Your SBR Exam-Day Plan: How to Use Every Minute of Those 3h 15m

Your SBR Exam-Day Plan: How to Use Every Minute of Those 3h 15m

You can know the standards cold and still fail SBR — by running out of time, panicking on Question 1, or leaving whole requirements blank. The students who pass aren't always the ones who know the most. They're the ones with a plan for the clock.

Here's the exact timing plan I give my students. Walk in with this and the exam stops being a scramble.

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The maths of the paper

SBR is 100 marks in 3 hours 15 minutes (195 minutes). That's roughly 1.8 minutes per mark. Build your whole day around that single number.

• A 10-mark requirement = ~18 minutes. When 18 minutes are up, move on — even mid-sentence.
• Leave ~15 minutes at the end to fill gaps and check.

The discipline of stopping on time is the single biggest time-management win. Most fails aren't "I didn't know it" — they're "I never got to part (c)."

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Before you write: the first 10 minutes

Resist the urge to start writing immediately. Spend the first few minutes reading actively:

1. Read the requirements first, before the scenario. Now you know what you're hunting for.
2. Annotate the scenario as you read — underline every number, date and phrase that maps to a requirement.
3. Plan the two big questions with a quick bullet skeleton. Two minutes of planning saves ten minutes of rambling.

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Section-by-section plan

Section A (Question 1 + 2 — the case study, ~50 marks)

This is usually a group scenario plus Q2's ethics/current-issues element. It's the heart of the paper. But you do not have to do it first. Many students settle their nerves by starting with a Section B question they feel confident on, then coming back. Play to your strengths.

• Apply every treatment to the group context.
• Watch for the two professional marks and the ethics element — cheap, reliable points.

Section B (two 25-mark questions)

• Pick the two you can score best on — read all options before committing.
• Same rule: ~1.8 minutes per mark, one applied point per short paragraph.

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The rules that save marks under pressure

• Never leave a requirement blank. Even two applied sentences might be two marks. Blank is zero, guaranteed.
• One point, one short paragraph. Markers scan for points — make yours easy to find.
• Always state the effect on the financial statements. "So the liability increases by $X" is where the mark is.
• If you're stuck, write your plan bullets as your answer and move on. Partial structure beats a blank page.
• Watch the clock, not the question. A perfect answer to one part while three others sit empty is how good students fail.

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The last 15 minutes

Don't waste them re-reading answers you're happy with. Spend them where marks are cheapest:

1. Fill any blank or half-finished requirements with quick applied points.
2. Add a safeguard to any ethics point that's missing one.
3. Check you've stated the FS impact on your numerical answers.

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The plan only works if you've rehearsed it

Here's the catch: you can't execute a timing plan for the first time in the real exam. The clock discipline, the "move on" reflex, the active reading — these only work if your hand has done them before under pressure.

That's what a proper mock is for. Not to test your knowledge — to rehearse the exam day so nothing is new when it counts.

• Sit a full SBR mock under real timed conditions, marked by me with detailed feedback on both your technique and your timing.
• Or send me one timed answer and I'll mark it free — you'll see immediately whether your pacing and structure are costing you marks.

Walk into your next sitting having already done it once. That's how you pass.

👉 Get your free marking or book a full mock.