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AWS Solutions Architect · Lesson

Time Management and Review Techniques

Allocate your 130-minute budget across 65 questions, flag uncertain answers for review, and use the last 10 minutes to revisit marked items systematically.

The 130-Minute Budget

You have 130 minutes for 65 questions — exactly 2 minutes per question on average. This sounds comfortable, but long scenario questions with multiple constraints can easily take 3–4 minutes each. If you spend too long on hard questions early, you will be rushed at the end and make careless mistakes on questions you actually know. Treat your time budget as a resource to be actively managed throughout the exam.

# Recommended time allocation:
# Minutes 0-90:   Answer all 65 questions in sequence
#   - Easy questions: 60-90 seconds each (bank extra time)
#   - Medium questions: 2 minutes each
#   - Hard/uncertain questions: max 3 minutes, then flag and move on
# Minutes 90-120: Review ALL flagged questions
# Minutes 120-130: Final scan for unanswered questions and obvious errors

The Flag-and-Move-On Strategy

For any question where you are not confident after 2–3 minutes, flag it and move on. Select your best guess before flagging — in case you run out of time, a guessed answer is better than a blank. When you return to flagged questions, you will often find that a question you were stuck on earlier is now clear after reading other questions that triggered relevant knowledge. Never spend 6–8 minutes grinding on a single question during the first pass.

# Flagging decision tree:
# Read question + answers
#   Can I eliminate 2 answers in 30 seconds? -> Yes: narrow to 2, choose best, optionally flag
#   Do I know the answer confidently? -> Yes: answer and move on (no flag)
#   Am I still uncertain after 2 minutes? -> Flag, select best guess, MOVE ON
#   Have I eliminated nothing? -> Select least-wrong option, flag, MOVE ON immediately

All lessons in this course

  1. Understanding the Exam Format and Domain Weights
  2. Identifying Keywords and Service Signals in Questions
  3. Process of Elimination and Distractor Patterns
  4. Time Management and Review Techniques
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