How to build a timed mock exam from the chapters you have covered

Choose the chapters honestly

List the chapters you have finished, not the ones you have started. A chapter counts as covered when you have been taught all of it and done some questions on it. A half-taught chapter puts marks on the paper that you cannot earn yet, and the score stops meaning anything. If a chapter has only just been finished, include it but keep its share small: a mock checks everything so far, and is not another topical set on the newest topic.

• Include every finished chapter, even those from months ago, because forgetting is exactly what a mock catches.
• Weight the chapters roughly as the real paper does, which you can judge from a few recent papers.
• Match the paper type: multiple choice for a multiple-choice paper, structured questions for a structured one.

Set the length and the time

Take the timing from the real paper, not a round number. Divide the real paper’s time by its total marks to get minutes per mark, then multiply by the marks on your mock. A mock of thirty to forty-five minutes fits into a school week and still trains pace; a full-length one tests stamina and is worth doing more often as the exam gets closer. Choose questions with a spread of mark values, as a real paper has, rather than all short or all long.

Draw the questions from a range of years and leave out any you have done recently, or you will be testing your memory of the answers. Then remove the chapter labels before you sit it. A mock with headings is a topical set, because the headings do the recognising for you, and recognising the topic is one of the things a mock is there to test.

Sit it like the real thing

Clear the desk, put your phone in another room, and use only what the exam allows: your calculator, the data or formula booklet if there is one, nothing else. Start a timer and do not pause it. When time runs out, draw a line under what you have written, then carry on in a different colour until you finish. The line gives your score under exam conditions; the second colour shows how much extra time you needed and where, which is as useful as the score.

• Do a first pass and leave anything that stalls you for more than a couple of minutes.
• Mark those questions and return to them, highest marks first.
• Keep the last few minutes for checking units, signs, accuracy and the parts you skipped.

Mark it, then turn the marks into a plan

Mark with the scheme within a day, while you still remember your thinking. Be strict: an answer that is nearly what the scheme says, or right without the working it asks for, gets the marks the scheme gives it, not the marks you feel it deserves. Then sort every lost mark twice, by chapter and by cause.

The chapter totals tell you where your next topical practice goes. The causes tell you how to do it: content you did not know needs relearning, careless slips need a checking routine, misread questions need slower reading, and time trouble needs more timed work. Write down two or three actions, not ten. Build the next mock after you have done them, and include any chapters you have finished since.

Building one with Momentum’s exam builder

The exam builder does the assembly. Pick a syllabus and the chapters you have covered (choosing none uses the whole syllabus), then a shape: quick (10 questions, 30 minutes), standard (15, 45), full paper (25, 90) or your own count and time. Filter by paper, year, session, zone or marks, or hand-pick every question. It does not rate difficulty, so the spread of questions is your judgement.

You sit it a page at a time, timed, untimed or open book. The clock keeps counting past the limit, which does the job of the line and the second colour, and you can flag questions to come back to. Afterwards, open any question’s scheme under it, then enter marks per question for a score and a table by chapter, or just a final score. Hide the topics to sit it as a real exam, or save the paper and scheme as PDFs to sit on paper.