What Is a Mock Exam and How Should Your Child Prepare? A UK Guide

A mock exam is an internally set, full-length trial run of a GCSE or A-Level paper, sat under exam conditions at school. Mocks are not counted toward a pupil's final grade, but they are the single most diagnostic tool a school has for predicting results — and one of the most useful opportunities a student gets to identify what actually needs fixing before the real thing.

When do mock exams happen in secondary school?

Mock timing varies by school, but the most common pattern for Year 11 GCSE pupils in England is:

Mock period | Typical timing | What it covers
Year 11 autumn mocks | November–December | Topics taught in Year 10 and early Year 11
Year 11 spring mocks | February–March | Full GCSE course to date
Final GCSE exams | May–June, Year 11 | All topics, all papers

Some schools also run mocks at the end of Year 10 (May or June) to give pupils a first experience of exam conditions. Year 12 students may sit AS-style mocks; Year 13 pupils typically sit full A-Level mock papers in January.

Not all schools follow the same pattern. Ask your child's school for the exact mock timetable at the start of each academic year, so revision planning can begin in good time.

What are mock exams used for?

Mock exams serve three main purposes:

1. Predicted grades: GCSE mock results are used by sixth forms, sixth-form colleges and some universities to set conditional offers and prioritise places. A strong November mock in Year 11 can make a significant difference to the post-16 choices available to your child.

2. Identifying gaps: Mocks reveal which topics a pupil has not yet mastered. A Year 11 pupil who scores well in maths paper 1 (non-calculator) but drops significantly on paper 2 (calculator) now has specific, actionable information: calculator method fluency is the gap.

3. Practising exam conditions: Most GCSE pupils have never sat two hours of timed writing under silence before Year 11 mocks. The experience of managing time, dealing with nerves and pacing a paper is itself a skill that improves with practice.

How should your child prepare for mock exams?

The most effective preparation strategies are not the most obvious ones. Research from the Education Endowment Foundation consistently rates retrieval practice (actively recalling information from memory) and spaced practice (spreading revision across time) as the highest-impact techniques — well ahead of rereading notes or making revision cards that are never tested. Here is a practical four-week approach:

Weeks 3 and 4 before mocks (medium-range prep)

Build a subject-by-subject topic list from the syllabus or teacher-issued checklist.

For each topic: write down what you know from memory first; only then check notes.

Do one past-paper question per topic — not a full paper yet, just targeted questions.

Flag topics where you could not recall anything confidently: these become your priority list.

Week 2 before mocks (focused retrieval)

Rotate through priority topics daily, using flash recall (write the answer before looking).

Start a mark scheme: practice reading the criteria and matching your answers to them.

Sleep consistently — evidence from sleep science (reviewed in the EEF's wellbeing toolkit) consistently links sleep quality with both memory consolidation and performance under pressure.

Week 1 before mocks (timed practice)

Sit at least one full timed past paper per subject under exam conditions (no phone, no notes, timed to the minute).

Mark it using the official mark scheme and identify three specific errors to revisit.

Do not introduce new topics in this final week — consolidate what you know.

What is the right mindset about mock grades?

This is where parental framing matters. A low mock grade is not a prediction — it is information. The most productive response to a disappointing mock is:

Look at the mark scheme to understand exactly what the examiner wanted.

Identify whether the error was a knowledge gap (didn't know the content) or an exam technique gap (knew the content but structured the answer poorly).

Build a specific revision plan targeting those gaps, not a general "revise everything" instruction.

Many pupils who underperform in November mocks improve substantially by May. The EEF notes that metacognition — a pupil's ability to monitor and adjust their own learning — is among the highest-impact interventions available. Teaching your child to ask "why did I get this wrong?" after every incorrect mock answer is more valuable than two extra hours of passive rereading.

How can parents support mock exam preparation?

The most helpful thing a parent can do during mock preparation is make the environment supportive without making the outcome high-stakes. In practice:

Protect sleep and meals: performance under pressure depends on physical baseline.

Create a dedicated revision space: not the kitchen table if possible, and phone in another room.

Ask about their revision plan, not just whether they are revising: "What topics are you doing today, and how will you know if you know them?" is a better question than "Are you revising?"

Treat a disappointing grade matter-of-factly: catastrophising a mock grade rarely helps and sometimes creates avoidance of the next one.

Know when to bring in extra support: if a child has a significant gap in a core subject (English, maths, science), now — not January of Year 11 — is the time to arrange a tutor or AI tutoring support.

Frequently asked questions

Do mock exam grades matter for GCSE predictions?

Yes. GCSE mock grades are the primary evidence schools use when submitting predicted grades to sixth forms and sixth-form colleges, which base conditional offers on those predictions. A mock sat carelessly or without preparation can therefore narrow post-16 options. Mocks should be taken as seriously as the real exams, even though they do not count toward the final grade.

When are Year 11 mock exams in England?

Most English secondary schools run Year 11 GCSE mocks in November or December (covering content from Year 10 and early Year 11) and again in February or March (covering the full course to date). Some schools hold a third round in early May before the real GCSE exams begin in mid-May. The exact dates vary by school — confirm them at the start of the academic year.

What happens if my child does badly in their mock exams?

A poor mock result is diagnostic information, not a final outcome. The most productive response is to identify specifically which topics and question types went wrong (using the mark scheme), build a targeted revision plan for those gaps, and seek extra support in any core subject where the gap is large. Many pupils improve by one or two grade boundaries between autumn mocks and the final GCSE exams in May and June.

How long before mock exams should revision start?

Ideally four to six weeks before the mock date, with spaced revision sessions rather than marathon cramming. Research shows that spreading revision across multiple shorter sessions (spaced practice) produces significantly better retention than the same total hours concentrated in the final week. Starting six weeks out also means there is time to identify and address gaps before the mock, rather than discovering them on the day.

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