Almost every student knows past-year papers are important. Far fewer use them well. Doing paper after paper without changing anything mostly practises the mistakes you already make. Here’s the routine I use with my students.
Step 1: Start with topics, not full papers
Full papers are for the last few months before the exam. Before that, pull out the questions on one topic from several years and do them together, for example all the quadratic functions questions from the last five papers.
You’ll see the same question patterns come back year after year, and you’ll fix a topic properly before moving on.
Step 2: Time yourself, even for practice
Exam time pressure changes how you work. Give yourself roughly the marks-per-minute of the real paper: if a paper is worth 100 marks in 2 hours, that’s a little over 1 minute per mark. A 6-mark question should take about 7 minutes.
If you’re consistently over time on a topic, that topic needs more practice even if you’re getting it right.
Step 3: Mark it strictly with the marking scheme
Don’t just check the final answer. Marking schemes award method marks, so compare your working line by line:
- Did you show the step the scheme gives a mark for?
- Did you give the answer in the required form (exact value, 3 significant figures, coordinates)?
- Did you label your sketch?
For IGCSE, Cambridge also publishes examiner reports for each exam session. They describe exactly where students lost marks on each question, and they’re well worth reading.
Step 4: Keep an error log
Every time you lose marks, write one line in a notebook or spreadsheet. For example:
| Question | Topic | What went wrong | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 P2 Q5 | Quadratics | Used b = 8 instead of −8 | Careless |
| 2022 P1 Q9 | Differentiation | Forgot chain rule on inner bracket | Method |
| 2021 P2 Q11 | Vectors | Didn’t know how to start | Concept |
After a few weeks, patterns appear. Careless errors need a checking habit. Method errors need more practice of that type. Concept errors mean going back to learn the topic again, ideally with help.
Step 5: Redo the questions you got wrong, a week later
This is the step most students skip, and it’s the one that makes the difference. A week after a paper, redo only the questions in your error log, without looking at your old working. If you get one right, cross it out. If not, it stays on the list.
A note on paper formats
Exam formats change over time, so focus on papers from the current format for timing practice. Older papers are still useful for topic drills in Step 1, as long as the topic is still in your syllabus.
When to start
Start topic drills as soon as you’ve covered a topic in class, from Form 4 for SPM or Year 10 for IGCSE. Leave full timed papers for the final 3 to 4 months. Starting early means far less cramming at the end.