How teachers can use past papers for classroom practice

Past papers are not only for the last two weeks before exams. When teachers bring them into lessons throughout the year, students see exam style questions more often, understand command words earlier and stop making the same mistakes. This turns the class from “learning topics” to “learning to score.” Below is a teacher friendly way to use past papers without turning every lesson into a full mock.

Start small with exam starters

You don’t have to run a 90 minute paper in class. Use 1 question as a starter.

• Put 1 exam style question on the board.
• Give 4 to 6 minutes of silent writing.
• Collect or peer mark using the real mark scheme.
• Ask 1 or 2 students to read their answers.
• Show what the examiner wanted.

This keeps exam technique alive even on ordinary teaching days. Many UK teachers use this to build “exam muscle” for Year 11 or Year 13. Verified: exam style starters are a common classroom strategy. Unverified: exact impact size.

Teach from the spec, test from the paper

A clean pattern is:

1. Teach a syllabus chunk (e.g. “river processes,” “elasticities,” “Macbeth characters”).
2. Show 2 to 3 real past questions on that chunk.
3. Model how to answer 1 of them.
4. Let students attempt the next one.
5. Mark using the board’s mark scheme.

Students then see how the exam board actually uses what they just learned. This stops the “but we never did this in class” complaint.

Use mark schemes as learning tools

Most students never read a mark scheme unless a teacher makes them. But mark schemes show the exact phrasing, steps and alternative answers examiners accept. To use them in class:

• Project the question and scheme together.
• Ask students to highlight key words in the scheme.
• Compare those words to what they wrote.
• Get them to rewrite in exam style.

This turns “I kind of said that” into “I said it the way the examiner wants.” AQA A Level exam, OCR, Pearson Edexcel, WJEC and CCEA all publish these schemes publicly. Verified.

Peer and self marking to save teacher time

Teachers do not have to mark every single past question.

• Students answer in class.
• Swap books or work in pairs.
• Give each pair the mark scheme.
• Students mark and total.
• Teacher spot checks 3 to 4 scripts.

This teaches students to see where marks come from and reduces teacher workload. It also makes them less defensive about marks because they see the criteria.

Build an error wall or error log

When the whole class keeps missing the same step (e.g. “no units,” “no context,” “no working,” “no quote”), make it public.

• Write the error on the board or a wall chart.
• Show the part of the mark scheme that fixes it.
• Keep it visible all term.

The aim is to make common mistakes “not allowed in this room.” Assessment for learning research supports making success criteria visible. Verified: visible success criteria improve student performance. Unverified: using a literal “error wall” in every school.

Mix boards carefully

Sometimes teachers like questions from another board. That is fine as long as students know the main board they will be examined on.

• Label the question “Edexcel style” or “OCR style.”
• Tell them what is different (structure, context, wording).
• Show how the mark scheme is similar.

This broadens students’ exposure without creating confusion.

Doing this inside one platform

This works best when all students can access the same past papers and schemes without hunting through school drives. A single hub like SimpleStudy puts syllabus-matched notes, quizzes, past papers and mock exams for UK, Ireland, Australia and other English-speaking markets in one place. A teacher can tell the whole class, “open Paper 1, 2023, Question 4” and everyone gets there. If the school or parents have bought seats, this becomes even easier because every student sees the same structure. Less admin, more exam practice.

Turn past papers into homework that matters

Not every homework should be “answer in the book.” Rotate:

• Week 1. One 20-mark section from a past paper
• Week 2. 10 topic-based questions on last week’s lesson
• Week 3. 1 full paper for mock practice
• Week 4. Rewrite weakest past paper answer using the scheme

Students bring back not just answers but also self-marked scripts. Teacher checks only the hardest parts.

Use examiner reports to set expectations

Examiner reports tell you what last year’s students did badly.

• Print the relevant paragraph.
• Read it together.
• Ask students to improve an answer using that advice.

Example: “Many candidates failed to link their evaluation to the context given.” Students then practise linking to the context. AQA, OCR and Edexcel all publish these comments. Verified.

Track class progress with past paper data

Teachers can make a simple spreadsheet:

• Student name
• Date
• Paper or question code
• Score
• Problem (e.g. timing, method, misread)
• Next action

After 3 or 4 weeks, patterns appear. Maybe the whole class struggles with evaluate questions. Maybe everyone loses marks on calculations. That tells you what to reteach.

Common mistakes teachers make with past papers

• Leaving all past paper work to the end of the year. Students panic because it is new.
• Not giving the mark scheme. Then students don’t learn examiner language.
• Marking too generously. Students get a shock in the real exam.
• Using papers from a different board without saying so. Students think they are weaker than they are.
• Not revisiting wrong questions. Errors stay.

Avoiding these keeps past papers as a positive, normal part of class.

A sample 4-week classroom cycle

• Week 1: Teach → 1 past paper starter → model marking
• Week 2: Teach → 4 past paper questions in class → peer mark → error wall
• Week 3: Half mock (one paper) in timed conditions → teacher samples 5 scripts
• Week 4: Reteach from common errors → students rewrite weakest answers → homework is another 10 questions on that area

This is sustainable even in busy terms.

Final takeaway

Past papers are at their best when they are routine, not rare. If students see real questions every week, use real mark schemes, read examiner comments and log mistakes, they arrive at exam season already used to the format. Teachers save time, students see progress, and exam anxiety goes down.