DSE M1 Exam Format and Time Management

150 minutes for 100 marks is 1.5 minutes per mark. Spending a little less on Section A buys checking time at the end:

• Section A: about 65 minutes (roughly 1.3 minutes per mark). These are routine: a binomial expansion with eˣ, a tangent, a rate of change, a substitution, a binomial or Poisson probability, a normal probability, a confidence interval.
• Section B: about 70 minutes. Three to five long questions that build through parts (a), (b), (c), often mixing a model with calculus or several distributions in one context.
• Checking: about 15 minutes. Run the ten-second checks on the common mistakes page.

These numbers are a starting plan, not a rule. Adjust them after timing yourself on a full paper.

1. Name the variable and its distribution before calculating: "Let X be the number of … in 2 hours; X ~ Po(5)."
2. Underline the condition. "Given that", "at least", "more than" and "at most" change the answer.
3. Watch for a change of distribution. A long question often turns a Poisson or normal probability into the p of a binomial distribution in the next part.
4. Use the given result. If part (a) says "show that …" and you cannot, use the stated value in part (b).
5. Move on at the time limit. Marks at the start of the next question are easier than the last mark of this one.