The first step to revising effectively for the mocks is deciding what you want to get out of them. For most people, the answer would be exam and revision practice, but there are some less known benefits to the mocks.

 

For example, if you are making flashcards and notes for the mocks, by the time the real GCSEs come around, you will already have summary notes on the majority of the topics, so you can focus on revision and practise questions. This is why my first tip is to make your notes now, when you have more time and the stakes are lower. In five months you will definitely be thanking yourself!

 

The second tip may seem obvious, but it is overlooked by many students. Start revising early. The biggest mistake is starting too late as it only encourages further procrastination because the workload gets completely overwhelming and last minute revision significantly reduces your ability to memorise content. Start earlier and revise for less time, it is far more effective to do an hour or two a day from a month before the mocks than spend the last few days before the exams panicking and trying to cover everything. 

 

Thirdly, definitely do practise paper questions once you review the content in your textbook, and start doing this as early as possible. So many students rely solely on rereading notes but that has long been proved as a very inefficient revision strategy. Notes should still be made, read and understood, but that is only the first step. Exam questions prepare you the best as you learn exactly what you will be asked and the style of questions you will have to answer. Also, when you mark the questions, it’s so important to see what the mark scheme wants and what keywords get the marks, as otherwise you could understand everything but if you don’t hit the key words you may not even get the marks. It helps identify gaps in your knowledge early and makes sure you are completely ready for your exams. 

 

The fourth tip is not talked about enough, but the very best way to memorise something is to understand it. Especially in the humanities and sciences, there are a lot of things to know and relying purely on memorization of four and six markers might cause issues like having a brain freeze in the exam or being asked an unexpected question on a topic you memorised the mark scheme for. It’s a lot easier if you watch a video, read notes or ask a friend or teacher to explain the concepts to you; there are endless resources on the internet and you’ll be surprised how much easier it is to remember things when you understand how they work and why. Additionally, unexpected questions can’t catch you off guard and you will remember the content better and for so much longer if you understand rather than memorise it.

 

Lastly, relax! These are not your real GCSEs. You should work hard and try your best, but you are doing these mocks to practise and to find out how you best revise, whilst getting used to the feeling of exam halls and clear pencil cases. If you don’t get the results you wanted, know that many students do quite badly in their mocks. In fact, a student (from a russell group university) I spoke to said that, “In the mocks, we all got fours and sixes but in the real thing we all got sevens, eights and nines.” The point of that is not to say that you shouldn’t work hard, or that GCSEs will be very easy and you don’t have to try, the point is that this is the first time for many students to sit GCSE style papers and experience an exam season. It won’t be easy but that’s why the mocks are there, so that you know what to expect for the real exams and are not caught by surprise. Use the mocks as an opportunity to identify what topics and subjects need the most work and make sure to ace those before your real exams, as that will ensure you get the best grades when you sit your final GCSEs. Good luck!