OlearnaA mock is useful the evening you open the misses
Schools in Ghana set mocks on the GES calendar so students feel a full paper before WAEC does. Olearna was built for the week that follows, not only for the sitting. The mark on the script is the least useful part. The useful part is which topics produced the lost marks, and whether those topics get practised before the next paper.
BECE mocks, for JHS
A JHS 3 mock should feel like the BECE: a timed paper, one subject at a time, no flipping to the answers. JHS 1 and JHS 2 can sit a short paper on work they have been taught. They do not need eight full BECE papers in a weekend. After the paper, the JHS study page is the map of the year, and BECE preparation is the exam itself.
WASSCE mocks, for SHS
An SHS mock has to respect the registration. Core Mathematics and Elective Mathematics are separate papers. Integrated Science and the pure sciences are separate papers. A school that sets one "Science mock" for the whole year group is mixing students who are not writing the same exam. On Olearna the pools stay apart for the same reason. The year-by-year page is SHS. The exam page is WASSCE.
What to do with the script
- Write the subject and the score. Then put the score aside.
- Group the lost marks by topic. Three topics is a plan. Fifteen topics is a wish.
- Take the diagnostic on the worst subject if you are not sure the grouping is right.
- Practise those topics. Use past questions on them, not a fresh full paper the same night.
- Read the review: your choice, the right answer, and the explanation when one exists.
- Sit another timed mock after the label on that subject has moved.
Timed mocks on Olearna follow the plan on the pricing page. The free diagnostic needs no account and is the right first sitting when you do not yet know which paper to time. A note for the week after a bad script is on the blog: after a bad mock. Teachers marking a whole class can use the teacher's guide.
Common questions
Is an online mock the same as the school mock?
The school mock is the paper your teachers set and mark. An online mock is a timed paper you can sit on a phone. Both are useful when you treat the score as a list of topics, and useless when the only thing that comes home is a percentage.
Should JHS 1 sit a full BECE mock?
A full BECE mock is for a student who has met most of the syllabus, usually JHS 3 or a resit candidate. JHS 1 and JHS 2 learn more from a short diagnostic and practice on this term’s topics. SHS 1 should not sit a full WASSCE mock in every elective in the first term.
What do I do the evening the mock comes back?
Sort the misses by topic before you start a new paper. Practise the worst topic. Read your choice and the right answer. Take another timed paper after that topic has moved, not the same night as a punishment.