How do you revise from past papers?

Do you just answer the questions??? My cousin told me that for her GCSEs, all she did was revise from past papers. btw, she aced her GCSEs. But how can you ONLY revise from them? What's wrong with just using a textbook?

If you have any methods, please post below on how you use them exactly for efficient revision, coz at the moment I think i'm using them wrong as i am not finding it a particularly helpful method

1. Do it
2. Mark it
3. Start again from 1. for the next past paper (stop when all are done)
4. Take exam

A useful addition to this (in my experience for A levels) is to write down/make a note of questions that you struggled with or had an interesting method of solution. Then you can re-do just those questions before the exam (as you've got all the other ones right mostly) and maximise efficiency. This is more relevant for A levels than GCSEs. I did very few past papers for GCSEs, instead I personally chose to go through revision guides, write down anything I didn't know/was unsure of in a condensed structured format. And then memorise this (usually a few pages of notes per module) the day before the exam.

I generally find that once you've come across a particularly interesting method for answering a question, it is easy to remember the method.
edit: GCSE questions don't have interesting methods, it is the same year on year.

True, the advice was more applicable to A level I suppose (and even then, mostly to maths).

To be honest, even A-level maths doesn't have that many interesting questions/solutions.
Your advice is applicable to A2 further maths or harder (if they can't remember the methods).

Yeah I had Core 3 in mind really. That was a killer module. C4 didn't have anything interesting in it, so I found that much easier. Of course, it's nothing like STEP...

Which board are you with? I'm with AQA.

A couple of the C3 substitutions would have fallen in that category, but even then it's only a couple of questions ever. I can remember 1 FP1 question and 1 M1 question that would have also been in that category. You're right C4 doesn't have any specifically difficult questions.

FP2 and more so FP3-4 are much better and more often have complicated solutions.

Of course STEP is where this really happens. Every question is of that style and requires a lot of thought/good methods to solve it.

OCR, they always had some really weird questions that were phrased somewhat weirdly in C3. I'm not sure if it was the phrasing or their method I found tough tbh, but I'd agree that there's very little that can't be done with rote learning, yes. Ugh, STEP is disgustingly awful. But it feels amazing when you get it right, and I occasionally catch myself enjoying it...

I've been enjoying STEP from the start, but it is so difficult. It does feel amazing when you get it right and I think we will get used to it. I had the best day in a long time last week when I got two questions out in 40 minutes. I still usually struggle to get one out each hour.
What is your STEP offer? Which ones are you doing?

1 and 2 in II and III. Why did I pick Cambridge's CS with maths...CS with physics would've bene so much easier to meet the offer
Holy crap two questions in 40 mins is really good I usually get about one an hour.

I'm doing I-III too. I don't have an offer in it, but I'm taking it partially for the fun of it and partially because it might help me get into Bath or Warwick.

O.o Fair enough, best of luck.

She is probably lying/very bright/exaggerating.

Textbooks are not to be avoided as they're very important

For past papers:
1. Revise like normal
2. Do the paper
3. Check your answers
4. Learn where you made mistakes
5. Learn how the exam will be set out
6. Alter your answers