First, understand the basic exam facts
The official 2025 syllabus specifies that the math exam lasts 60 minutes and contains 48 single-choice questions, for a full score of 100 points. Each question offers 4 options, and only 1 is correct.
Translate this rule into the actual rhythm of the exam room, and you get three numbers:
- 60 minutes ÷ 48 questions ≈ 75 seconds per question
- Within those 75 seconds you must read the question, work out what it is testing, calculate, choose one of the four options and mark your answer
- In other words, the exam tests not only "whether you can do it" but also "whether you can get through all the questions you are capable of doing in the time available"
Key reminder: 75 seconds is an average, not the time every question must take.
An average means that some questions can be answered at a glance, perhaps in only 20 seconds, while others still make no sense after two readings and even 3 minutes may not be enough. Time saved on the easy questions should be kept for the hard ones. If, for example, you spend only 30 seconds on each of the first 10 easy questions, you save roughly seven and a half minutes compared with the average pace; those few minutes are enough to give you more breathing room on two or three hard questions later, instead of panicking the moment you see a long question.
Also remember two restrictions:
- Calculators are not allowed in the exam; all calculations rely on hand calculation and estimation. So do not rely on a calculator when you practise, or you will be slow and prone to panic in the exam room.
- Neither the official website nor the syllabus has published how many points each question is worth, or whether wrong answers are penalized. So do not decide whether to attempt a question on the basis of "how many points it is worth". You cannot judge which question is "worth more"; you can only rank them by "can I solve it". By the same token, do not keep hesitating over questions you can do because you are worried about penalties.
Divide the 60 minutes into three rounds
The 48 questions are not evenly difficult. If you work straight through from Question 1 to Question 48, it is easy to get stuck near Question 20 for more than ten minutes, and then have no time left for later questions you clearly know how to do. The purpose of the three rounds is to separate "finding questions" from "doing questions": first find the ones you can do, then return to the ones that need thought.
Round 1: about 35 minutes, go through all 48 questions
- Do only the questions you know at a glance; mark the answer immediately after doing each one, rather than noting it on scratch paper to fill in all together at the end
- When you meet a question that needs some thought, skip it for now and mark it
- Do not feel burdened about skipping: the task in this round is not to "finish" but to "scan", so that you know which questions on the whole paper are yours and which are not
- Goal: by the end of this round, all the easy questions are secured, and every question on the paper has been seen
- You can set yourself a midway checkpoint: for example, at the halfway point of the first round (about 17–18 minutes), you should have seen about 24 questions. If by then you have only reached Question 10, then some earlier question clearly took longer than average, and you must speed up immediately and move on
Round 2: about 18 minutes, go back to the marked questions
- Work through the marked questions one by one in the order you marked them, starting with those that look closest to being solved
- Set a rough time limit for each question; if you exceed it, skip again
- How to set the limit: count how many questions you marked and divide 18 minutes by that number. For example, if you marked 12, that is about 1.5 minutes per question; if you marked 20, that is less than 1 minute per question, and you should then be even more prepared to "give up when over time"
- By the end of this round, everything except the questions you are still unsure about should have an answer
Round 3: about 7 minutes, check
- Do not aim to finish all the hard questions; first make sure you do not lose points on questions you can do
- For what specifically to check, see the later section "What to check in the final few minutes"
How to save time on easy questions
Time on easy questions is really time banked: every second you save there can be spent on a hard question later. Common methods:
- Look at the options before you start writing: on some questions the four options differ sharply (different signs, different orders of magnitude, clearly different forms), and once you have seen them you know a full calculation is unnecessary
- If estimation or substitution can eliminate, do not calculate in full: putting an option back into the question stem to see whether it holds is often faster than solving the equation from scratch
- Aim to get it right the first time; do not keep verifying the same easy question. One check is insurance; three checks mean you are spending hard-question time on something you already know
- Do not reread an easy question two or three times: mark the key conditions on the first read (numbers, ranges, units, words such as "incorrect") and you will not need to go through it word by word again
- Write your scratch work clearly, labelled by question number, so that you can still follow your own writing during the final check. According to the official candidate guide on csca.cn, at the on-site computer-based test the test centre hands out scratch paper and collects it at the end; at the home-based test you may only use a small whiteboard or blank paper inside a clear plastic sleeve, with an erasable marker, and you must wipe it clean when the test ends, as the proctor instructs. Candidates taking the home-based test should pay particular attention: a small whiteboard does not hold much writing, so divide it by question number and write clearly, and it is best to practise once beforehand with the same tools to get a feel for them.
How long to get stuck before skipping
- A rough rule of thumb: if you have thought about a question for about one minute and still have no clear idea, mark it and skip it first
- Why one minute: you have an average of only 75 seconds per question; if a question takes you 2 minutes with no result, you have effectively taken time in advance from one or two easy questions later on
- Record skipped question numbers on your scratch paper in a consistent, quick way. For example, write "12○" to mean Question 12 was skipped; once you have written it, move on immediately, and do not write long reasoning beside skipped questions
- Another situation also calls for skipping: you have an idea but the calculation is very slow (for example, the equation is set up correctly but you cannot solve it). Here you can leave the equation on the scratch paper, mark the question first, and come back to finish the calculation in the second round
- Skipping does not mean giving up: collect the points from the easy questions later on first, then return
- Reminder: getting stuck on a hard question is the most common reason for running out of time on later questions you could have done
What to check in the final few minutes
Whether any questions are unanswered
- Go through the answer interface question by question and confirm that an answer has been selected for all 48 questions.
- Pay special attention to skipped questions: these are the most likely to produce the "I thought it through but forgot to click" situation.
Marked questions
- Return only to marked questions for review; do not start over from the beginning.
- Be careful with questions you have already changed: do not change them again without a clear reason.
Calculation signs
- Check whether positive/negative signs, plus/minus signs, and parentheses were copied incorrectly—for example, whether a sign changed after moving a term, and whether a negative sign before parentheses was distributed to every term when the parentheses were removed.
- Check whether the inequality direction was reversed, or whether simplifying or moving terms was done incorrectly—for example, when both sides are multiplied or divided by a negative number, the inequality sign must be reversed.
- Check whether units match what the question asks: does it ask for "how many minutes" or "how many hours", a "count" or a "percentage"?
- Read carefully whether the question asks for "correct" or "incorrect": when it asks "which of the following is wrong", do not casually select the correct option.
- Since calculators are not allowed, use estimation or substitution to verify quickly whether the result is reasonable. For example, if the answer clearly should fall between 0 and 1 and you get 30, something is wrong; or substitute the answer back into the original expression to see whether the equation holds.
First, test your speed with 15 minutes
After reading this, you may still not know whether you are "fast but make many mistakes" or "slow but steady".
We suggest taking CSCA.PRO's 15-minute diagnostic once (24 questions, about 15 minutes). While doing it, pay attention to your time; then look at the result and decide which of the three rounds to give more time to:
- If you frequently run over time even on easy questions, your reading and calculation habits need to change; leave more time for the first round and strictly enforce "skip after one minute".
- If you are fast but make many mistakes, you need to give more time to checking; leave enough time for the third round.
- If you stay too long on hard questions, the second round needs a firmer "give up when over time" rule.
Time allocation is not memorized; it is trained.