Allocating Exam Time by Marks

Good to see you again. In the previous lesson, you mapped the DipIFR paper: four compulsory questions of 25 marks, completed in three hours and 15 minutes. The strategic consequence was clear: all questions matter, and both calculations and focused written explanations earn marks.

This lesson turns that exam map into a usable pacing system. Your aim is not merely to “work faster.” It is to protect marks by giving every requirement enough time for a relevant answer, while preventing one difficult issue—often a consolidation adjustment or an uncertain narrative point—from consuming the time needed for later questions.

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The governing calculation: 1.8 minutes per mark

The total examination time is 195 minutes:

$$3\text{ hours }15\text{ minutes}=195\text{ minutes}$$

However, ACCA’s guidance is to allocate 1.8 minutes per mark to answering questions:

$$100\text{ marks}\times 1.8\text{ minutes}=180\text{ minutes}$$

That leaves:

$$195-180=15\text{ minutes}$$

for initial reading, choosing an order, planning at a whole-paper level, and final review.

For DipIFR’s four equal questions:

$$25\text{ marks}\times 1.8\text{ minutes}=45\text{ minutes per question}$$

So the non-negotiable headline budget is:

Item	Marks	Answering-time budget
Question 1	25	45 minutes
Question 2	25	45 minutes
Question 3	25	45 minutes
Question 4	25	45 minutes
Total answer time	100	180 minutes
Global reading and final review	—	15 minutes
Total exam time	—	195 minutes

This is a control mechanism, not a claim that every mark takes exactly 1.8 minutes. Some marks—such as a straightforward calculation, classification, or presentation point—may take less time. Others require a calculation plus written explanation. Over the entire paper, though, the average must remain close to 1.8 minutes per mark.

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Build a clock plan before the exam starts

A time budget only works if it becomes visible deadlines on the exam clock. Start by reserving eight minutes at the beginning and seven minutes at the end. This division is practical rather than mandatory; with sufficient timed practice, you may adjust it slightly. The total protected time remains 15 minutes.

A reliable default plan is:

Exam-clock point	Activity	What must be complete
0:00–0:08	Initial scan and order choice	Read requirements, identify question types, choose a question order
0:08–0:53	First 25-mark question	Stop at 0:53
0:53–1:38	Second 25-mark question	Stop at 1:38
1:38–2:23	Third 25-mark question	Stop at 2:23
2:23–3:08	Fourth 25-mark question	Stop at 3:08
3:08–3:15	Final review	Repair omissions, cross-references, labels, and obvious errors

The question order is your choice. Starting with Question 1 can be sensible if consolidation is your strongest and most prepared area. Starting with another question can also be sensible if it offers accessible marks and helps you settle into the exam. What matters is that the order is chosen once, after a quick scan, rather than reconsidered mid-exam under pressure.

Do not use the opening eight minutes to solve questions. Its purpose is to establish control:

1. Read each requirement before becoming absorbed in the scenario.
2. Note the marks for each part.
3. Identify the main standards or calculations likely to be needed.
4. Choose your order.
5. Write the four finish times on your scratch paper or into brief planning notes.

For example, write:

START  09:00
Q1 end 09:53
Q2 end 10:38
Q3 end 11:23
Q4 end 12:08
REVIEW 12:08–12:15

The individual times will depend on the actual start time. The important part is the sequence of 45-minute stopping points.

The key rule: a deadline is not a suggestion

If you are still working on Question 1 at its deadline, do not decide that “just another five minutes” will solve the problem. It rarely does. That extra five minutes must come from another requirement, often Question 4, where candidates may then leave several marks unanswered.

Instead:

• place a brief flag beside the unfinished part;
• write any final conclusion or figure you can reasonably support;
• move to the next question;
• return only during final review or if you finish another question early.

A partially completed answer can earn marks. A blank answer cannot.

The June 2025 examiner’s report specifically noted that candidates did not complete all parts of Question 4 and linked this recurring issue to cumulative time-allocation problems from earlier questions. That is exactly what the 45-minute hard stop is designed to prevent.

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Turn each 45-minute question into four phases

“45 minutes per question” can still feel vague when you are in front of a dense scenario. Divide it into four jobs:

Phase	Default time in a 25-mark question	Purpose
Read and identify	5 minutes	Understand requirements, facts, marks, and issue boundaries
Plan	5 minutes	List standards, workings, headings, and financial-statement effects
Write and calculate	32 minutes	Produce the answer that earns marks
Local review	3 minutes	Check completeness, labels, conclusions, and cross-references
Total	45 minutes	—

This is a starting template, not a rigid law. A straightforward calculation may need only two or three minutes of planning. A multi-issue narrative question may require more structured planning before you write. But the total remains 45 minutes.

Phase 1: Read for marks, not for interest

In the first five minutes, do not read the scenario as if it were a case study to be understood in every detail. Read it to answer four practical questions:

• What exactly must I produce?
• How many marks are attached to each requirement?
• Which facts are relevant to each requirement?
• Is the expected output a calculation, an explanation, a financial-statement effect, or a combination?

Mark allocations tell you the likely depth needed. A 3-mark requirement generally cannot justify a page of technical background. A 10-mark requirement probably contains several separately markable points and needs a clearer structure.

For written issues, underline or note:

• the transaction or event;
• dates;
• amounts;
• whether the entity has recognised, measured, presented, or disclosed the item already;
• phrases such as “explain,” “advise,” “show the effect,” or “justify.”

This is particularly important for your written-answer objective. If the requirement asks for treatment and financial-statement effect, your plan must include both—not merely the rule.

Phase 2: Plan before writing

Your five-minute plan should be short and functional. It is not an essay outline. For each issue, write enough to prevent omitted marks.

For a narrative issue, use a stripped-down version of the structure you will develop in later lessons:

Issue 1: IAS/IFRS?
Rule:
Facts:
Calculation:
Presentation:
Conclusion:

For a computational issue:

Working 1:
Working 2:
Final figure:
Where reported:

For a consolidation question, the planning phase may identify the core workings before you begin entering numbers:

Goodwill
NCI
Net assets at acquisition
Group retained earnings
Fair value / impairment / intra-group adjustments
Statement of financial position entries

This planning time saves writing time because it stops you discovering, halfway through an answer, that a requirement has three separate parts or that a calculation needs a financial-statement conclusion.

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Allocate time within a question by the marks available

The same 1.8-minute rule applies to individual requirements. Use it to create a maximum time cap.

Marks available	Maximum time guide
2 marks	about 4 minutes
3 marks	about 5 minutes
4 marks	about 7 minutes
5 marks	9 minutes
6 marks	about 11 minutes
8 marks	about 14 minutes
10 marks	18 minutes
12 marks	about 22 minutes
15 marks	27 minutes
25 marks	45 minutes

These figures include the time needed to interpret the relevant facts, produce workings, and write the answer. They are not an instruction to spend every second available. If you can earn the marks in less time, move on.

Example: a split 25-mark question

Suppose a question is divided as follows:

• Part (a): calculate and explain the treatment of an asset — 10 marks
• Part (b): advise on a provision — 6 marks
• Part (c): explain presentation or disclosure implications — 4 marks
• Part (d): calculate a related tax impact — 5 marks

Your time caps are:

Requirement	Marks	Time cap
(a) Asset issue	10	18 minutes
(b) Provision issue	6	11 minutes
(c) Presentation/disclosure	4	7 minutes
(d) Tax impact	5	9 minutes
Total	25	45 minutes

A useful working sequence might be:

1. Spend the initial reading and planning time identifying all four issues.
2. Complete part (a), but stop near the 18-minute cap even if one minor point remains uncertain.
3. Move to part (b) and give it its own 11-minute allocation.
4. Protect time for parts (c) and (d), because their marks are just as real as the marks in part (a).
5. Use the final local review to check that every part has at least an attempted answer.

This prevents a common error: producing an excellent, overdeveloped answer to the first 10 marks and then rushing—or omitting—the final 15 marks.

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Match writing length to marks

Time management and answer length are the same problem viewed from two directions. If a paragraph does not earn a mark, it should not receive exam time.

For a narrative requirement, aim for one relevant point per mark, expressed efficiently. A good 4-mark response might contain:

1. a concise IFRS rule;
2. application to the stated fact;
3. a calculation or measurement consequence, if required;
4. a clear presentation or conclusion point.

It should not contain a broad summary of everything you remember about that standard.

The examiner’s report makes this point sharply: candidates lose marks where they give general, unstructured comments instead of answering the specific questions asked. It also highlights that, where candidates calculate a figure correctly, they often fail to state where or how it is presented in the financial statements.

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A realistic review routine

The final seven minutes are not long enough to reperform the paper. Review must be targeted.

Use this order:

1. Check for blanks. Visit any requirement with no answer or an unfinished calculation first.
2. Check conclusions. For each narrative issue, ensure you stated the required treatment rather than only explaining the rule.
3. Check financial-statement effects. Where required, confirm whether the item affects profit or loss, other comprehensive income, equity, assets, liabilities, or disclosures.
4. Check workings and cross-references. Make sure numbers in the written response can be traced to the spreadsheet or supporting calculation.
5. Check obvious mechanical errors. Dates, signs, units, copied figures, and labels are worth attention—but do not start an extensive recalculation unless there is a clear reason.

The priority principle is simple:

$$\text{missing answer}>\text{missing conclusion}>\text{missing presentation}>\text{minor arithmetic polish}$$

This ordering matters. Repairing a blank 4-mark discussion can yield more marks than spending four minutes trying to find a small arithmetic error in an otherwise complete calculation.

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What to do when a question goes wrong

Even with sound preparation, you may encounter an unfamiliar fact pattern or forget part of a standard. The timing response should be disciplined rather than emotional.

If you do not know the rule immediately

Spend a brief, controlled amount of time identifying the likely standard from the facts. Then write what you can support:

• the most relevant principle;
• the treatment that logically follows;
• any calculation based on the data given;
• the financial-statement effect.

Do not spend 10 minutes trying to retrieve a perfect wording from memory. In DipIFR, a partially correct, applied answer is usually more valuable than no answer.

If a calculation will not reconcile

Check the most likely causes once: dates, ownership percentage, sign, opening versus closing balance, and inclusion of a figure. If the difference remains unresolved, show your method, use your best figure consistently, and continue.

For linked calculations, method marks and follow-through marks may still be available. A perfectly reconciled partial answer that arrives too late is not more valuable than a reasonable, clearly worked answer that allows you to attempt the remaining requirements.

If you finish early

Do not automatically begin rewriting. First check that every requirement has been answered and that narrative parts include application and conclusion. Then use spare time to review flagged issues or begin the next question early.

The purpose of finishing early is not to create longer answers. It is to create a margin for uncertainty, presentation checks, and the unexpected difficulty of another question.

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Train the budget before the real exam

Time management is not learned by reading a rule once; it becomes reliable through timed question practice. At this stage, you do not need to complete full mock exams immediately. Start with controlled, mark-based drills alongside technical revision.

Use this progression:

Practice stage	Task	Timing rule
Technical refresh	Untimed question attempt	Focus on correct approach and answer structure
Short timed drill	One 5–10 mark requirement	$1.8$ minutes per mark
Question practice	One 25-mark question	45 minutes, including reading and review
Mixed practice	Two 25-mark questions	90 minutes, with a clear transition deadline
Mock practice	Full four-question paper	195 minutes, including the 15-minute buffer

After each timed attempt, record three facts:

Question / requirement:
Marks available:
Target time:
Actual time:
What caused delay:
Marks likely lost because of timing:
One change for the next attempt:

This log distinguishes a technical knowledge problem from a process problem. For example:

• You needed 15 minutes for a 6-mark lease calculation because you did not know the IFRS 16 method: technical revision is needed.
• You knew the method but spent six minutes formatting headings and rewriting an introduction: answer-production discipline is needed.
• You spent too long resolving one discrepancy and never started a 5-mark narrative part: deadline discipline is needed.

For your December 2026 preparation, the goal is to make the 1.8-minute rule automatic well before intensive mock practice begins. Your early timed answers may feel compressed. That is useful information: it reveals where technical recall, calculation layout, or written precision must improve.

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Key takeaways

The DipIFR pacing rule is:

$$1.8\text{ minutes per mark}$$

For a 100-mark, 195-minute examination, this gives 180 minutes for answering and leaves 15 minutes for initial reading, planning, and final review. Each 25-mark question therefore has a maximum budget of 45 minutes.

Use visible 45-minute stopping points, divide each question into reading, planning, writing, and local review, and apply the same mark-based limit to individual requirements. Most importantly, move on when the deadline arrives. A complete paper of focused, adequately developed answers is far more likely to pass than an excellent opening question followed by rushed or blank later requirements.

Next, you will examine DipIFR command verbs—such as calculate, explain, advise, and discuss—so that the answer you produce within each time budget has the depth and form the requirement demands.