The Power of Past Papers

As Spring begins exam season looms large for not only the Class of 2021 who will be taking their DP exams but also for our grade 11 students and their internal Seisen exams in June. In my opinion, the best revision resources available are past papers and mark schemes.

How can I use past papers and mark schemes effectively?

Once you have completed your revision for a specific topic do a past paper question. This could be straight away, or perhaps you might leave it until the next day, so that you can see whether your revision has sunk in. Or, you could always do both! The key is not leave past papers until you have studied every single topic you have studied over the course of the DP.  

Learn from your Mistakes

The key thing to remember with completing past papers, is what you get right doesn’t really matter. It’s all about looking at what you got wrong, and why that happened. As the excellent Study Vlogger UnJaded Jade advocates, you want to analyse these mistakes, work out what wasn’t correct, and make sure you don’t make the same errors again.

Where can I access past papers?

Past papers can be accessed via a simple Google search of file sharing sites such as Reddit however the best resource you have is your teacher. Online past papers may not be accurate, out of date or contain content that you will not be assessed on. Approach your teachers and ask for past papers and mark schemes for specific topics and they will happy to help you.

Good luck!