How to Use Past Papers
Most students do past papers wrongly: too late, untimed, and without marking them. All three faults are easy to correct.
The mistake almost everyone makes
Past papers are kept for the last month, worked through quickly, and never marked. The student finishes with a vague sense of having "done papers" and no idea what went wrong.
A past paper is not a test. It is a teaching instrument, and the teaching happens after you put the pen down.
How to use one paper properly
This takes about three hours in total for a full paper. Three papers used this way are worth more than fifteen worked through carelessly.
Work it under real conditions
By hand, to time, in one sitting, without notes and without your telephone. Anything else measures something other than what the examination measures.
Stop when the time stops
Draw a line where you were when the time ran out, then, if you wish, continue in a different colour. The line tells you the truth about your timing, which is information you badly need.
Leave it for a day
You cannot see your own errors an hour after writing. A day's gap makes you a much better marker of your own work.
Mark it yourself, with the guidance beside you
Use a marking scheme if one is lawfully available, or the checklists in the lessons on this site. Give yourself a mark, honestly. Being generous to yourself now is expensive later.
Write down your three biggest losses
Not every error — the three that cost the most marks. Ran out of time on the essay. Wrote a notice without a date. Answered only half of question 4.
Rewrite one answer properly
Only one. The weakest one. This single step is where nearly all the improvement happens, and it is the step almost everybody skips.
When to start
Earlier than you think. Not in the last month — from the point at which you have covered a task type.
Learnt how a notice is laid out? Do the notice question from three papers this week. That is fifteen minutes' work and it makes the learning permanent.
Save complete, timed papers for the last two months. Use individual questions from the beginning.
A term-by-term plan
| When | What to do with past papers |
|---|---|
| Early in the year | Single questions on task types you have just studied. Untimed at first, then timed. |
| Mid-year | Half papers, timed. Mark them yourself. Begin keeping a list of your recurring errors. |
| Two months before | One complete paper a fortnight, under full conditions. Mark, note three losses, rewrite one answer. |
| Final month | One complete paper a week. Revise your own marked scripts, not new material. |
| Final week | No new papers. Reread your own error list and your best answers. Sleep. |
Marking your own script honestly
Self-marking is a skill, and it can be learnt. Ask these questions of each answer in turn.
- Did I answer the question that was asked, or one close to it?
- Did I answer every part of a multi-part question?
- Is the form correct — notice, email, letter, essay, speech?
- Is the length appropriate to the marks?
- Would someone else understand my handwriting here?
- How many marks did I lose to errors I could have caught in the last ten minutes?
- Where exactly did I run out of time? — this is usually the largest single loss on the paper.
About model answers
When you compare your answer with a model, you are not looking for the same words. You are looking for the same structure.
Model answers on this site are teaching material written by RCF English. They are not official answers and they are not the only acceptable ones. Do not memorise them — a memorised answer will not fit the question you are actually asked.