After every exam session, exam boards publish a report on how candidates did. It says which questions went badly, what answers earned marks, and which mistakes keep repeating. Most students never open it, and it's one of the most useful free study resources there is.
Where to find them
Many boards, including Cambridge, Pearson Edexcel, AQA and OCR, publish examiner reports on their websites, usually alongside past papers and mark schemes. Availability differs by board and subject. For some exams, such as IB, reports may be shared through your school or teacher instead.
A simple way to read one
- Pick one paper you've already practiced. Read the report next to the paper and mark scheme, not in isolation.
- Highlight the repeated complaints. Phrases like "many candidates failed to..." or "few answers included..." point to marks that are easy to win.
- Note the command words. Candidates often lose marks by describing when asked to explain, or listing when asked to evaluate.
- Compare with your own answers. Find the two or three mistakes you also make.
Turn it into a checklist
Write one line for each recurring mistake, for example "always state the units" or "link the answer back to the scenario". Check your practice answers against that list before moving on. After a few papers you'll see the same patterns again and again, and fixing them is usually faster than learning new content.
If you'd like help building a study plan from your own papers and reports, that's exactly what a student study plan session is for.