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Cooked for Mocks??

School is starting back in like a few weeks and I've got my GCSE mocks that I've only started to revise for. I struggle to sit down and study to teach myself. In class I'm fine to do to so but when i'm at home and it's independent work it's so much harder. So far my study timetable has been okay with following it.
Overall, any and all pieces of advice would be useful but more importantly AM I COOKED?

Reply 1

Original post
by Lolathecat
School is starting back in like a few weeks and I've got my GCSE mocks that I've only started to revise for. I struggle to sit down and study to teach myself. In class I'm fine to do to so but when i'm at home and it's independent work it's so much harder. So far my study timetable has been okay with following it.
Overall, any and all pieces of advice would be useful but more importantly AM I COOKED?


You’re not cooked. Lots of people only start revising a few weeks before mocks and still do well, as long as they fix their habits now. Focus on making it easier to start (use the 5-minute rule, keep a dedicated study space ready, and put your phone away), switch to active revision (past papers, blurting, explaining topics out loud) instead of just rereading notes, and work in short 20–25 minute sessions with 5-minute breaks so studying feels doable instead of overwhelming. Aim for 1or 2 priority tasks per day rather than huge sessions, use mocks as feedback, not judgment, and remember the goal isn’t perfect motivation, it’s consistent, tiny starts that add up fast. You’ve got time, and you can absolutely turn this around. 💪
Mocks don't matter

Revise for the real thing now, not for the mock.
There are no certificates or qualifications awarded for results of a mock exam. The same cannot be said for May and June - start looking towards those now. Eyes on the Prize.

Reply 3

Original post
by 04MR17
Mocks don't matter
Revise for the real thing now, not for the mock.
There are no certificates or qualifications awarded for results of a mock exam. The same cannot be said for May and June - start looking towards those now. Eyes on the Prize.

I disagree - mocks are important to show you where you need to improve for the summer using the analysis as an assessment FOR learning.
Used properly they are a great tool for me - the teacher - to highlight class areas of weakneess and plan revision to address those and for individual students to see the topics they are weaker in. By traffic lighting topics, improvement can be rapid.
Original post
by Muttley79
I disagree - mocks are important to show you where you need to improve for the summer using the analysis as an assessment FOR learning.
Used properly they are a great tool for me - the teacher - to highlight class areas of weakneess and plan revision to address those and for individual students to see the topics they are weaker in. By traffic lighting topics, improvement can be rapid.


I'd describe that as helpful, rather than important.

I would rather my students are revising now for their May and June exams and use the mocks as a checkpoint along the way. Rather than aiming solely for a mock exam and concentrating far too much on the result of it. The poor messaging from my school doesn't help with this focus, because the main goal of our leadership team seems to be just harvesting data to then tell staff to work harder to improve.

Reply 5

Original post
by 04MR17
I'd describe that as helpful, rather than important.
I would rather my students are revising now for their May and June exams and use the mocks as a checkpoint along the way. Rather than aiming solely for a mock exam and concentrating far too much on the result of it. The poor messaging from my school doesn't help with this focus, because the main goal of our leadership team seems to be just harvesting data to then tell staff to work harder to improve.
Maybe it's different for your subject but analysing each students mock papers is vital for improving students final grades in mine [maths].

I first started this many years ago and found my class improved more than other classes did from their mocks. So it was shared with other teachers - it works brilliantly.

We don't have an SLT with that focus thank goodness.

Reply 6

Original post
by Lolathecat
School is starting back in like a few weeks and I've got my GCSE mocks that I've only started to revise for. I struggle to sit down and study to teach myself. In class I'm fine to do to so but when i'm at home and it's independent work it's so much harder. So far my study timetable has been okay with following it.
Overall, any and all pieces of advice would be useful but more importantly AM I COOKED?

ok so im in year 11 aswell and ive got my mocks in a week (ah!) and i only just started revising too. i know this isnt ideal to hear but i find with last minute revision its easier to just work online using special websites rather than just copying notes from like savemyexams or anything. personally what im doing is for sciences im doing medly + cognito (THIS COMBO IS SO GOOD BTW I RECOMMEND) and then for maths just lots of ppq and drfrost/sparx. business and rs is also a medly matter but i am just going to read over my textbooks and stuff and just focus on the quotes for rs as im not focusing on those as much as my other subjects. Im also watching youtube videos at night as i seem to absorb them so much better at night i have no idea why.... then for english lots of quizlets, and just reading lots of top mark responses and practicing. i also like to make little notes and mindmaps for the anthology texts and characters for literature (i do of mice and men) but i feel like english is something you should worry about much too because at the end of the day you can just make it up and as long as it somehow makes sense youll get the mark lol. but i TOTALLY recommend medly+cognito. Loads of people think Medly is overhyped but im not even kidding i went from 60-70% to 85-100% in my tests most averaging 90 so i totally recommend its insane. also this is so weird but make a study tiktok account or instagram account and make sure youre feed is just purely educational stuff like its weird but SO MOTIVATING and actually makes studying feel less of a chore ngl! there is also this site called markmeai for english essays its not free but i dont use it as i do IGCSE and thats not supported yet. but if you do gcse it looks really good so maybe try that out!

Reply 7

Original post
by havanaoonaana
ok so im in year 11 aswell and ive got my mocks in a week (ah!) and i only just started revising too. i know this isnt ideal to hear but i find with last minute revision its easier to just work online using special websites rather than just copying notes from like savemyexams or anything. personally what im doing is for sciences im doing medly + cognito (THIS COMBO IS SO GOOD BTW I RECOMMEND) and then for maths just lots of ppq and drfrost/sparx. business and rs is also a medly matter but i am just going to read over my textbooks and stuff and just focus on the quotes for rs as im not focusing on those as much as my other subjects. Im also watching youtube videos at night as i seem to absorb them so much better at night i have no idea why.... then for english lots of quizlets, and just reading lots of top mark responses and practicing. i also like to make little notes and mindmaps for the anthology texts and characters for literature (i do of mice and men) but i feel like english is something you should worry about much too because at the end of the day you can just make it up and as long as it somehow makes sense youll get the mark lol. but i TOTALLY recommend medly+cognito. Loads of people think Medly is overhyped but im not even kidding i went from 60-70% to 85-100% in my tests most averaging 90 so i totally recommend its insane. also this is so weird but make a study tiktok account or instagram account and make sure youre feed is just purely educational stuff like its weird but SO MOTIVATING and actually makes studying feel less of a chore ngl! there is also this site called markmeai for english essays its not free but i dont use it as i do IGCSE and thats not supported yet. but if you do gcse it looks really good so maybe try that out! if you want my tiktok u can dm me any questions? :smile:

oh and forgot to mention the 25-5-25-5 method is so good. i do one topic in two blocks, each block 25mins with a 5 min break, and take a 10-20 min break in between each session (2 blocks). its great!

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