Depending on your school, GCSE mocks start in few weeks. You have no idea how to revise for them and you’ve resigned yourself to the fact that you’ll do poorly anyway. Your teachers are stressing the importance of the exams, but you can’t help but notice other students appear unbothered. Even though you’re stressed you’re still doing your best to study. You want to get the best grades possible to confirm to yourself that you’re on the right track to passing your final exams in June.
Well, regardless of the outcome of your GCSE mocks, there are several important things you can learn from going through the process.
What you can learn from GCSE Mocks
1. Practice for the real thing
I love athletics tournaments. Watching and cheering in anticipation to see if the person I predicted will win the race, did in fact win. And many times, my predictions are correct. You see, even the most talented sportsmen like Usain Bolt do not turn up for a big tournament and expect to achieve their best on the day. They put in hours of practice months or even years before; working on their speed, strength, flexibility and reaction time. They also keep their mind and body healthy by sleeping and eating well. All this helps keep them focused and become better at their craft. GCSE mocks exams are the exact same thing. They’re an opportunity for you to simulate the exact exam conditions in May. From learning how to deal with the pressure of studying a large curriculum to walking quietly into the exam room, working in silent under timed conditions and thoroughly checking your answers. All this helps you to be better prepared for the ‘real’ exam.
2. Develop better revision skills
As you revise for your mocks, you will start to develop effective revision skills. Even if you only revise for two weeks, as long as your revision is consistent you will start to identify what works for you. You’ll learn what times of the day you work better, how long you can concentrate for and what revision methods you prefer. Knowing these will serve you well after the mocks when you start to focus on the main exams.
3. Develop your subject knowledge
Regardless of how far behind you feel you are in terms of your revision, doing even the minimal amount of studying will improve your subject knowledge. For instance, when you’re studying biology, if you just focus on one large topic or unit, you’ll at least be an expert in that topic. And you won’t have to worry about going back over that topic until closer to the exams as all the information will now be stored in your memory.
If you are clueless about where to start when it comes to revising for GCSE mocks, I recommend going through practice questions. This can be the end of unit summary and practice questions in your students’ textbooks, exam workbooks like the CGP or Collins series or past exam papers. Research shows that doing practice tests trumps other revision methods when it comes to learning and memory retention.
4. Identify areas for improvement
Regardless of your mock results, you’ll have the opportunity to go through the papers with your teachers. As you go through the papers, you’ll begin to identify where your strength and weakness lies. Once you’ve identified your weaker areas, you can then come up with a plan to focus more on them. For example, in science, you may find you’re good at the maths questions but not so good at answering extended questions. So, moving forward with your revision, you’ll need to incorporate lots of these types of questions into your future revision plan.
5. Be Motivated
Many people have a tendency to do things last minute. Even at university or in the workplace, most people leave assignments and projects until the very last minute before they make a start. It’s the same with school. We’d rather, go out with friends, watch our favourite TV program or just chill. We don’t want to think about the stress of revising for our final exams. If anything, it seems like ages away.
Well, GCSE mocks force us to get started. They make us realise how much work we have to put in. We start to think about revising and planning our time so that we can be better placed for the final exams.
6. Start taking action
In line with motivating you, GCSE mocks forces you to take action. For example, if you are aiming for a level 7 in science but only got a grade 5 in your mocks, you start to think about all the things you can do to achieve your target grade. Maybe you need to spend an extra 30 minutes a day revising science, or you might attend after school catch-up sessions if your school offers them; perhaps you need a tutor. Whatever the case may be, if you really want to achieve a certain grade then you’ll make it happen.
7. Predicted Grades Count
With the removal of coursework and controlled assignments from many subjects in the 9-1 curriculum, mock exams are now more important than ever. Your performance at GCSE will come almost entirely from the final exam. So, it’s important that you plan and revise for your mocks as the results would be a good indication of your final results in July. If you are aiming for top grades, doing well in your mocks will confirm to your teachers that you are capable. They will then do everything they can to help put you on the right track to achieving those grades.
GCSE Mocks: Final Thoughts
As much as GCSE mocks may seem like a nuisance, they are actually really important. They give you a kick up the bum to get started and help you identify where you should focus more of your revision efforts. And, perhaps more importantly, they help you prepare for the ‘big’ exams. So, I encourage you to get started now, so you can develop at least one of the key points mentioned. Good luck!
