O/A Levels & IGCSE | Past papers & mark schemes
That time of year is here again. The O/A levels & IGCSE exams are about to start in a month or two. Since it’s the peak time, it is quite normal for students to feel nervous and anxious. While preparing for the exams one must not neglect the importance of past papers and marking schemes.
Past papers are essential for revision, practicing past papers in a timer setting will help the students in preparing well for the exams and managing their time during the exam as well. Marking scheme too is essential for the students to understand so that they can plan and answer their questions accordingly.
Why are past papers and marking schemes important?
Layout of the Questions
Practicing past papers makes you acquainted with the layout of the questions. So it will save you from panicking during the exam.
Once you have an idea about how the questions will be asked and the paper pattern. You can attempt it efficiently and will easily divide your time accordingly.
Understanding the allocation of marks
By downloading a marking scheme along with each past paper you’ll get an idea about grading and have an understanding of the types of answers that can be provided for each question. You will have an idea about the marks allocated to each question and how much time should be given to each question.
Decoding the examiner’s expectations
By practicing past papers and reviewing the marking scheme side by side, you will get to know the examiners perspective to answer the questions. This gives the student an edge to understand and respond as per the examiners expectations in the actual paper.
Analyse yourself
After you have attempted the past paper you can mark it using the marking scheme. This will help you in analyzing your academic performance in the specific subject and will help you identify your weaknesses and strengths. After attempting multiple papers, you can also compare your historic performance.
Prediction of important topics for exam
If you have attempted all the past papers for the last consecutive seven years for a specific subject, you can easily decipher the focus topics repeatedly tested by the examiner. This trend will help you predict the examination topics for future.