GCSE Maths Exam Day Checklist: What to Bring, Eat, and Do

The last 24 hours before a GCSE exam are not for learning new content. They’re for protecting the marks you already have. Here’s the checklist that the highest-scoring students actually use.

The night before

Tip: Stop revising at 8 PM the night before. Anything you don’t know by then, you won’t learn in three hours of panic. The trade-off is sleep, which compounds.

Time	Do	Don’t
Before 8 PM	Re-read formula sheet, glance at notes	Learn new topics
8–9 PM	Pack your bag (next section)	Cram
9–10 PM	Shower, music, eat	Anxiety-scroll the Student Room
10 PM	Sleep	Anything else

The equipment list

Pack this the night before and double-check before bed. Re-checking in the morning while half-asleep is when things get forgotten.

• Two black ink pens (one is a single point of failure)
• Two HB pencils, sharpened
• Pencil sharpener with shavings catcher
• Eraser
• 30 cm ruler with a clear edge
• Protractor
• Pair of compasses (still functional — test that the pencil stays put)
• Scientific calculator with fresh batteries (or solar one charged outside earlier)
• Bottle of water (clear, with label removed)
• Tissue
• Your statement of entry / candidate number

Put it all in a transparent pencil case. The invigilators will reject opaque ones at the door — and a last-minute repack is the worst possible start.

Calculator settings before you walk in

Open your calculator the night before and reset these:

Remember: A wrongly-configured calculator can lose you a whole row of marks before you even start.

• Angle unit: Degrees, not Radians or Grads. Check the display shows D or no marker.
• Decimal mode: Norm 1 (not Sci or Eng — those force scientific notation).
• Fraction display: a b/c or d/c — your call, but be consistent with how you’ve practised.
• Statistics memory: clear it (SHIFT + 9 + 3 + = on Casio fx-83GT/85GT).

Breakfast

You’re sitting still and thinking hard for 90 minutes. Your brain needs slow-release glucose and protein.

Good	Avoid
Porridge with banana	Sugary cereal
Wholemeal toast + scrambled eggs	Energy drinks
Yoghurt with granola	Greasy cooked breakfast
Greek yoghurt + berries + honey	Skipping breakfast

Did you know? Caffeine peaks 30–60 minutes after drinking and lasts 4–6 hours. If your exam is at 9 AM, drink tea/coffee at 7:30 AM. If it’s at 1:30 PM, you can have caffeine at noon — earlier and you’ll crash mid-exam.

In the hall — the first 60 seconds

1. Write your name and candidate number first. Always. Before reading any question.
2. Flick through every page. Confirm the paper is complete and you have all questions visible.
3. Read question 1 twice. First pass for the maths, second pass for what is actually being asked.
4. Start writing. The longer you stare without writing, the more anxious you get.

When you’re stuck

• Move on. Star the question, go to the next one. Return at the end.
• Re-read with a pencil — underline the key numbers and the actual question word (“calculate”, “find”, “show that”).
• Write down what you know, even if you don’t know where it leads. Method marks exist.
• Sketch a diagram. Even for non-geometry questions.

The final 10 minutes

If you’ve finished:

1. Don’t leave early. Even if you’re allowed to (mostly you’re not).
2. Check the silly ones first — questions 1–10. That’s where catastrophic arithmetic errors hide and a five-second re-read fixes them.
3. Check units. Did the question want cm² or m²? Days or hours? £ or p?
4. Check decimal places / significant figures. The instruction is buried in the question — re-read for it.

After the exam

Tip: Don’t discuss the paper with friends. You’ll only hear answers that don’t match yours and convince yourself you’ve failed. Wait for the results. Discussing helps nobody.

If you have another paper coming up, walk out, eat a snack, drink water, and revise for that paper — never the one you’ve already sat. The next paper is the only one you can still influence.

Test your formula recall today

If you’re reading this the day before your exam, take 5 minutes and try a quick mixed quiz — pick a topic you find easy, just to get your hand moving and confidence up. That’s the highest-EV thing you can do tonight.

Good luck.