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Chapter 3 of 10

Past Questions, Speed & CBT Training

Now you understand how to read. Let’s talk about how to finish the exam before time finishes you.

CHAPTER 3


Past Questions, Speed & CBT Training

Let me sit with you here, brother. Let’s talk about something that breaks many good students on exam day: time. You know the work. You studied well. But when you enter that CBT hall and see “1:45:00” counting down fast, your heart starts beating. 180 questions. Less than 2 hours. That’s pressure.

But I’m here to tell you truth: Speed is a skill. And like any skill, you can train it. You don’t become fast on exam day. You become fast by practicing every day, little by little. Just like footballers train before match day, you must train your brain for speed before JAMB day.

Past questions are not for “expo” or “miracle centres”. Past questions are for training. They show you JAMB’s pattern. JAMB likes to repeat question styles. They change numbers, they change words, but the pattern remains. If you’ve solved 10 years of past questions, you’ve already seen 80% of the traps JAMB will set for you. The exam becomes familiar, not strange.

How to use past questions the right way so they don’t waste your time:

1. Don’t just check answers and move on: When you get a question wrong, don’t just mark it “X” and continue. Stop. Breathe. Ask yourself “Why did I get this wrong?” Did you not understand the concept? Did you misread the question? Did you run out of time? Write the reason in your jotter. That “why” is more valuable than 100 correct answers. Because next time, you won’t repeat that mistake. JAMB is testing your ability to learn from mistakes, not just your memory.

2. Train with a timer, every single day: From today, when you practice, set a timer. JAMB gives you roughly 45 seconds per question. So practice 20 questions in 15 minutes. Then 40 questions in 30 minutes. Your brain will adjust. At first you’ll panic. After 2 weeks, you’ll notice you’re calmer. Speed comes with repetition. The more you practice under time pressure, the more normal it feels. On exam day, the timer won’t scare you anymore because you’ve lived with it for months.

3. Learn to skip strategically: One of the biggest mistakes in CBT is wasting 5 minutes on one hard question. Brother, JAMB is not asking you to answer every question in order. If a question is too hard, skip it. Mark it. Move on. Answer the easy ones first. Build your confidence. Build your marks. Then come back to the hard ones with a calm mind. The exam is a game of strategy, not just knowledge. A wise student knows when to fight and when to pass.

4. Simulate the exam hall weekly: Once a week, sit down with your laptop or phone CBT app. Turn off WiFi. Turn off notifications. Set timer for 2 hours. No breaks. No WhatsApp. Treat it like real JAMB. The more you simulate, the less fear you’ll have on the real day. Fear comes from unfamiliarity. Familiarity kills fear. When you’ve practiced 20 mock exams before the real one, the hall will feel like just another practice session.

Let me speak to you directly now: Speed without accuracy is useless. And accuracy without speed is useless. So we train both. First, practice accuracy. Get the answer right, even if it takes 2 minutes. Don’t rush. Then practice speed. Reduce it to 1 minute, then 45 seconds. Step by step. Don’t try to be Usain Bolt on day one. Train like an athlete.

And remember this truth that many students forget: The CBT hall is not a place to learn new things. It’s a place to show what you already know. So all the learning, all the understanding, all the jotter work happens BEFORE exam day. Exam day is just performance. You’re just displaying what you’ve been storing for months. If you didn’t store anything, you can’t display anything.

So from today, make past questions your daily food. Not just for the sake of it. Study them. Understand the patterns. Train your speed. Train your mind to stay calm when the timer is counting down. Because the student who stays calm under pressure always outperforms the student who knows more but panics.

In Chapter 4, we’ll talk about early preparation and study routines that actually work. Because the student who starts early is the student who enters the hall with peace, not panic. We’ll build you a routine that won’t break you, but will build you.

“Train hard in practice, so you can perform calm in the hall. The timer should not scare you. You should own the timer.”
← Back to Chapter 2 Proceed to Chapter 4 →
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