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Exam timer

Three hours drawn as 20 rings, one emptying every 9 minutes. For a practice SAT, a bar-course block, or any timed sitting, one glance places you in the exam without the tick of a clock.

Running a mock exam at home

The point of a practice exam is that it feels like the real one, and the clock is most of that feeling. A three hour sitting is the shape of many bar and professional papers, some university finals, and the total sitting time of several standardized tests once breaks are counted. Set this page going as the paper is turned over, take it fullscreen with the f key, and the room has a clock that everybody reads the same way: 20 rings, one emptying every 9 minutes, and nothing else on the screen.

  1. Print or open the paper, but do not look at it yet.
  2. Silence every other device and put the phone in another room.
  3. Press start and fullscreen the dial in one motion.
  4. Stop writing at the chime, mid-sentence if that is where you are. The score only means something if the cut-off held.

Reading the rings as a plan

Because a ring is nine minutes, the dial converts into a pacing plan without arithmetic. A paper with six equal questions gets three rings and a bit each, so when the fourth ring is gone you should be leaving question one. A paper in three sections gets roughly seven rings a section. Decide the ring budget before you start, write it at the top of the page, and glance at the dial only when you finish a question.

Sittings of other lengths

  • A 2 hour paper: the 2 hour timer, one ring every 6 minutes.
  • A 90 minute section of a longer test: the 90 minute timer, then a second one for the next section.
  • A 40 minute essay: the 40 minute timer, which is close to the ACT writing slot.

Sections with different lengths are best run as a Cycle: open Cycles, add one block per section with its official length, and the chime marks each turnover the way an invigilator would.

Timing the room, not just yourself

For a study group or a class, one screen at the front is enough, and a projector makes the rings readable from the back. If people sit in different places, a Room gives every device the same countdown from one link, so a phone on each desk shows the same nine-minute rings.

Mistakes that spoil the practice

Pausing to look something up turns a mock into homework. Starting the clock late, after reading the paper, hides the minutes that reading costs on the day. Running practice papers only at full length is another one: for the first attempts, time a single section and get the pacing right there before spending an afternoon. More on this in countdowns and deadlines.

Can the whole room see it?

Yes. Run it fullscreen on a projector or a shared screen and the rings read from the back row.

Does it chime at time?

Yes, a clear double chime at zero, even from a background tab. The rings stay silent until then.

What if my exam is a different length?

Pick another duration from the timers below, or set a custom one on any dial.

Embed this timer
Use as a stream overlay

Add it as a browser source in OBS; the background stays transparent. Change t for any length.

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