Exam Prep
How to Handle Multiple-Choice Exams
By James Whitfield · · 4 min read
Quick answer
Answer the question in your head before reading the options, eliminate clearly wrong choices, and watch for distractors built from common misconceptions. Where there is no penalty for wrong answers, never leave a blank. Manage time by flagging hard questions and returning rather than stalling.
Multiple choice is not easier
Because the answer is on the page, students assume recognition will be enough. But well-written multiple-choice questions are designed so that recognition fails — the wrong options are built from the specific mistakes students actually make.
That is what a distractor is: not a random wrong answer, but the answer you get if you make a predictable error. Which means the option that looks obviously right is sometimes the trap.
Answer before you look
Read the question, work out your answer, and only then look at the options. This protects you from being led by plausible-looking choices, which is how most avoidable errors happen.
If your answer is there, that is strong confirmation. If it is not, you have learned something important before the options had a chance to confuse you.
Eliminate systematically
Cross out options you can rule out for a definite reason. Two eliminations turn a one-in-four guess into a coin flip, which over a full paper is a meaningful number of marks.
Be wary of eliminating on feel. 'That looks wrong' is often exactly the reaction a good distractor is engineered to produce.
Read the question exactly
Words like NOT, EXCEPT, LEAST and MOST change everything, and are the single most common source of lost marks in multiple choice. Underline them.
Also check whether the question asks for the best answer rather than a correct one. Several options may be true; only one may be the best fit.
Guessing and timing
If there is no penalty for wrong answers — which is now the norm, including on the SAT — never leave a blank. A guess has positive expected value; a blank has none.
Do not stall. If a question is taking too long, mark it, move on, and come back. Spending four minutes on one mark while missing three easy questions at the end is the classic multiple-choice failure.
Change answers when you have a reason
The folklore that your first instinct is always right is not well supported. Students who change answers with a reason tend to gain more marks than they lose.
The distinction is 'I misread the question' or 'I now remember the rule' — a reason — versus vague second-guessing, which is worth resisting.
Frequently asked questions
Should I guess if I don't know?+
If there is no penalty for wrong answers, always — a blank scores nothing, a guess might score. Check the rules for your specific exam, though a small number still deduct for incorrect answers.
Is my first instinct usually right?+
Not reliably. Changing an answer because you spotted a misreading or recalled a rule generally helps. Changing it out of vague doubt generally does not.
How do I stop running out of time?+
Set a rough pace before you start — total questions divided by minutes available — and check against it periodically. Flag hard questions and return, rather than stalling on them.
Are 'all of the above' options usually right?+
There is no reliable rule, and modern exam writers deliberately avoid patterns. Judge each option on the content rather than on test-taking folklore.
How should I revise for a multiple-choice exam?+
The same way as any exam — active recall and past questions — but pay particular attention to the misconceptions in your subject, because those are exactly what distractors are built from.
Try your first session free
Meet your tutor, set your goals, and see the difference one-to-one attention makes. No card required, no commitment.