6.4 Final-Week Diploma Plan

Start with current administration facts

The final week is not the time to rely on an old screenshot of a schedule. Alberta's diploma exam pages are updated when administration details change. As of June 14, 2026, the Alberta overview and writing pages note that the January 2026 diploma examinations were cancelled after lost instructional time, with affected students automatically exempted from the January assessment and able to choose a later April or June writing.

That update matters because Math 30-2 students may be writing in different circumstances depending on school, session, exemption status, or rewrite plan. Confirm your actual writing date, time, location, format, and registration status with your school, writing centre, or myPass before you plan the last week.

For the exam itself, the Math 30-2 bulletin describes a closed-book examination designed for 3 hours. Students may use up to 6 hours if needed. The exam has 32 machine-scored questions worth 75% and 2 written-response questions worth 25%. Paper-format instructions identify 24 multiple-choice and 8 numerical-response questions; digital-format instructions describe the 32 machine-scored questions together. A formula sheet is available, and an approved graphing calculator is used, with calculator memory clearing requirements. These facts shape the rehearsal plan.

Seven-day countdown

This is not a plan to learn the course from scratch. It is a plan to stabilize performance. If a topic is still weak, choose the version most likely to appear in integrated practice: rational restrictions and equations, exponential/log solving, sinusoidal features in context, non-mutually exclusive probability, conditional probability, permutations versus combinations, Venn diagrams, and numerical-response rounding.

Timed rehearsal strategy

Practise at least one 3-hour structure even if you know extra time is available. A sensible rehearsal is 95 to 105 minutes for the 32 machine-scored questions, 50 to 60 minutes for the two written-response questions, and 20 to 30 minutes for review and cleanup. If you regularly need more time, practise an alternate plan that uses the permitted additional time without losing focus: finish a complete first pass, take a short reset, then return to flagged items and written-response polish.

During the first pass, answer every accessible multiple-choice item, mark any item that needs a second look, and do not let one numerical-response format puzzle consume the time needed for written response. For numerical response, record only after you have checked rounding and order. For written response, start each question even if one part looks hard. The bulletin notes that attempts may receive partial scores, and each written-response question has multiple parts. Empty space is usually worse than a labelled partial method.

Calculator and formula-sheet routine

Use the final week to make technology boring. Clear or configure the calculator according to Alberta rules and school instructions. Practise entering regressions, checking graph windows, tracing intersections, and storing unrounded values. Review the formula sheet by use case rather than by location: counting formulas for arrangements and selections, probability rules for overlap and conditional events, and graphing-window format for functions. A formula sheet helps only if you know which formula belongs to the situation.

Do not build final-week confidence on calculator-only answers. For written response, a graph or regression result should be accompanied by variables, model choice, substitution or supporting calculation, units, and a final sentence. For machine-scored questions, technology can confirm a value, but the answer form still comes from the prompt.

Last 24 hours and exam-day checks

The last day should be smaller than the previous six. Review the top traps: nPr orders and nCr chooses; union adds then subtracts overlap; conditional probability restricts the sample space; odds are part-part while probability is part-whole; rational restrictions come before cancellation; log inputs stay positive; amplitude is vertical and period is horizontal; exact answers stay exact unless rounding is requested. Then stop heavy practice.

On exam day, bring required writing materials and the approved calculator your school expects you to use. Read the opening instructions, clear calculator memory as directed, and note whether your format is paper or digital. In the exam, make three passes: first for secure wins, second for flagged calculations and written-response completion, third for answer-form checks.

The final pass is not for relearning mathematics. It is for catching the preventable diploma mistakes: a missing leading zero, a rounded coefficient used too early, an unlabeled probability, a rejected restriction, a final answer without units, or a written-response part left blank.

Keep the final plan realistic. A tired student who completes one focused mixed set, reviews the errors carefully, and sleeps well is usually better prepared than a student who starts three new topics late at night and brings confusion into the exam room.