The Bottom Line
- Long exams are an endurance event: train it like one.
- Condition your brain with timed mock blocks (not just ad-hoc questions).
- Use micro-breaks and a debrief loop to fix the *pattern* of late errors.
Many candidates have enough knowledge to pass, but their scores sag in the last third of the paper. That’s not primarily intellect — it’s cognitive fatigue + pacing drift. The fix is not motivation; it’s conditioning: repeated exposure to timed blocks, with controlled breaks and a debrief that targets your fatigue pattern.
Evidence anchor: breaks and mental strain
Short breaks can improve vigour and reduce fatigue, with some evidence of performance benefits depending on task and break activity. Your goal is to reduce accumulated strain so the last 30% of the exam looks like the first 30%.
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Week 1 — Establish the base (3 sessions)
Do 2 × 25-minute timed blocks per session (with a 3–5 minute break between). Debrief immediately after: label errors as (A) knowledge gap, (B) reading error, (C) fatigue error, (D) rushing. Track which labels dominate in block 2.
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Week 2 — Extend (3 sessions)
Move to 2 × 35-minute blocks. Keep breaks planned. Add a ‘final 5 minutes’ sweep rule: unanswered/mis-click/reading errors only. Your goal is *stable accuracy*, not hero volume.
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Week 3 — Simulation (2–3 sessions)
Run 60–90 minutes continuous timed work (depending on exam format), with micro-breaks only (20–40 seconds). This is where you learn your personal failure mode (panic rereading, over-flagging, speed collapse).
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Week 4+ — Peak specific (1 full mock weekly)
Do one full-length mock (or closest equivalent) weekly. Then spend 2–3 hours debriefing and building ‘Top 30 fatigue errors’ prompts. Re-test those prompts 48 hours later. That loop is where marks appear.
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Minimum viable version (for busy weeks)
One timed block (30–45 mins) + debrief + 10-minute re-test of your errors. Consistency beats intensity.
Your ‘late-paper collapse’ debrief (copy/paste)
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Practice
Test your knowledge
Apply this concept immediately with a high-yield question block from the iatroX Q-Bank.
SourceMicro-breaks: systematic review + meta-analysis (open access, PMC)
Open Link SourceBrain endurance training overview (Frontiers, open access)
Open Link