Step 11
Online mock exams
Tasks allows teachers to conduct full online mock exams by choosing an appropriate number and range of questions. These are not past papers, Smart Revise has its own bank of questions written by experienced teachers and examiners in the style of real exams.
no photocopying
no administration
automatic hand-in
no piles of paper scripts
AI mark most questions
no
photocopying
no
administration
automatic
hand-in
supports extra time for individuals
AI mark
most questions
Harness the power of IT to administer your mock exam, and use the latest AI technology to mark it for you. Saving hundreds of hours of time.
How
Set a task titled "Mock exam - paper x" to mimic the exam you want to simulate. For example, in stage 2 of the task setting process (topics), choose only the topics from either paper 1 or paper 2.
In stage 3 (experience) select an appropriate number and range of questions.
E.g. OCR J277 Computer Science paper 1 includes multiple choice, medium answer and just one extended response 8-mark question. The paper is 1 hour, 30 minutes.
In stage 5 (marking) consider using AI marking to reduce workload or for peer marking, the M.A.R.C.K.S. feedback system.
In stage 6 (schedule), set the task behaviour to "Deadlines enforced" to ensure automatic hand in when the mock exam is due to finish.
Also in stage 6 set the "Task availability" date and time to the start of the mock exam so that students can only access the task when you want them all to start.
Set the deadline date and time to when you want the exam to end.
In step 8 (assign) choose all the students in the class, and in step 9 copy the task to the other classes you want to sit the exam.
Remember if you join other classes, you can set the same exam for them too, even if you don't teach the students. Ideal for subject leaders.
For those students entitled to extra time, you can extend the deadline for individuals in the Future Tasks panel once the task has been assigned.
Why use Smart Revise
Smart Revise will automatically choose the questions for you. There is no additional process to build the exam paper unlike Exam Builder and Exam Pro saving the teacher a lot of time. You can set a mock exam in less than 5 minutes.
Students complete the paper online meaning there is no additional administration. Students can complete the exam remotely, for example if they are in hospital education. The task availability and deadline settings mean the exam is only available to them within the times you set.
Extra time for those with additional needs is fully supported.
AI marking means the teacher can play a moderator role instead of marking, significantly reducing workload.
It is easy for invigilators to administer. All they need to do is tell the students to log into Smart Revise and complete the "mock exam" task. Students should already be familiar with Smart Revise at this stage.
The mock experience in Smart Revise is designed to mimic paper-based exams. Students can move backwards and forwards through the questions and write or paste answers in a text box. As real exams move online from 2025 more question types will be added to accurately simulate those exams.
The research says that:
- Students who take practice tests often outperform students in non-testing learning conditions such as restudying. Results reveal that practice tests are more beneficial for learning than restudying.
- On average, 1 grade in 4 is incorrect, that is a 25% error in marking.
Adesope, O. O., Trevisan, D. A., & Sundararajan, N. (2017). Rethinking the use of tests: A meta-analysis of practice testing. Review of Educational Research, 87(3), 659–701
Sherwood, D. (2020) Just how reliable are exam grades? Exploding the myth that exam grades are objective https://rethinkingassessment.com/rethinking-blogs/just-how-reliable-are-exam-grades
Top tips
We recommend choosing topics from one paper only (use a different task for each paper). Use the task experience to exactly mimic the number of each type of question in a real exam, with AI marking.
Use AI marking to almost eliminate marking. Instead teachers can play the role of the moderator. The AI marking may not be 100% accurate, but it only needs to be >80% accurate to be the same as real examiners!
AI cannot mark all questions, especially those requiring a calculation. Luckily these are quick to mark for a human!
Remember if you have students entitled to extra time you can extend only their deadline.