Episode 3 – How to smash your GCSE mock exams
Contributor: Big Manny
Qualification: GCSE
Why is it important to complete a mock test?
The GCSE mock exams are a great opportunity to experience what the real exam is going to be like. And, it is going to show you what areas you need to improve on.
The key is to do a number of past papers, and when you are revising each subject, go on to the exam boards website and find the past papers and the mark schemes.
There’s also lots of practice resources on Oxford Revise. With lots of exam-style questions to get you familiar with the type of questions you are going to get in the real exam. And the answers are all available online, so you can actually see how you are doing.
How to prepare for a GCSE mock exam?
The more knowledge you have going into exam, the more confident you are going to feel, and the more topics that you revise, the more prepared you are going to be.
Now, mocks are great, because they show you which topics you know well and the areas that require improvement. And it also gives you an idea of the pace that you are going to need for the exam. Also, how to plan out your time and what the exam conditions will actually feel like.
Remember to stay calm, and see them as a good practice run.
How to increase marks after a mock test?
After you have finished the mocks, your teacher is going to share the results with you. Now, no matter how you’ve done, there’s always going to be stuff you can learn for how to tweak your revision in the time that you’ve got left.
Now, if you’ve got a question wrong, attempt to understand why you got it wrong. For example, was it because you just mixed up two definitions. If so, you need to do more to check and consolidate your knowledge.
How to analyse a mock/test paper?
Are there questions where you dropped easy marks or questions where you spent too much time, or not enough time. Or, it could have been a calculation thing. For example, titrations. If it is something that you don’t understand, you need to ask your teacher for clarification on this topic. Now a very common mistake students make in exams is not reading the questions properly, so make sure that you read the question very carefully, so that you understand what is being asked of you.
If you did really well on a specific topic, you don’t really need to focus your revision on that topic. Instead, focus on the areas that require improvement.
Now, all the topics that you answered incorrectly, you’ve got to make sure you do more revision on these areas. And, also do a lot of past papers to test yourself.
How to study for GCSE mock exam?
These are Big Manny’s top 5 things to remember from this podcast:
- You’ve got to do past papers. Use specific questions from the past papers to revise the topics. You don’t have to do the entire past paper all at once.
- The more knowledge you have for the exam, the more confident you are going to feel.
- Use mocks as good experience for exam conditions and the pace that you are going to need for the real exam.
- Attempt to understand why you got the question wrong and where you dropped the marks.
- Focus your revision on the areas that require your improvement.
Source: Big Manny from the Oxford Revise podcast.
Found this podcast article useful? Watch more from Big Manny on the Oxford Revise YouTube Channel.
