Exam duration calculator
Exam duration calculator
Writing time from the questions and the seconds each needs, plus reading and collection, and the clock time the paper ends if it starts at a time you enter.
How this is calculated
Writing minutes = questions x seconds each / 60. The whole sitting = ( writing + reading + collection ) x ( 1 + allowance / 100 ). The end time adds the whole sitting to the start time, rounding up to the next whole minute because a paper cannot be collected at half a minute past.
- The allowance is yours because the honest figure depends on the paper and the room, not on a rule. It is kept as a separate line so a planning cushion is visible rather than folded into the per-question seconds.
- The end time is arithmetic on the inputs and does not account for an invigilator arriving late, a late start or a script collection that runs longer than planned.
Writing time from the questions and the seconds each needs, plus reading and collection, and the clock time the paper ends from a start time you enter.
The allowance is separate so it can be seen
Writing time is the questions multiplied by the average seconds each, divided by sixty. Reading time and collection are added as whole minutes, and an allowance for overruns is applied to the whole sitting as a percentage. The end time is the start plus the sitting, rounded up to a whole minute because a script cannot be collected at half a minute past.
The allowance is a field because the honest cushion depends on the paper and the room, not on a rule. Keeping it separate from the per-question seconds makes a planning assumption visible instead of folding it into the writing time. The end time is arithmetic: a late start or a collection that runs long moves the real finish, and the page cannot know either.
Questions readers ask
What is a typical number of seconds a question?
There is no figure this page will publish. It depends on the paper, the subject and what each question asks, and a number borrowed from another paper would pace a different exam. Enter the average you plan for and read the total back.
Why round up?
Because the paper cannot finish part-way through a minute. Rounding up also keeps the planned finish on or after the true one, which is the safe direction for a sitting.
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