Mocks & predicted grades
How do I revise for my mocks?
Start by asking your teachers exactly what each mock covers - mocks usually test only what has been taught so far, so a full-course revision plan wastes time. Then revise the way you will for the real exams: answer questions rather than re-reading notes, spend most time on your shakiest big-mark topics, and finish with at least one timed paper per subject. Mocks are a dress rehearsal for your methods as much as the content.
Last updated 29 July 2026 · Written and fact-checked by the GCSEwiz team
First, find out what is actually on the paper
Mocks are set by your school, and most cover only the topics taught so far - which might be half the course or nearly all of it, and can differ between subjects. So the single highest-value question of mock season costs nothing: ask each teacher what the mock covers. A topic list per subject turns a vague mountain of revision into a finite checklist, and stops you spending an evening on content that is not on the paper.
Revise by doing - this is the rehearsal for your methods too
Mocks are probably your first full revision cycle, which makes them the cheapest possible place to find out what works for you. The research on this is unambiguous: retrieval beats re-reading. Testing yourself - practice questions, flashcards answered from memory, explaining a topic aloud with the notes shut - moves far more into long-term memory than highlighting or copying out notes, which mostly produce a comforting sense of familiarity.
So run the honest experiment now, while the stakes are low. If a method leaves you unable to answer questions the next day, it goes in the bin before the real exams - that discovery alone is worth the mock.
A plan that fits the weeks you have
You do not need a colour-coded masterpiece. You need a short list, worked through in short sessions.
- List the topics each mock covers, and mark each one honestly: secure, shaky, or missing.
- Spend most of your time on shaky topics that carry big marks - that is where revision pays best.
- Work in 25–40 minute sessions, questions first, notes only to un-stick yourself.
- Open each session with two or three quick questions from a previous topic - spaced review for free.
- In the final week, do one timed past paper (or timed topic set) per subject and mark it with the mark scheme.
- The night before each paper: light review, then stop. Sleep is worth more than a foggy extra hour.
After the mocks: the part most people skip
When the papers come back, go through them question by question and sort every dropped mark into one of three piles: didn't know it, knew it but rushed or misread, and ran out of time. Each pile has a different fix - content revision, exam technique, and timing practice respectively - and knowing which pile is biggest is the most valuable thing the whole mock season produces. That sorted list is your revision plan for the months that actually decide your grades.