I'm sure that this question has been asked (and answered) before, so if this quick answer doesn't give you what you need, have a look a bit earlier in the forum.
It's more about quality of output than quantity. 7-8 pages of audit trail is far too much. Areas where too much detail is often found are:
- Intro / overview: my rule of thumb is three sentences of context, three bullet points of scenarios. I've seen candidates put down more than a page of writing here, for absolutely zero additional credit.
- Assumptions: stick to those that add value. Don't regurgitate stuff you're clearly given in the paper (like 'Assume expense per policy is $20' or stuff like that). Don't repeat yourself ('Assume x doesn't change over time, assume y doesn't change over time, etc)
- Data: describe what you're given (one sentence), where you got it (few words), and what you've done to check it. Keep the latter short, unless you have more time at the end. Rather focus on the model / methodology description than spend more time on the data, unless the question makes it clear that there's a lot of marks to be gained by spending time sorting out the data.
- Methodology: work through the spreadsheet step by step (column by column / row by row as appropriate). Briefly mention What you've done, and How it was done for each step. Then move on.
4-5 pages for an audit trail is probably about average. 2 is too short, 7 is too long. I've never bothered to look at word count, though, so can't tell you in those terms.
Regarding the model solutions, they're likely to contain more assumptions, more data checks, and more reasonableness checks than the average decent solution, as the examiners are trying to show a wide range of the sort of things that gain marks. You wouldn't be expected to get all of those in the exam.
The average candidate also tends to skip out the final step in the model, along with the concomitant description in the audit trail. This probably gives them a few heart palpitations between exam & results publication, but you don't need to finish the paper to pass. If you're struggling for time, stop the modelling at a point that you work out in practice, and then deal with the audit trail up to that point. Then go back to the modelling, and then the audit.
(Also, have you considered working on your typing speed? It's not hard to get up to 40-60wpm and that'll give you plenty more time for thinking... In this day and age, it's a form of self-harm not to be able to type at least that fast)
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