How do you get ready for your mocks and use them well?
How to get ready for GCSE and A-Level mocks: what they cover, a 4, 2 or 1 week revision plan, timing on the day, and how to turn your results into a plan.
Find out exactly which papers, topics and tier each mock covers, then spend the weeks you have testing yourself on your weakest topics instead of rereading notes. Sit at least one full paper with a timer before the real mock, so the pace on the day is familiar. When results come back, sort every lost mark by its cause and turn the causes into your next revision list. Mock grades aren't on your certificate, but schools use them for predicted grades, tier entry and sixth-form offers.
When are your mocks?
There is no national mock week. Each school sets its own dates, so your school calendar and your teachers are the only reliable source. Government guidance asks schools and colleges to make sure students sit mock exams in exam conditions before the real exams, and encourages them to hold those assessments in the first half of the academic year where possible. For Year 11 that usually means a round in late autumn or winter, and some schools add a second round in the spring. A-Level students often sit end-of-year exams in Year 12 and mocks in Year 13. Find the date of every paper, because the order tells you which subjects to revise first.
Mock grades are not qualifications and they don't appear on your certificate. A tutoring company's review of how mocks are used says a mock grade “carries no official status anywhere in the exams system”. Schools still use them to make decisions about you.
Predicted grades: teachers use mocks, alongside class tests and other work, when they predict your grades.
Sixth-form and college offers: many sixth forms make offers in Year 11 based on predicted GCSE grades, then confirm them when real results arrive in August.
Tier entry: in tiered subjects such as maths and the sciences, a Foundation entry means the highest grade available is a 5.
Sets and support: schools use mocks to decide sets, booster groups and who gets extra help.
For A-Level, the decision that matters most is your UCAS predicted grades. UCAS asks schools to base predictions on evidence such as past performance, internal assessments and current work, and to finalise them before your application is sent. That timing means your Year 12 assessments can count for as much as your Year 13 mocks, and sometimes more. Ask your school which assessments it uses for predictions, and when.
Ask each teacher three questions: which papers you will sit, which topics they cover, and which tier you are entered for. Schools often set a past paper or one built from past questions. If you haven't finished the course, a mock may cover only the topics taught so far. The format usually copies the real exam. AQA GCSE Maths, for example, is three papers of 1 hour 30 minutes and 80 marks each, the first without a calculator, set at Foundation tier (grades 1 to 5) or Higher tier (grades 4 to 9). AQA A-level Biology is three two-hour papers. Check your own board's specification for the number of papers, their length and their marks.
List every topic in each mock and rate it red, amber or green from evidence, such as a quiz score, rather than a feeling. Red topics get the most time. With eight to ten GCSE subjects you can't revise everything equally, so give more sessions to subjects with the most papers and the reddest topics. Then pick the plan below that matches the time you have. Each one runs on the same loop: test yourself, check, fix, and test again a few days later. The shorter plans cover fewer topics with the same method. At A-Level you have fewer subjects and longer papers, so give each subject more sessions a week and include at least one long-answer question in every subject each week.
Mock revision plan for 4 weeks, 2 weeks or 1 week left
Time left
What to do that week
By the end of the week
4 weeks: week 1
Find out the papers, topics and tier for every mock. Rate each topic red, amber or green from a quiz or exam questions. Start testing yourself on red topics in your biggest subjects.
A topic list for each subject, weakest topics at the top.
4 weeks: week 2
Test yourself on red and amber topics with flashcards, blank-page recall and exam questions by topic. Go back to week 1's topics after a few days.
Every red topic tested at least once, with mistakes written down.
4 weeks: week 3
Sit one full timed paper in each main subject. Mark it strictly with the mark scheme and sort lost marks by cause. Keep testing the topics it showed up.
A timed paper done and reviewed in each main subject.
4 weeks: final week
Short daily sessions: redo questions you got wrong, retest red topics, practise command words. Check your timetable, paper numbers and equipment. Protect your sleep.
You know your pace per mark and what each paper covers.
2 weeks: week 1
Get the topic lists and rate them in the first two days. Spend the rest of the week testing yourself on red topics only, two or three subjects a day.
Red topics tested once in every subject.
2 weeks: final week
Sit one timed paper or section in your two or three biggest subjects. Retest the topics from week 1 and redo every question you got wrong.
Timing practised and red topics tested twice.
1 week
Pick the two or three topics per subject most likely to cost you marks. Test, check and fix them, then retest two days later. Do one timed section per main subject. Sleep.
Your worst gaps narrowed, and a list of what to fix after the mock.
Test yourself instead of rereading. The psychologist John Dunlosky reviewed the research on common study strategies and, writing for teachers, says his team rated two as the most effective: practice testing, and distributed practice, which means spreading study out over time. He calls the evidence for spreading study out “overwhelming”, and lists rereading and highlighting among the less useful strategies that students use a lot. Practice testing means anything that makes you pull an answer from memory: flashcards, a blank-page brain dump, or exam questions with your notes shut. Dunlosky says students benefit most from tests that require recall from memory, and he advises that students “continue testing themselves, with feedback, until they correctly recall each concept at least once from memory”. Checking your answer each time is part of the method. Spacing matters as much as testing. Come back to each red topic after a few days, then again a week later. Dunlosky calls cramming a tactic “practically all students use”; spreading the same hours over several weeks is the better use of them.
Why should you practise a mock under timed conditions?
Knowing the content and finishing the paper in time are separate skills. Before the real mock, sit at least one full paper in each main subject with a timer, notes away and phone in another room, then mark it strictly with the mark scheme. You find out where your time goes and which question types you skip. Past papers from your board are the obvious place to start. For a paper you haven't seen, marked for you, Revise Right runs free mocks. They are original practice papers written by Revise Right, timed, and marked by AI against a mark scheme. They are not exam-board papers and they are not examiner-approved, so treat the result as practice. Your results show your score as a percentage, an estimated grade worked out from last summer's grade boundaries, and a topic-by-topic breakdown of where you lost marks. The next free round is in December, so if your school's mocks are in January you can sit one first and use the breakdown to plan your revision over the holidays. Check the mocks page for which subjects, boards and tiers are open.
Work out your pace before you go in. AQA GCSE Maths papers give you 90 minutes for 80 marks, and AQA GCSE Biology papers 105 minutes for 100 marks, so at GCSE about a minute per mark is a good rule, with a few minutes left to check. AQA A-level Biology papers give 120 minutes for 91 marks, so you have a little longer per mark. If one question is eating your time, mark it, move on and come back to it. Read the command word before you write anything. AQA's definitions are a good guide. “Describe” asks you to recall facts, events or a process accurately. “Explain” asks you to make something clear, or state the reasons for something happening. “Compare” means the similarities and differences between things, “not just write about one”. “Give” and “name” need only a short answer. Check your own board's list for each subject before the mock.
Check the paper number, tier and equipment the night before, including whether that paper allows a calculator.
Use the marks as a guide to length: a two-mark question needs two clear points.
Leave no blanks. A best attempt can pick up some marks, and an empty space gets none.
How is your mock grade worked out?
A mock grade is an estimate. Your school marks the paper with the mark scheme and then usually applies grade boundaries from a past exam series. Ofqual explains that new grade boundaries are set each year to reflect the difficulty of each paper, so the boundaries used for your mock may not match the ones used for your real exam. Mock grades can also come out lower than your final grade for other reasons: you may not have finished the course, and you have had months less time to revise. Treat the grade as a snapshot of where you are now. Revise Right mocks work the same way. Your percentage is turned into an estimated grade using last summer's grade boundaries for that board and subject, and it is shown as an estimate.
How do you turn mock results into a revision plan?
The grade is the least useful part of a mock. Go through every mark you lost and give it one cause: knowledge, technique, timing or misreading. Each cause has a different fix.
Knowledge: you didn't know it. Relearn the topic, then test yourself until you can recall it without notes.
Technique: you knew it but answered the wrong command word or gave too few points. Practise that question type and check the command word every time.
Timing: you ran out of time. Sit sections against the clock and practise moving on from a stuck question.
Misreading: you answered a different question. Underline what the question asks before you answer, and reread it when you finish.
Turn the knowledge gaps into a topic list, biggest first, and put it into your timetable. A week or two later, redo the questions you lost marks on from a blank page. If you get them right, the fix worked. If not, the topic goes back on the list. At A-Level, also talk to your teachers early if a mock result might affect your predicted grades, and ask what evidence they will use next.
Sources
John Dunlosky, “Strengthening the Student Toolbox”, American Educator (2013): A cognitive psychologist's review of study strategies: practice testing and distributed practice rated most effective, rereading and highlighting less useful. GOV.UK: guidance on collecting evidence of student performance to ensure resilience in the qualifications system: Asks schools and colleges to make sure students sit mocks in exam conditions, ideally in the first half of the academic year. Leading Tuition: what GCSE mock grades are actually used for (September 2026): A tutoring company's review of the school decisions a mock grade feeds, such as tier entry, predicted grades and sixth-form offers. Ofqual: what you need to know before your exams (student guide, 2026): The grades available on Foundation and Higher tier GCSE papers. AQA GCSE Mathematics 8300: specification at a glance: Three papers of 1 hour 30 minutes and 80 marks, calculator rules, and the grades on each tier. AQA GCSE Biology 8461: specification at a glance: Two papers of 1 hour 45 minutes and 100 marks, at Foundation and Higher tier. AQA A-level Biology 7402: specification at a glance: Three two-hour papers worth 91, 91 and 78 marks. AQA: command words: AQA's own definitions of describe, explain, compare, give, name and the other command words. Ofqual: GCSE 9 to 1 grade scale explained: How the numbered grades work and why grade boundaries are set fresh each year. Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School sixth form: admissions: An example of a sixth form that makes Year 11 offers on predicted GCSE grades and confirms them with real results in August. UCAS: predicted grades, what you need to know: UCAS's definition of a predicted grade, the evidence schools should base it on, and when it must be finalised.
About four weeks before gives you time to test every weak topic, come back to it, and sit a timed paper in each main subject. Starting earlier lets you spread the same work out, which the research on spacing supports. If your mocks are in January, start before the Christmas holidays so the break can go on timed papers and your weakest topics.
Can I revise for mocks in a week?
Yes, if you narrow it down. Find the two or three topics in each subject most likely to cost you marks, test yourself on them with your notes shut, fix what you get wrong and test again two days later. Do one timed section per main subject so the pace on the day is familiar. Whatever you can't cover, the mock will show you, which is part of its job.
Do sixth forms or universities see mock results?
Mostly they see what your mocks feed into. Many sixth forms make offers in Year 11 based on predicted GCSE grades, which your teachers set using evidence that includes mocks, and confirm those offers when real results arrive in August. Universities see the predicted grades your school adds to your UCAS application. UCAS asks schools to base those on evidence such as internal assessments, and a mock is one of them.
What if I fail my mocks?
A failed mock doesn't go on your certificate and doesn't decide your final grade, which comes from the real exams. It shows you where the gaps are while there is still time to fix them. Ask your teachers what the result means for your predicted grade and, in maths and the sciences, your tier. Then sort your lost marks by cause and work through the topic list.