THE LAST 48 HOURS
Days 13–14, and the exam itself
The rule that governs everything below: no new topics.
Anything you start learning now will be shallow, unreliable under pressure, and will crowd out revision of things you already half-know. Revising a topic you are 70% on is worth far more than starting one you are 0% on. This is the single most common way candidates lose marks in the final two days.
DAY 13 — the diagnostic day
Morning · Full-length mock, in exam conditions
Real conditions means: timed, no breaks, no notes, no phone, one sitting. A mock done comfortably tells you nothing useful.
Afternoon · The error review — this is the actual work
Do not move on to new practice. Spend the whole afternoon on what you got wrong. For every single error, classify it:
| Category | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Concept gap | You didn't know the method | Re-read that section tonight. This is the only category worth new study. |
| Silly mistake | Knew it, slipped on arithmetic or a sign | Note the specific slip. These are the cheapest marks in the exam. |
| Misread the question | Solved the wrong thing | Almost always: "without replacement", "strictly greater", "reverse the words vs reverse each word" |
| Too slow | Right answer, too much time | Learn the shortcut for that pattern from 06 |
| Guessed correctly | Counts as an error for review purposes | You will not be lucky twice |
The pattern in your mistakes matters more than the count. If six errors are all "misread the question", your problem is reading speed and care, not mathematics — and that is fixable overnight in a way that a concept gap is not.
Evening · Formula sheet
Read 06 - FORMULA + SHORTCUT SHEET.md end to end, covering the right-hand side and self-testing. Mark anything you cannot recall — that is tomorrow's revision list.