Rightly, the primary focus in Key Stage 4 during November 2022 is preparing Year 11 for their Mock Exams. Yet it would be all too easy to let the preparations for the Year 10 Mock Exam fly under the radar.

Whilst Year 11 have a full suite of mock exams to sit, running from 15 November (for pupils taking Art) with the majority beginning Monday 21 November and finishing on Tuesday 6 December, it should not escape anyone's notice that most of our Year 10 will sit their GCSE Religious Philosophy Short Course Mock Exam on Tuesday 6 December. In the grand scheme of assessment, it is a one-hour exam in early December, months away from the 'real thing' in May 2023. So how seriously should Year 10 take the experience?

Mr Clutterbuck, Headteacher comments: "I am biased. As an RP teacher, I would suggest every waking hour is spent in preparation for the exam. But that is unrealistic given the commitments pupils will have from their other subjects. Nevertheless, the Year 10 RP Short Course mock exam is an undervalued experience. If prepared for in the right way, it not only paves the way to success in RP next summer but also gives Year 10 an understanding of what will be required when this time next year they are in Year 11 and weeks away from the start of their mock exams."

To help Year 10 understand the importance of revision (and the right kind of revision), as well as investing in the RP Short Course exam, the Year 10 Learning Conference on Wednesday 9 November will, in part, focus on preparing pupils for the RP mock.

During the pupils' morning session, every Year 10 pupil will receive a revision timetable which will help guide their RP revision from Wednesday 9 November until Tuesday 6 December. We have also canvassed opinion from pupils in our Class of 2022, asking them "What do you wish you had known about exam preparation and revision in Year 10?" As a result, Year 10 will be shown techniques in how to use past papers, mark schemes, examiners' reports and GCSE specifications to gain maximum advantage. 

Effective learning through regular revision, little and often, is a key ingredient in the recipe for success and, by encouraging Year 10 into good learning habits now, will pay dividends for them later.