Why Practice Papers Make Great Prep: Revision
In order for revision to be effective and useful, students need to be fully engaging with the learning and knowledge of a subject. They need to be thinking deeply.
Too often, teens fall into the ‘trap’ of thinking that going through books and notes with a highlighter is their revision done and dusted! It’s not. There’s nothing wrong with this, of course, but in order for it to be a useful strategy, students should really be ‘doing something’ with the information that they have highlighted.
This is where practice exam papers can make great preparation for real exams, and can also be a beneficial form of revision. Past papers will present students with realistic questions and contexts to put their present knowledge to the test. Students are required to think hard- and think deeply- about what they are comfortable answering. They can, therefore, pinpoint any areas where they might be stuck, too.
By giving these challenging questions a go, teens have the opportunity to uncover the answers. In addition to this, it boosts your child’s confidence once they have tackled a tricky question! By using a revision provider, such as ours, your teen can have further assurance that subject specialists are there on hand to help! We can guide them through challenging topics or tasks.
During our revision courses, students will be given opportunities to thoroughly look over exam style questions. We can help to equip your teenager with ways to address the exam papers, and give them time to tackle questions that they might avoid if left to their own devices!
Another reason to use practice exam papers as revision is for the practical elements. Giving these tests a realistic go will give your teen a chance to check out their timing; check out their work length; and assess whether anything leaves them feeling stumped! Again, these are all issues we try to conquer during our revision courses. We can give your student advice for their exams and our knowledgeable experts can ‘walk-through’ papers and expectations with your teen.
For students who are able to, they may want to use their practice answers to self-assess. This means that they could further their revision through activities that cause them to reflect on what they have written. Your teen could try and give their own work a mark, or your teen could try and improve their written answer a second time around. They could edit their answer to make it better, for example. This is also the sort of task we provide as practice on our courses, so your teen can come to us to learn some of these strategies effectively!
Finally: ‘Practise makes perfect!’
Well, you can’t really argue that one when it comes to examinations. Practising them can only be a positive thing.
Join one of our easter revision courses for help with revision from experienced school teachers.