Negative marking strategy and score calculator
Use the +2 for correct, −0.5 for incorrect and 0 for unattempted formula to understand the score behind your mock performance.
Calculate your marks
Enter the number of correct and incorrect responses. The remaining questions are treated as unattempted.
The scoring formula
Score = (correct answers × 2) − (incorrect answers × 0.5). Unattempted questions add or subtract nothing. For example, 60 correct and 20 incorrect responses produce 120 − 10 = 110 marks.
Do not turn negative marking into fear of attempting
The goal is not to minimise attempts at any cost. It is to improve the quality of attempts. A confident answer, a reasoned elimination and a blind guess are different decisions and should be reviewed separately after every mock.
Use accuracy bands as a diagnostic
If accuracy is weak, adding attempts usually magnifies the loss. Improve recall and option elimination first. If accuracy is strong but many questions remain blank, work on pace and selective risk. Your mock analysis should tell you which situation applies.
Set a decision rule
- Answer immediately when the fact or method is clear
- Mark time-consuming questions for review
- Use elimination only when you can reject options for a reason
- Reserve the final minutes for marked questions, not random changes
Audit every incorrect attempt
- Knowledge gap
- Calculation or reading error
- Unnecessary guess
- Correct approach abandoned under pressure