A simple six-step exam-answer routine from Hanlon Creative Press to help students plan, improve and check their answers across subjects.
The HANLON Exam Method™ gives students a repeatable routine for checking task focus, subject knowledge, evidence, structure and accuracy before submitting an answer.
Highlight the task, command word, source, numbers, tense, graph or instruction.
Answer the exact question. Avoid writing everything you know if it does not fit.
Name the key knowledge: terms, facts, formulas, vocabulary, quotations or methods.
Link with evidence, reasoning, workings, source details, examples or explanation.
Organise the response so it is clear, logical and easy for an examiner to follow.
Notice and correct avoidable mistakes before moving to the next question.
The HANLON Exam Method™ grew out of one consistent observation across very different post-primary classrooms.
Hanlon Creative Press was founded by a practising post-primary teacher with experience across a wide range of school contexts in Ireland — DEIS and disadvantaged settings, fee-paying schools, mixed-context urban and rural classrooms, EAL learners and native Spanish speakers studying through the Irish Junior and Senior Cycle. That work has also included examiner experience with Junior Cycle Spanish.
Across all of these settings, the same pattern kept appearing. Students were losing marks for the same avoidable reasons, regardless of school type, ability band or language background.
The method is short enough to remember, but flexible enough to use in Spanish, Irish, Maths, English, Business, Science, History, Computer Science and Geography.
| Step | What it means | Student question |
|---|---|---|
| H — Highlight the task | Read the question carefully. Look for the command word, topic, tense, number, source, graph, image or instruction. | What exactly is the question asking me to do? |
| A — Answer the exact question | Stay focused. Do not write a general answer if the question is specific. | Have I answered this question directly? |
| N — Name the key knowledge | Use the correct vocabulary, formula, term, quotation, grammar point, fact or method. | What key knowledge does this answer need? |
| L — Link with evidence or method | Support your answer with a reason, example, quotation, working, source reference or explanation. | Have I shown why, how or where my answer comes from? |
| O — Organise your response | Make your answer easy to read and easy to mark. Use layout, labels, units, paragraphs or steps where useful. | Is my answer clearly organised? |
| N — Notice mistakes before submitting | Check avoidable mistakes before moving on. | Have I checked spelling, fadas, accents, units, calculations, labels, tenses and missing details? |
HCP resources can use the HANLON Exam Method™ to show students how an answer improves from simple, to structured, to high-quality.
A simple answer that may be correct but often needs more detail, stronger accuracy or clearer structure.
A stronger answer that follows the task, uses key knowledge, links ideas and is clearly organised.
A higher-quality answer that goes beyond the basics with stronger detail, precision, explanation or expression.
Each subject has its own version of the method. This helps students use the same exam routine while still checking the details that matter in each subject.
Use HANLON to check the topic, tense, useful vocabulary, opinions, reasons, format, accents, gender, agreement and verb endings.
Use HANLON to check the topic, tense, person, question word, task type, vocabulary, fadas, verb forms and sentence order.
Use HANLON to highlight numbers, units and key words, name the formula or method, show workings and check the final answer.
Use HANLON to identify the command word, answer the prompt, use quotations or techniques, explain evidence and structure paragraphs clearly.
Use HANLON to identify the case-study detail, name the business term, answer directly, link to the scenario and organise points clearly.
Use HANLON to highlight data, graphs, experiments and command words, name the scientific concept and check units, labels and calculations.
Use HANLON to identify the period, person, event, source and command word, then support points with evidence, causes or consequences.
Use HANLON to identify the problem, input, output, constraints, algorithm, code or concept, then check syntax, logic and final output.
Use HANLON to identify map, graph, diagram, source, process or command word, then use accurate terms, labels and evidence.
The method is designed to become a repeated HCP study language in books, worksheets, QR resources and the HCP Exam Hub.
Use the method after each practice answer. It helps you check whether the answer is focused, developed and accurate before you move on.
Use the HANLON Exam Method™ as a classroom routine for improving weak answers, comparing model answers and building better exam habits.
Ask simple checking questions: Did you read the question? Did you answer it? Did you support it? Did you check it?
The repeated phrase is simple: Before you hand it up, HANLON it.