yourself. 

With that in mind, given below are some tips for your Board Exams. Start practicing the answer sheet presentation tips while solving mock papers to build a long-term habit for all your future exams. 

Before you enter the examination hall : 

Admit Card & ID Card

Goes without saying that these two are the top non-negotiables that you should always have with yourself in your examination hall. Risk forgetting your shoes at home (better not), but do not forget your admit card and your ID card. 

Scan your possessions 

Go through your pen case for any rogue pieces of paper or pencil sharpener waste. Check that you have everything that you might need. In my opinion, you should always carry two or more blue ink pens, one black ink pen, a sharpened pencil, an eraser, a sharpener, a scale, a compass, and a short pencil for the compass. Some exams (like the maps in Geography) might require more equipment. Remember to carry all that you might need. Another best practice is to ensure that your possessions have no labels. 

It is recommended to carry a small water bottle and an analog watch. Some exam halls prohibit the use of clip boards. If yours permits you to carry one, the best practice is to use a transparent clipboard.

Scan yourself

Avoid any unnecessary trouble in the examination room or hall by scanning yourself before you walk through the door. Ensure that your pockets are not carrying any unusual scraps of paper. Check your hands for any unintentional scribbles. It takes less than a minute to perform a full body scan.

After you enter the examination hall : 

Find the seat allotted to you as per your roll number. Check the drawers, if any, for scraps of papers or pencil sharpener waste. Get rid of those immediately. 

Be alert and always remember to double check as you enter your details in the required places (as per the instructions by your invigilator or as per requirements).      

After you get the question paper : 

First reading

Skim through the question paper roughly. Check the type of questions that have appeared — comprehension passages, MCQs, one word answers, essays, letters, SAQs, LAQs, diagrams, problem sums, assertion-reasons, and more. Check that all the pages in your booklet are present and properly printed.

Second reading

Pick up your pencil and go through the questions in greater detail now. 

For the passage comprehension, read the passage first, followed by the questions. Once you know the questions, read the passage again and underline all possible answers for easy reference for when you start writing the answers.

Solve the MCQs in your question paper with your pencil. Pay special attention to questions with negatives like “which of these is not the correct statement”; students often answer these questions incorrectly in their nervousness or hurry.

While reading the SAQs and LAQs, draw a small cross mark beside the questions whose answers you don’t know. Don’t try to brainstorm their answers yet. Instead, continue reading the other questions.

Read the internal choice questions carefully. When you finally select the question that you will attempt, strike out the other alternative neatly with your pencil. This prevents you from attempting both options later on, especially as you grow more nervous and more prone to mistakes during the last half an hour of the exam. 

Remember to not write down any answers, or to do any rough work in your question paper as that is mostly prohibited. Use your pencil wisely to avoid potential pitfalls.

Third reading

Now that you have read and pondered upon the entire question paper thoroughly, jump back to the questions whose answers you didn’t know. This is the time for you to brainstorm for possible answers. Visit questions whose answers were earlier confusing, and structure the answers in your mind clearly.

If you have to attempt essays or other long writing questions, utilise this time to plan them out in proper detail. 

You can even revisit the internal choice questions and go through the options once again to ensure that you have selected the most feasible one for yourself.

Answer sheet presentation tips for the best paper :

Rough work

Problem sums with numerical answers appear quite often for subjects like Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Economics, and more. These questions require rough calculations. To improve the presentation of your paper, you can choose to do these rough calculations with a pencil. 

For my ICSE and CBSE peeps, draw a 1 inch thick margin on the right side of your paper and label it as “Rough Work”. Carry out the calculations beside the respective problem sum since your examiner might go through them. Or you can make that margin at the bottom of the current page that you are writing on. Either option works fine.

Using the question paper for solving rough work is undoubtedly forbidden.    

Highlight Answers

For problem sums with numerical answers, highlight the answers separately from the rest of the solution. You can do this by underlining them, or by drawing a box around the answer. 

Space out your answers

Leave a line after each short and long answer question. Leave two or three lines when a Section of the question paper ends.

For questions with subparts, leave a line after each subquestion and two lines when the entire question ends. For a bunch of MCQs or one-word answers, I prefer to not leave any lines after each subquestion. 

You can make up your own rules for what looks appropriately spaced out for your paper.

Use this tip wisely for neatness. Don’t waste unnecessary space on your answer sheet.   

Strike through

Having to strike through an answer can be painful at times. No matter how much it frustrates you, refrain from making it a messy sight to look at. Do not scribble or make circles on your answer with your pen. Instead, strike through the answer with a single line diagonally (or horizontally, depending on the length of the answer). You can use two or three diagonal lines to strike through a long answer. This should be sufficient for your examiner.   

Cross-check question numbers

The most common silly mistake in answer sheets is numbering the answers incorrectly. This is a sure-fire way for you to lose marks. Moreover, being casual with question numbers can lead to unintentional skipping of small questions here and there. 

Protect your answer sheet from these unintelligent mistakes by exercising caution with question numbers. Use your pencil to place a small check mark against the questions that you have already attempted. This helps you track your progress and makes it more difficult for you to skip questions accidentally.   

Label diagrams

Ignore what comes next if your subject teacher has already given you specific instructions to follow while drawing diagrams (as might be with subjects like Biology or Geography).

Make your diagrams with a pencil and label them with the same. Use a sharp nib and all capital letters for labelling parts of the diagram. Mention a title for the diagram underneath it. Use your scale and compass liberally for accurate diagrams in subjects like Physics or Computer Science.   

Check answers instantly

The standard approach for checking your answer sheet is to revise it from the beginning to the end after you finish writing down all the answers. This usually happens in the last few minutes of the stipulated writing time.

The better alternative to this approach is to check your answer as soon as you finish writing it. With this tip, you will be checking your answers as you go, which prevents all last minute hassles where you might have to revise your answers poorly due to nervousness and urgency as the end of the writing time draws near.

Stay legible

Your handwriting might worsen with the passing of time, which is understandable. However, no matter how rushed you feel, keep your handwriting legible. At least the examiner should be able to grasp the keywords to mark your answer.

Underline keywords

You may be left with some time even after having completed and revised your answer sheet. If so, use this time to make your paper more presentable by underlining the keywords in SAQs and LAQs with a pencil. Doing this makes it easier for your examiner to spot the keywords and mark your answer accordingly. It makes your paper look more put-together.

In the last 30 minutes : 

Arrange papers sequentially

The answer booklet for your board exams contains at least 16 pages (for ICSE) or 32 pages (for CBSE). These many pages will be more than sufficient for most of your subjects. 

That being said, subjects like Mathematics and Geography might require additional pages, graphs, or maps to be attached to the main answer booklet. Make sure that you attach these pages securely. Double check the order of the sheets as well as the strength of the knot in the last 30 minutes of the stipulated writing time.

Revise answers

This goes without saying, but utilise a part of the last 30 minutes to revise your answers once again. The final revision won’t take long if you are consistent with checking your answers immediately after writing them. It is still recommended that you go through your paper all over again for the smallest mistakes concerning grammar, punctuation, numbering of answers, labelling of diagrams, and so on.

Horizontal lines

If you have finished writing and revising your paper completely and still have some time left in your hands, use it to draw horizontal lines to neatly separate your answer sheet into proper sections. I prefer to draw a single line after each subquestion, and two lines when the entire section ends. Chalk up your own rules for drawing horizontal lines after answers. Remember to use them in moderation as you don’t want to leave your paper looking cluttered and confusing.

I hope that the tips given above will help you this exam season. Put them into practice diligently as you solve your mock papers, and in no time you’ll have a habit in place that you will be able to carry out efficiently during the actual exams.