Basic Life Support is usually assessed in two parts: a written or computer-based test and a practical skills test on a manikin. Written papers at this level often run for 1 to 2 hours, commonly mixing objective questions (multiple choice and true/false, often 30–60 items) with a few short-answer or essay questions worth 5–15 marks each. Some schools fold BLS into a wider first-aid or foundations paper; others examine it on its own. The practical is usually pass/fail against a checklist: scene safety, responsiveness, calling for help, the breathing and pulse check, compressions at the right rate and depth with full recoil, breaths with visible chest rise, and correct AED use.

The written questions have a clear personality. Objective items test numbers: rate 100–120/min, adult depth 5–6 cm, child about 5 cm, infant about 4 cm, 30:2 and 15:2, 1 breath every 6 seconds for an adult with a pulse, 1 every 2–3 seconds for a child or infant, the 10-second pulse check, which rhythms are shockable. Essay questions ask you to describe a sequence (one-rescuer adult CPR, using an AED, relieving choking, the recovery position) or to compare adult, child and infant CPR. Sequences earn about one mark per correct, correctly ordered step; comparisons score best as a neat table.

A calm strategy: learn the numbers until they are automatic, because they are the cheapest marks on the paper. In every procedure answer, start with scene safety, number your steps, write units on every number, and finish by saying what you do after the shock (resume compressions immediately) and when CPR may stop. If your examiner set the paper on older guidelines, you may still see two-finger infant compressions or abdominal thrusts alone for choking; answer with the current guidance and, where it helps, note the older version in one line.