How Many Mock Exams Are There In Year 11?

To prepare students for their GCSEs, teachers are required to set mock exams. These mocks may not seem important, as they are not the real GCSE exams, right? However, they are still an essential part of the preparation process for GCSEs, as they allow students to practise for exams. As a result, when you hear about how many mock exams you could potentially have, don’t moan! Mock exams are such a useful revision tool – the more you do, the better!

Students usually have to sit one set of mock exams in Year 11 and this will normally occur in December. However, this does differ between schools. Some schools even require students to sit two full sets of mock exams in Year 11! Students will most likely have to sit as many mock papers as they would have during the real exam period. This is somewhere between 20 – 25 exams. However, again, this depends on the school.

If you want to learn more about how many mock exams there are in Year 11 and when you could be sitting them, check out the rest of this article!

How many GCSE mock exams do you have to do in Year 11?

In Year 11, most schools aim for their students to complete one set of mock exams. However, some schools require students to sit two full sets of mock exams in Year 11. Students also would have already completed one set of mock exams in Year 10.

Different students take different subjects and these different subjects require different numbers of papers. As a result, each student will receive an individual mock exam timetable with the number of mock exams they will have to sit. The number of mock exams you take will often be a replica of how many exams you will have to take during the real GCSE exam period.

If you want to work out how many GCSE exams you will have, click here to visit the AQA website to find your subject and the number of exams each subject requires. Alternatively, you can browse the different subjects and the amount of papers on the Edexcel website, the OCR website or the WJEC Eduqas website here.

As a general rule, each GCSE exam will have 2 or 3 papers. For most people, taking 8 -10 GCSEs, this results in around 20-25 exam papers.

Your school might choose to make you sit a mock for all of these. Alternatively, they might just make you sit one mock paper per subject, as you have not covered all the content necessary for all the papers.

What are the Year 11 mock exam dates in 2023?

The exact dates for Year 11 mock exams in 2023 cannot be given because these differ greatly between schools. In my experience, Year 11s had a set of mock exams to sit in December and then another set to sit in March.

If this is similar to your school, then the first set of Year 11 mocks would be taken in November or December 2023. However, some schools actually wait until January to give students a set of mock exams to sit.

This all depends on how quickly teachers are able to get through the content and how much time the school has available. If you want to find out more about when the Year 11 mock exam dates usually are, check out this article from Think Student.

When do GCSE mock exams usually take place?

Even though GCSEs are taken in Year 11, the majority of schools require students to complete a set of mock exams in Year 10. Obviously, these exams will have a reduced amount of content, however, they are still useful and important tools for revision.

Generally, students will sit a second set of mock exams in the winter term of Year 11, such as November or December. Some students will also have to sit another set of mock exams in March!

This system of taking two sets of mock exams in Year 11 is explained in this article from GoStudent. However, this depends on each individual school and what the teachers think is best.

Do you have GCSE mock exams for every subject?

Normally, you do have mock exams for every subject. This is so you can experience what the real GCSE exam period will be like. As a result, you hopefully won’t get as panicked or stressed during the days of your exams, as you already know what to expect.

However, it is up to your teachers whether you have a mock exam for their subject or not. Some teachers may prefer for you not to have a mock exam during the first set of mocks, as you may have not covered enough content. You may then do the mock exam for this subject later on.

If you want to gain more of an understanding of what GCSE mock exams are, check out this article from Think Student.

Are GCSE mock exams important?

Many students don’t try at all when they are preparing for mock exams. Some students don’t even attempt to prepare for their mocks! This is because as they know they are not the real GCSE exams, they know that the mock exams don’t amount to anything.

However, this is not the correct mindset to have. It’s true that the grades you receive from your mock exams will not determine your official GCSE grade at the end of the year. However, they are still extremely important!

This is because mock exams allow you to find out what your strengths and weaknesses are for every single subject. As a result, you will be able to prepare more efficiently for your real GCSE exams. You can discover why else GCSE mock exams are important if you read this article from StudySmarter.

GCSE mock exams also replicate the real exam experience, allowing you to practise how you will cope during the real exam period. For example, you can work on your time management skills during exams and how to calm yourself before you start.

You could also use the mock exam period to find the best revision strategies for you! If you want some tips on revision strategies to start you off, check out this article from Think Student.

Therefore, you must try your best on your GCSE mock exams, regardless of how many exams you have to sit. Good luck!