Basque PAU Technology & Eng II exam-day guide

Switch from learning new content to consolidating. Re-read your own formula sheet: kinematics, dynamics, energy and power, electrical circuits, thermodynamics, materials, mechanisms and, where your syllabus includes them, control and pneumatics/hydraulics. For each block, write from memory the two or three formulas you would need, then check them. Do one full past-style paper under time, closed book, and mark it strictly against the marking criteria rather than against your intentions.

Build a one-page 'rescue sheet' with the items you most often get wrong: unit conversions (kW to W, rpm to rad/s, N/mm² to MPa), sign conventions for moments and shear, the difference between stress and strain, series versus parallel resistance rules, and the standard symbols used in circuit and mechanism diagrams. This sheet is for the last hour before the exam, not for learning new material.

Practise the question types that carry the most marks in your paper: a mechanics problem with a free-body diagram and equilibrium equations, an electrical circuit with series/parallel simplification, a materials or stress-strain question, and a technical drawing or diagram-based question. For each, write the solution as you would in the exam - statement of data, formula, substitution with units, result with units, and a one-line interpretation. Marks are usually awarded for method, so make the method visible.

Do a light review only: your rescue sheet, the symbols and units, and the structure of the paper (how many questions, whether there are options, how marks are distributed). Pack your bag with ID, pens, pencil, ruler, set square, calculator and spare batteries. Check the calculator works and is set to the mode you expect (degrees vs radians matters in trigonometry and in AC circuit problems).

Confirm the practical details: room, building, start time, and the centre's rules on calculators, phones and bags. Confirm with the provider rather than relying on memory or on what a classmate says. Set two alarms and plan transport with a buffer for delays.

Eat a normal breakfast and arrive early - aim for at least 20-30 minutes before the start so you can find your seat and settle. Leave your phone switched off and stored as the centre requires; do not keep it on your person if the rules forbid it. Take only permitted material to the desk.

Fill in your personal details exactly as instructed. Read the whole paper and the instructions on choice: note which questions are compulsory and which are optional, and how marks are split. Write a short plan in the margin: which questions you will answer, in what order, and the minutes you will give each. Start with a question you can do well - it settles nerves and banks marks.

Work in a fixed rhythm: read the question twice, list the data with units, state the formula, substitute, compute, and give the answer with units and a sentence of interpretation. Draw diagrams large and labelled - free-body diagrams, circuit diagrams and graphs earn marks on their own. If a calculation stalls, write the method you would use, leave a gap, and move on; return later. Keep an eye on the clock and reserve the last 10 minutes to check units, significant figures and that every chosen question has been attempted.

Check that your name and details are correct, that no answer is left in the wrong section, and that numerical answers carry units. Verify the obvious traps: a force in kN converted to N, an angle in degrees entered where radians are needed, a power in kW left unconverted in an energy calculation. Hand in only when instructed.