The Student Room Group

Are CGP past papers good?

I'm quite new to this revising properly thing, i normally cram the night before:colondollar:
But as this is the real deal, I've decided to revise properly, i went out and bought a batch of CGP past papers, and theyre really confusing me.
They contain 2 core papers, 2 higher papers, and an exam paper from each board, however none of the papers contain more than 9 questions or so, and im really not sure if I should do the core papers if I'm doing higher tier? I also reckon that some topics have been missed out.

So anyway, does anyone else have experience with these papers? Are they any good or am i wasting my time?

And also i know some people print off past papers but doesnt that use ridiculous amounts of paper? Though i suppose if thats the best way...

Thankyou :biggrin:
Reply 1
Original post by BenjyK

Original post by BenjyK
I'm quite new to this revising properly thing, i normally cram the night before:colondollar:
But as this is the real deal, I've decided to revise properly, i went out and bought a batch of CGP past papers, and theyre really confusing me.
They contain 2 core papers, 2 higher papers, and an exam paper from each board, however none of the papers contain more than 9 questions or so, and im really not sure if I should do the core papers if I'm doing higher tier? I also reckon that some topics have been missed out.

So anyway, does anyone else have experience with these papers? Are they any good or am i wasting my time?

And also i know some people print off past papers but doesnt that use ridiculous amounts of paper? Though i suppose if thats the best way...

Thankyou :biggrin:


You've failed to mention the subject. I did two different sets of six CGP maths papers, and whilst the more recent, Edexcel papers were not challenging, they accurately resembled the real deal. The others were significantly harder (not that it made a huge difference), but they were also the older ones, and weren't particularly similar to current Edexcel maths papers.

Overall, I'd say both sets of papers were decent preparation.
Reply 2
Original post by und
You've failed to mention the subject. I did two different sets of six CGP maths papers, and whilst the more recent, Edexcel papers were not challenging, they accurately resembled the real deal. The others were significantly harder (not that it made a huge difference), but they were also the older ones, and weren't particularly similar to current Edexcel maths papers.

Overall, I'd say both sets of papers were decent preparation.


Oh woops, i bought the science ones, so Biology, Chemistry and Physics, i also bought the maths pack which i havent opened yet as i planned to take it back, but are you saying that those papers are adequate preparation?
Reply 3
Original post by BenjyK

Original post by BenjyK
Oh woops, i bought the science ones, so Biology, Chemistry and Physics, i also bought the maths pack which i havent opened yet as i planned to take it back, but are you saying that those papers are adequate preparation?


It depends on which ones they are. What does it say on the front?
Reply 4

Original post by und
It depends on which ones they are. What does it say on the front?


It says: GCSE Mathematics, Practice exam papers, Higher Level, then underneath it says: Great Value Pack contains: Three full sets of GCSE Practice papers, Answer book with marks scheme and hint, Formual sheet (113 pages in all)
Reply 5
Original post by BenjyK

Original post by BenjyK
It says: GCSE Mathematics, Practice exam papers, Higher Level, then underneath it says: Great Value Pack contains: Three full sets of GCSE Practice papers, Answer book with marks scheme and hint, Formual sheet (113 pages in all)


What's the date and exam set at the bottom?

I've got the First Edition (for 2005 and beyond), Exam Set MHRP41. It's quite good - a lot harder than the actual Edexcel exams.
Reply 6

Original post by und
What's the date and exam set at the bottom?

I've got the First Edition (for 2005 and beyond), Exam Set MHRP41. It's quite good - a lot harder than the actual Edexcel exams.


Mines MHRP42, but I've actually opened it and its different to the science papers, looks much more like what i expected so I'm going to keep them and a friends giving me some reliable science practice papers. Thanks alot for the help, i appreciate it :h:
Reply 7
What's wrong with the science papers? I'm on AQA, and our exams have 7-9 questions on average. Don't bother with the Lower Tier ones though: they probably won't challenge you at all.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 8

Original post by und
What's wrong with the science papers? I'm on AQA, and our exams have 7-9 questions on average. Don't bother with the Lower Tier ones though: they probably won't challenge you at all.


But I'm on OCR, and I'm non modular i do 2 testpapers containing 3 modules each, which normally have about 13 questions, the CGP papers dont have that.
Reply 9
CGP papers are good for practicing and making sure you have all the knowledge. I prefer to do all sorts of papers from all sorts of different book publishers and maybe even different boards, just so I know that I have seen questions from different angles and so I can be confident that I've got all the knowledge.
:smile:
Reply 10
CGP are immense!

In terms of printing, use old paper like old drafts or coursework and stuff and/or print on the reverse sides of practice papers you've completed.

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