"How many practice exams should I do?" is one of the questions students ask most once exam season kicks in. So here's my honest answer.

First things first: practice exams are non-negotiable. If you want a high score, you have to do them. But doing a tonne of them won't automatically get you there. Spoiler: it's not about the number. It's about what you do after each one.

There's no magic number

Every student starts in a different spot, so the right number for you depends on how confident you feel and how you're tracking.

Here's a quick example:

• Student A does 10 practice exams. They walk out of each one feeling confident and they're hitting the scores they want. For them, 10 is enough.
• Student B feels less sure of themselves. Their scores bounce around, so they plan for 15-25 exams. It takes them more reps to really get used to the exam format and how answers are marked.

Both are completely fine. What matters is being honest about which student you are, and being ready to do more if you need to.

How to get the most out of every practice exam

This is the process I give all my students. Repeat it after every exam you do.

1) Guess your score before you mark it

As soon as you finish, write down how confident you feel and the % you think you got. It feels a bit strange at first, but you'll see why in the next step.

2) Compare your guess with your real score

Mark the exam and check it against your guess. Did you overestimate yourself, or were you pretty close? If you felt confident but scored lower, that's a red flag. It usually means you have concept gaps you didn't know about, and those are the ones that cost you marks on exam day.

3) Grab a red pen and find your gaps

Go through the exam question by question and work out exactly where you lost marks. Was it the theory? The key words? Did you misread the question? Then go back to your Novicate key words and model answers notes (or your own study notes) and review those topics.

4) Build a master exam doc

Copy the concepts you got wrong into one new document. Only the tough stuff goes in here, not everything. This becomes your high-yield doc to revise from in the lead-up to the exam.

5) Review and repeat

Do your next practice exam and repeat steps 1-4. Keep going back over your master exam doc. You'll notice your guesses get closer to your real scores, and both start to climb.

Spend more time reviewing than doing

If you take one thing from this post, make it this: spend MORE time reviewing a practice exam than you spent sitting it. That means around 2-2.5+ hours of review for each exam.

I know that sounds like a lot. But one exam reviewed properly will teach you far more than three exams you mark and put away. This is what high achievers do again and again.

In summary:

• There's no magic number. 10 might be enough, or you might need 15-25.
• Guess your score before you mark, then compare.
• Red pen every exam to find your concept gaps.
• Put your weak spots in a master exam doc and keep reviewing it.
• Spend more time reviewing than doing.

Hope this helps you plan your practice exams this year. If you'd like a step-by-step plan, our revision events run through all the VCAA exam-assessable unit content in a day, with simulated mock exams. Take a look at Novicate's revision events, or book a free trial class if you'd like support throughout the year.

Happy studying,

Dr. Phillipe