Is just doing GCSE past papers enough revision?

[billyblueblood]

DS has decided this is a good idea, I’m not so sure.

Of course not - a paper cannot possibly examine the whole syllabus in many subjects.

It is a good idea to do past papers, but it could leave him with mega gaps.

Yes I don’t know what made him think this was going to work but I suspect some laziness. Back to ploughing through the CGP books!

It’s perfectly valid. Do paper, mark it, redo it after research to get top marks.

With the missed Covid years, I don't think there are enough past papers.
They are a good test when you've actually done the revision though.

Depends on subject. Maybe in maths or a foreign language it could be.
Most subjects need specific memorising then practice.

It depends on the subject. For science, I would say time spent doing past papers, and crucially marking them, is a really important part of revision. There is a lot of application in science, especially on the higher paper, so just learning the content of the revision guide is not enough for higher grades.

I always encourage my students to prioritise active revision over passive- reading/copying a revision guide is not a good efficient use of time.

If he tries a past paper and finds his marks on certain questions are poor, then he should go back to the revision guide (or even better a textbook/class notes) to try and remember/understand that area better.

But focusing solely on revision guides isn't a good strategy in my opinion.

Apparently he’s going to do past papers then go over areas he struggles with and so on. I suppose it makes sense. Honestly I’m way more stressed than he is.

I think it is actually a good way to revise. Look up the answers to the things he doesn’t know ( and hopefully that will help him remember rather than just read it in a book) good practice at timings too.

Depends a bit on the subject but if he is methodical and goes through all available papers, compares the topics asked about with the spec list and then focuses on any that haven't yet come up, it's fine. It also is important that he keeps an eye on the timing issue. He doesn't have to do whole papers in one go, one unit at a time in 15 mins or whatever is a good way to break it down and cover loads as it's less daunting.

I think it depends on the subject but either way it's good to practice past papers. I've just seen this talk about revision strategies which I'm gonna go to. Might be worth checking it out? www.trybooking.co.uk/CEZL

I went to a resit college (I wasn’t re-sitting just had to move schools so did A levels in a year instead of two)

Pretty much all I did was past papers for revision - lots and lots of them!! If you have learnt the topic you should have some understanding if you’ve forgotten certain areas then a past paper will highlight the need for revision in these areas.