here's how to use past papers effectively... from a top student

Not using past papers effectively could be what's holding you back from getting top grades. Hi I’m Somya and today I’ll be sharing 8 Tips that helped me get 9s at GCSE and 4A*s at A Levels

Timestamps:
00:00 the most important tip
01:49 make corrections using mark scheme
03:10 the 2 ways of using past papers
04:10 how to approach questions
04:48 an underrated piece of advice
06:10 when the answer doesn't make sense...
07:38 2 goldmines of information
08:48 tip 8

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Transcript

the most important tip

0:00 · not using past papers effectively could be what's holding you back from getting those top grades. Hi, I'm Somia and today I'll be sharing eight tips to make sure that you're using past papers effectively. And these tips also help me get all nines at GCSE in four A stars at A levels. Let's not waste anyone's time.

0:14 · The first tip is the most important one.

0:15 · Lots of students when they finish a question and begin looking at the mark scheme, one of two things happen. The first is that they read the mark scheme, realize they've got the question correct, and then move on to the next question. And the second thing that they do is that they realize they've actually got the question wrong, have a brief look at the mark scheme, and then move on to the next question. Doing either of those two things is stopping you from improving. The first step I've got for you is to thoroughly check the mark scheme after every question, regardless of if you got that question right or wrong. Something that you need to understand is that the examiners can only ask you a certain number of questions.

0:46 · And you'll realize this because when you go through lots of past papers, you'll find that similar questions crop up. So if you actually spend time analyzing and learning from the mark scheme for every single question you answer that will help you answer similar questions in the future because it's likely in the next paper that you answer a similar question will come up and if you've already learned the mark scheme for that type of question then you should get four marks because all you need to do is remember that mark scheme and write it down. So whenever you read through mark schemes you want to compare your answer carefully with the mark scheme.

1:17 · You want to be looking closely at any underlined words or any comments on the side. Look at every single line and learn from it.

1:26 · Especially when you get a question wrong, you want to ask yourself, why was my answer missing marks? How does the correct answer make sense? What key points did I overlook? And the most important thing is to not move on to the next question. Unless you're confident that yes, I've fully understood this question and its mark scheme. And more importantly, if I saw the question on my exam, then I'm confident that I get full marks for it because I've seen the mark scheme and I've understood it. Tip two lies along with tip one, and it will help you remember where you went wrong with the questions.

make corrections using mark scheme

1:53 · Once you've used the mark scheme to identify where you've went wrong, you want to be making corrections or additional notes and flashcards on the bits of the mark scheme that you missed. This is crucial because simply knowing that you've made a mistake isn't enough. You want to be actively fixing it. After every single question, use tip one and find what bits of the mark scheme you either missed or didn't even know. And I'd write down those bulletpoints from the mark scheme directly into my notes in a different color. This helped me remember that information for next time.

2:21 · And in fact, sometimes when I read a mark scheme, I realized that my notes and what I learned is actually incorrect, like an incorrect chemical equation, for example. So this was my chance to actually crack that information in my notes. If you don't make notes, then maybe just making additional flashcards on the bits of information you got wrong or make additional separate notes of just a list of your mistakes that you made in the past paper. And then you can have a read of that before your exam to help refresh yourself of your mistakes so you don't make them when it matters most. The process of writing down your mistakes helps drill that information in your memory.

2:52 · And when you see a similar question in the future, you remember, oh wait, I've actually answered this question before and I learned from where I went wrong. And I remember that I actually wrote it down in my notes. And this link between previous questions, actually understanding a mark scheme, and the link with writing it down helps you to remember and recall that information. And when it comes to using past papers, you need to know that there's two main ways to approach them, and both have their benefits. First, there's timed practice. This is where you sit down in exam conditions, set yourself a timer, and complete the entire paper within that time that you're allowed.

the 2 ways of using past papers

3:24 · No distractions, no breaks, just like the real exam. After you finish the paper, check your answers with the mark scheme. Time practice is perfect if you want to improve your exam pacing or get used to the pressure of the real thing. On the other hand, you could also practice question by question. This is where you answer the question, check the mark scheme, understand it using tip one and tip two, and then move on to the next question and repeat that cycle. Using this method helps you to fully understand each question and learn from your mistakes as you go along the paper using tip two.

3:51 · I personally used that last method for 90% of my past papers because I was confident in myself with the timing and I just wanted to focus on mastering the content and learning the mark schemes.

4:03 · Regardless of whatever method you choose, using all eight of these tips in this video will help you to use past papers effectively so you can get top grades. The fourth tip to using past papers is that you need to know how to approach each question. The first and most important thing is to read the question carefully. By now you should be familiar with the command words like describe, explain, and evaluate. These words tell you exactly what the examiners want. In terms of actually answering the question for non-essay subjects, I'd recommend using bullet points. So, if the question is three marks, you want to write down at least three bullet points.

how to approach questions

4:32 · This makes it easier for the examiner to spot your key ideas, and it's easier for them to give you those marks. And for essay subjects, kind of blurt out all the relevant things you could talk about in your essay and order your points in a sensible order. I'd recommend keeping your plan in bullet points as well. And one of the most effective ways to use past papers, which I don't see many people doing, is to keep a track of the topics that you're struggling with.

an underrated piece of advice

4:54 · Every time you get a question wrong or you find a question that's actually tricky for you, you want to be making a note of what topic was tested on in that question. This creates a clear list of your weak spots, which is important because now you can see and show to yourself actually these are the topics that I'm bad at. And what most students do is that they never actually go back and review these topics. they feel like they've covered all the content now and all they need to do is spam past papers.

5:19 · But if you're not working on your weaknesses, you're never going to improve. Instead, with any weak topics that you find, you want to be setting time aside, maybe at the weekend, to review those topics. I'd recommend to first relearn these topics, either using videos, textbooks, or revision guides.

5:34 · Use whatever works for you, but I definitely recommend to use a different resource to the one you used to actually initially revise that subject. So for science, I used physics and math tutor to make my notes. And if I found a weak topic in a past paper, then instead of using physics and math tutor, I'd use a video to relearn that topic. And then I'd recommend making some more notes or flashcards on that topic using this new resource. And then the third step would be to answer more practice questions just on that topic to see if you have actually improved.

6:01 · And by going through these topics again and again, you're making your weaknesses into strengths, making you more well-rounded to approach any question that they throw at you. Tip six helps with tip one. I've told you to spend time to understand mark scheme, but sometimes the mark scheme just doesn't make sense to you. I remember that physics and biology were quite notorious for this where they'd have like a list of steps or a list of waffle in biology and I'd spend like 10 minutes reading it and it just never clicked.

when the answer doesn't make sense...

6:29 · When a mark scheme in a past paper doesn't make sense to you, there's two options for you. The first is to use pass paper walkthroughs on YouTube.

6:36 · These are videos where someone goes through the questions and mark scheme step by step, explaining what examiners are actually looking for and how to approach each question. Watching walkthroughs helps you to see how to apply the mark scheme to the questions, making it easier to understand why certain points in the mark scheme gives you marks and why certain things don't.

6:54 · And the second thing you can do is to ask your teachers for help. Especially for essay subjects where the mark scheme may not have specific points that give you marks, you can write down a full answer, give it to your teacher, and ask them to mark it for you. and you can ask them when you get it back, where can I improve? And it's kind of their job to help you. So, first of all, make the most of them. And two, don't be afraid to admit that you're struggling with a particular topic or question. They are there to help you.

7:16 · And one quick bonus tip for you, for essay subjects, you want to be looking at grade nine or a star examples on YouTube or on the internet in general and try to steal things that they're doing or using specific phrases that they're using or just have a look at the way that they're writing the essay. And also consider asking your friends for advice in any subjects that they're doing well in and the same subject that you're doing worse in. And tip seven is an actual gold mine of information that's written by the people who actually mark your papers.

2 goldmines of information

7:43 · And many students don't even know about them or don't even use them. If you go onto the exam board's website, there's two things I want you to be aware of.

7:50 · The first is the specification. This is everything they want you to learn literally set out in bullet points. So this way you know exactly what to learn and what you don't need to learn. And two is the examiner's report. These reports reveal what students commonly get wrong and explain exactly what examiners were looking for in answers.

8:06 · The examiner's reports are especially useful for essay subjects where actually understanding what the expectations were of the examiners can make a big difference. You can find the examiner's report next to the past papers and mark schemes in the assessment resources.

8:19 · Now, these reports can be quite long, so I don't expect you to read all of them.

8:23 · Instead, focus on the sections that you're struggling with or just focus on the questions that you got wrong.

8:28 · Reading these reports identifies the errors that students commonly make so that you can avoid them yourself. And if the report highlights that top students use specific terminology or essay structures, you want to be making sure that you would do the same next time.

8:41 · And a bit of a time-saving tip, you can copy specific bits of the examiner's report on AI and ask it to summarize it for you. And the final thing I wanted to mention is about your exam technique.

tip 8

8:51 · That exam technique holds lots of students back from getting top grades.

8:55 · If you want to know the five-stage process that helped me improve my exam technique, you can watch this video here.