Provincial Papers

These papers are set by provincial departments of education. They follow the same national syllabus as the examination, but they are written by different people - and that is exactly what makes them useful.

A student who has only ever practised on papers from one source learns that source's habits: its favourite question types, its phrasing, the order it puts things in. The examination will not share those habits. Meeting the same content asked differently, several times, is what makes a student steady on the day.

Papers from a province other than your own are not harder or easier in any systematic way; they are simply written by another hand.

• Use them for unfamiliar phrasing. When a question you know the answer to is worded in a way you have not seen, that discomfort is the practice. Note the wording rather than the answer.
• Work across provinces deliberately in the last two months, one paper from each, rather than three from the same province.
• Check the year against your syllabus before using an older provincial paper, as with any paper on this site.
• Mark against the official marking schemes where one exists for the equivalent national paper, so your standard does not drift.