Mark scheme and pass papers

[halloween67]

Morning,

Just after a little advice please if anyone could help.

My daughter is year 11 and has been told to look at the mark schemes when revising, she is not sure what that means. Could anyone clarify what they expect please?

Also should she start doing past papers in the Easter holidays, her school have said to wait as long as possible so she doesn't run out of them

Any advice really appreciated

Thanks

If you go onto the relevant exam board (eg AQA) you can find past papers.
But alongside that there will also be the mark schemes showing what gains marks and what doesn't.
There are also examiners reports which give commentary.

Past papers are best used when she thinks she has reasonably learned all topics for that paper.

DS and DD used a website called Maths and Physics Tutor. It has lots of past papers and also Mark schemes which show you what the markers are looking for in each question.

@halloween67 She should know which exam board she is sitting the paper for, ie AQA or OCR etc. Google the exam board plus which past paper she is looking for ie History or English literature. There will be a list including both summer and November resits. Open a specific past paper in one tab and in the other open the corresponding mark scheme. Look at one question at a time, then look at the mark scheme to see what the exam board is looking for answer wise. Specific phrases or words are especially important for science. This is why they are good for revision.

The mark scheme shows you what the exam board are looking for. GCSE isn't about knowing the content but knowing how to answer the questions to get the most marks. They start with zero marks and gain marks for correct answers. It is also useful to look at the examiner's report, also listed under the past papers, it will tell you what that cohort did well and what needs to be worked on for the next set of students.

Past papers are good once all the subject content has been finished as theoretically she should be able to answer the questions. Also for English language, make sure she has loosely prepared narratives, so descriptions of things or people that can be tailored to the questions. Again, the narrative titles will be on the past papers so you can also see what they are asking her for.