If you are revising for your GCSEs, practice exam papers and are invaluable tool that will help you prepare and pinpoint specific areas that you need to work on.
Practice exam papers are great because they put you in real life scenarios, mimic what you will be tested on when you take your exams, and give you a taste of how questions will be worded.
Read on to find out how you can use practice papers to your advantage to ensure that you get the best results in your GCSE exams.
Time yourself
All exams are subject to time constraints and it’s important that you get to grips with this early on so that you get used to working to a deadline. It’s no good spending four hours on an exam paper when you will only have two hours to answer questions in the actual exam.
Time yourself using a clock or your phone and try and work out how long you should be spending on each question. You can usually work this out by checking how many marks the question is worth. Those that have higher marks will require you to spend more time answering them.
Check your work
Once you’ve completed a past paper it’s important that you go back through it and check your answers. This will give you an idea of areas that you need to focus on during your revision sessions. Make a list of the topics that you are falling down on frequently and prioritise these when you go to revise.
Work with a friend
Sometimes we learn best when we are around others, so why not enlist the support of a friend that is also taking their GCSEs? It’s likely that you are both strong in different areas so you will be able to help and support each other. It also makes doing past papers much more fun, jut avoid getting distracted and spending too much time talking.
Put your notes away
While your revision notes are great to look over as they help to consolidate your learning, you won’t be able to take them into the exam. Instead of having them out on the table while you are completing a past paper, read over them before you start answering questions. Highlight any topics that don’t sink in and commit to going over them.
We have a wide range of past papers available on our website for English and maths as well as reading and writing guides that will help you to achieve the grades that you deserve.
