How to get the most out of your mocks

If you or your child has mock exams coming up you're probably wondering, to some extent, ‘What's the point?'

In this post I'm going to share with you how you can get the most out of your mocks so that they become an important part of your preparation for the ‘real-thing' next summer.

How to get the most out of your mocks

1. Treat them as a learning experience

Mocks are a great way to learn about what works for you in terms of exam preparation, and also a great time to experiment with new revision techniques and revision plans.

As you're preparing for your mocks think about:

• Which revision techniques are working for you and which aren't. Change them up as you go if you don't think that they're working.
• What revision schedule works best for you. How long can you work for before you need to take a break? How many hours can you do, sustainably, in a day?
• What activities do you need to do when you're not revising to make your revision even better? These might range from social activities, to sleep, hobbies and sport.

When mocks are over, do an exam season review to see how you can improve next time around.

2. Treat them as the real thing

In some ways, this seems contradictory to treating them as a learning experience, but hear me out.

If you treat your mocks like the real thing then you get a much clearer understanding of how much you can get out of yourself when you really put your mind to it, as well as the kinds of grades you can aspire to. You will also have a more realistic idea of what you need to do when the real things come around and what you can expect from yourself so that you're better able to prepare and pace yourself.

3. Focus on the feedback

When teachers hand back work to students that has a grade or a mark on it, as well as lots of detailed feedback, students have a tendency to focus on the mark rather than the feedback.

The grade you get in your mocks really doesn't matter. It's how well you understand and implement the feedback that matters. So, whether you teacher gives you written or verbal feedback take it on board, make sure you know what your targets and next steps are and keep moving forward so that you get a better grade in the summer.

Do you need some help getting your mocks revision kickstarted?

If so, I've got a live workshop that you'll love. It's called the Revision Planning Kickstarter. During the two hour online workshop you will:

• Learn how to create a personalised revision plan for your mocks that works for you, that you can also replicate for your real exams
• Identify which revision techniques work for your brain, and which ones you should consign to the dustbin because they're a waste of your time
• How to continue the revision habit after your mocks in a sustainable way
• And lots more…

If you'd like to find out more and book your place, click here.