How many past papers should you do before your GCSE Maths exam?
It's one of the most common questions I get from Year 11s, usually in a slight panic: "How many past papers do I need to do?"
Here's my answer. Fewer than you think, done properly. A student who does ten papers and learns from every mistake will usually be in a better place than one who rushes through forty and only looks at the score.
But you deserve a more useful answer than "it depends", so let's get specific.
First, what counts as one paper?
For Edexcel and AQA, a full set is three papers: Paper 1 (non-calculator), then Papers 2 and 3 (calculator). Each one is 1 hour 30 minutes. If you want a refresher on what's on each, I've written about GCSE Maths Papers 1, 2 and 3.
When I talk about doing "a paper" below, I mean one of those, done in full.
Why "properly" matters more than "how many"
Doing a past paper properly has four steps. Most students only do the first one.
- Sit it. Timed, no notes, calculator only if it's a calculator paper.
- Mark it. With the real mark scheme, not just the answers. The mark scheme shows you where the method marks are.
- Review it. Go through every question you dropped marks on and ask why. A slip? Nearly had it? No idea?
- Fix it. Pick the two or three topics that cost you the most marks and practise those before your next paper.
Steps three and four are where your grade actually goes up. Sitting the paper just shows you where the gaps are.
I go through how I'd use a past paper here:
A simple plan for Year 11
You don't need to start full papers in September. Here's roughly how I'd spread them out.
Autumn term. Topic practice, and the odd full paper to get used to the timing. Your mocks are the big one here.
After mocks, through spring. One full paper a week. Alternate non-calculator and calculator. Spend more time on the review than on the paper.
From Easter to the exam. Two or three papers a week, still marked and reviewed the same day or the next.
The last week before each paper. One a day if you can manage it, with an early night before the real thing.
That plan adds up to a good number of papers, and every single one of them gets reviewed. That's the point.
Should you redo the same paper?
Not straight away. You'll remember the answers, which isn't the same as being able to do the questions.
What does work is redoing the questions you got wrong a few weeks later, without looking at your old answers. If you can do them cold, you've learned it. If you can't, that topic goes back on your list.
Which papers should you use?
Start with your own exam board and your own tier. The current GCSE was first sat in summer 2017, and there are November resit papers too, so there are plenty of real papers to work from.
Once you've done a good number of those, papers from the other boards are useful practice as well. Every board follows the same core content, set by the Department for Education. The style is a bit different, but the Maths is the same.
One tip: save a couple of the most recent sets for your last few weeks. That way you'll have fresh, unseen papers when you most want to know where you are.
Track your scores
It's very hard to see progress if your scores live in your head. Write down every paper you do, the score, and the topics that cost you marks.
My past paper tracker is built for exactly this. It keeps track of which papers you've done and how you scored.
Over a few weeks, you'll start to see two things: your score creeping up, and the same topics stopping appearing on your "lost marks" list. Both are good signs.
Do a paper with me
If you'd like to see the whole process in action, here's a full past paper I worked through live, question by question:
And remember, you've got other exams too. A past paper is 1 hour 30 minutes plus marking time. Fit it around your other subjects rather than letting Maths take over every evening.
Questions people also ask
How many GCSE Maths past papers are there?
The current GCSE was first sat in summer 2017, and there are June and November series for Edexcel and AQA, so there are plenty of real papers to practise with.
Should I redo the same past paper?
Not straight away, because you'll remember the answers. Redo the questions you got wrong a few weeks later, without looking at your old working.
Can I use papers from a different exam board?
Yes, once you've done your own board's. Every board follows the same Department for Education content, so the Maths is the same.