The best way to use past papers
This time of year is marked by lots of mock papers, as schools try and prepare you fully for exams. It is true that one of the most effective ways to prepare for a test is doing past papers and practice questions. However, they are often a limited source as there are not many available, so knowing how to use them effectively is important. This blog post will go over the best ways to use past papers to maximise their efficiency.
1. Timed conditions
One of the hardest parts about test taking is the conditions you take it in - it is silent, under test conditions and timed. This can be very stressful and anxiety inducing, so the more practice you have working under these conditions, the better, as you will be more used to it and therefore more prepared on the day of your actual exam. When doing past papers, try to do them under timed conditions and in a quiet room with no distractions. This will also help you figure out the timing of each exam, how much time to spend on each question and how much time to leave to check your answers at the end.
2. Feedback and track your scores
Going through papers properly is just as important as actually doing them, as it shows you where you need to improve. Marking papers with the mark scheme is very helpful, as you can see exactly where the marks are and what examiners want you to write, to maximise the amount of marks you can get. After thoroughly marking your paper, go through it and write down where you lost marks and what topics they were on - these are the topics you need to revise more. Also try and spot any patterns - are you worse at a certain type of question? This may indicate that you need to work on your exam technique. Tracking your scores and progress can also be very helpful, not only to make sure the revision you are doing is effective and is working, but also as a confidence booster to see how much progress you are making. We have a great exam tracker on zahraclassroom.com
3. Try different boards
One of the biggest issues with using past papers is simply the fact that there aren’t that many out there. You may want to save the past papers for a time closer to your exams when you know most of the content to make the best use of them. Also have a look at the specifications for other boards, as most of the time, they do not vary much. It means that you have access to far more questions for practice, and trying questions of different styles may also be good for you to prepare yourself for any challenging questions in the exam. Make sure that you use questions from parts of the specification that you need to know, as there will inevitably be some variation between boards. It may be a good idea to use papers from your board as timed papers too track, and questions from papers from other boards as exam-style practice questions.
I hope this has helped you understand the importance of using past exam papers wisely, and especially the importance of tracking your errors and feedback from these papers. They are normally easily accessible on the websites of your exam board, and we have a large selection of past papers on zahraclassroom.com, so be sure to check it out!
