The SQE’s multiple choice questions (MCQs) can be tricky to answer. Answering MCQs requires you to learn a particular exam technique, in which you slow down and look out for the details. We’ve talked about that in our blog here, but there’s one point we really need to make again!

This one thing is really the secret to the difference between a good mark and a great mark when answering MCQs.

It’s this simple: don’t change your mind!

If you have taken the time to read the question carefully, note any details and think through each of your options, you will have given yourself the best possible chance of choosing the right answer.

You probably don’t believe me. That’s understandable – we’ve all had that crippling doubt in our exams:

Have I chosen the right answer?

But it’s so similar to option B!

But what if this extra piece of information was true?

Maybe the examiner wants me to select B and not A…

Well, answer A could be a trick answer anyway…

Stop!

This kind of thinking is how you fail.

Research on answering MCQs has shown that those who later revisit their initial answers are more likely to change their answers to the wrong answers than to change wrong answers back to correct answers.

So, if you’ve already thought your answer through, resist the urge to go back and change your answers late in the exam – trust your first instincts!

You can find out more about answering MCQs in our PGDL Answered Core Guide, and we have more blogs on exam technique – take a look around our blog here.