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Exam Skills

Spec conquered

stalled 5 weeks · progress and forecast →

Lower-tier secure

0/17

topics secure or better

Strands

Timing

0/4

Reading the question

0/5

Answering

0/5

Stamina and pressure

0/3

Not started Gap Developing Secure Exam-ready

Every topic

Loose ends

Secure means it held up independently, not that it is finished. Feed these into starters rather than reteaching.

T2 Pacing by marks per minute

Minutes followed marks once, on a two-question resit after rehearsal; fell as marks rose on the two full papers before it (30 Sep, 2 Oct). Next full paper decides.

T3 Moving on from a stuck question (flag and return)

A 2-mark question ran to 18 minutes unflagged on 7 Oct. Next paper: does any question pass twice its guide without a flag?

R3 Show your working: method marks

DRILL every exam-skills session until cleared (parent, 14 Oct): perform the method on paper. 3-4 maths items she gets right (gradient from two points, % of an amount, estimated mean, minus-bracket equation). No answer counts until every line the scheme credits is written: gradient sum, substitution, equation, check. Mark the LINES not the number; right answer with no lines = 0, and she sees why. Then one fresh item unaided. Cleared when a timed maths section has every M-mark line written.

A2 Method marks: a route the scheme can credit

Run with the R3 drill: a route the scheme can credit means the sum that produces the number, not a sum that happens to land on it. Check each written line against the scheme's M-mark wording.

A5 Never blank: a sensible attempt on every question

No blanks on three English Language sittings; line-only answers 2 of 4 on 2 Oct morning, 0 of 2 on the resit.

Papers & checks

Nothing logged yet.

Sessions, by week

2026-W43 · week of 2026-10-19

2026-10-21 ✓ reviewed

Paper #10, W43 (lang 13 / lit 9 / cs 14, 45 min). Warm-up run before the link this time: three quotations with a suggestion each on a tiny text, done in 9 min, all three valid, none with a reader effect. Started 14:42, closed by her at 36 min with 9 unused. Answered Q1-Q12 in order. Sections: Lang 7/13 in 11 min (guide 14), 0 blank; Lit on the portal 1/9 in 3 min (guide 10), Q5 and Q6 blank and flagged, never returned to; CS on the portal 5/14 in 11 min (guide 16), Q12 'j' after 1 min. No time hog: no question over its guide. At 15:25 she reported Q5, Q6 and Q12 'glitched' and typed them in this chat (Q12 15:29, Q6 15:32, Q5 15:37); marked from the chat text they add 7 marks: 20/36 with them, 16/36 on the portal. DAD TO DECIDE whether they stand; the glitch cannot be checked from here. Non-attempts on the portal: 3 of 12 questions, 12 marks, all with time left (7 Oct: 5 of 12 'skip'). 'Skip' typed: 0. Marks lost to technique rather than knowledge: about 12 of 16 — reader-effect clause absent on 4 quotation parts (Lang Q3 x3, Lit Q5), the 'what' strand restating the prompt (Q2), 'today' missed on Q1, no trace on Q8, two binary transcription slips (Q9), hex fact absent (Q11), 'store/output once' spec not read (Q12). Knowledge losses: London's institutions (Q5, Q6). Target from 7 Oct (first line on every question, no 'skip') met on the typed questions; unmet on the portal for Q5/Q6/Q12 if there was no glitch. Quotations in a language answer: 3 (7 Oct: 0). Largest question per section: Q3 6 min, Q6 1 min, Q12 1 min.

T3 Not started → Not started — paper #10: Q5 and Q6 flagged, never returned to; closed at 36 of 45 min with both still blank. loss=not_attempted

T4 Not started → Not started — paper #10: closed by her with 9 of 45 min unused, 2 blanks and a 'j' on the page; Q9 both parts wrong against correct working, unchecked

A5 Not started → Not started — paper #10: 3 non-attempts on the portal (Q5, Q6, Q12 = 12 marks) with 9 min left; glitch reported and the answers typed in chat after close; undetermined until Dad checks. 'skip' typed: 0 (7 Oct: 5)

R1 Not started → Not started — paper #10: Q12 'store… output once' read as print-in-each-branch (2 marks); Q2 'what is happening' answered with the structural shift not the event (1); Q1 'today' missed (1). loss=technique

R2 Not started → Not started — paper #10: Q3 2-mark parts answered as 1-mark (suggestion only, x3); Q5 3 marks answered with one idea said twice. loss=technique

R3 Not started → Not started — paper #10: Q8 no trace, Python rewrite instead, 0/1; Q10 carries not written but answer right 3/3. loss=technique on Q8

R4 Not started → Not started — paper #10: Q9 both parts — correct method, wrong figure written (34 for 32; extra 8 bit), 0/2. loss=technique

T2 Not started → Not started — paper #10: no section over guide — Lang 11/14, Lit 3/10, CS 11/16; no pacing loss

Next: Next paper, BEFORE the link: five-minute warm-up again, this time one quotation with suggestion AND reader effect, and one 'state the output' with a trace table — those are the two habits that cost most today. Target for her: on every quotation, two halves — suggests, then makes the reader; on every output question, trace headings before the number. Record: non-attempts on the portal (today 3 of 12, 12 marks, glitch claimed), reader-effect clauses present (0 of 4), trace tables (0 of 1), hand-in minute (36 of 45), flags returned to (0 of 2). Ask Dad first whether the 21 Oct glitch was real; if not, the flag-and-abandon pattern with time left is the week's example (A5, T3).

2026-W41 · week of 2026-10-05

2026-10-07 ✓ reviewed

Technique read of the week-41 timed paper (test #7): 13/37 — maths 9/25, English Language 4/12 — handed in by her at 30 of 45 minutes. She answered the seven quickest questions first (save order Q1, Q2, Q11, Q5, Q7, Q8, Q9); then Q3, a 2-mark estimate, held focus for 18 minutes and scored 0; Q4, Q6, Q10 and the 8-mark language question were answered 'skip' with 0–1 minute each. No flags. Working was typed on four of five attempted multi-step items. Marks lost to technique rather than knowledge: 2 on the command word 'estimate', 1 on a missing show-that line; 17 marks sat on questions not started, with 15 minutes unused. The five-minute quotation warm-up set by the synthesis for this slot was not run before Start: the chat gave the link and a stated target only.

T2 Not started → Not started — Test #7, 7 Oct: maths 27 min on focus against a 25 min guide, English Language 2 of 15; 18 min on a 2-mark question, 0 min on the 8-marker. Hand-in at 30 of 45.

T3 Not started → Not started — Test #7, 7 Oct: Q3 (2 marks, 2 min guide) held focus 18 min and scored 0; not flagged; left only by typing 'skip'. No flags anywhere on the paper.

T4 Not started → Not started — Test #7, 7 Oct: handed in by her at 30 of 45 min with five 'skip' answers; the save order shows no earlier answer re-opened.

R1 Not started → Not started — Test #7, 7 Oct: Q3 'Estimate' worked as an exact calculation with no rounding (2 marks). Q2 'Circle the calculation' answered with her own expression, not one of the four options (1 mark).

R3 Not started → Not started — Test #7, 7 Oct: working typed on Q5, Q7, Q9 and Q3 (4 of 5 attempted multi-step items); none on Q8 (3 marks). Q7 show-that one line short, 1 mark. The paper's instructions asked for working on 2 marks or more.

A5 Not started → Not started — Test #7, 7 Oct: portal count 0 blank of 12; 5 of 12 answers read 'skip' (Q3 answer line, Q4, Q6, Q10, Q12), 19 of 37 marks, with 15 min unused.

S1 Not started → Not started — Test #7, 7 Oct: 30 of 45 min used, 18 of them on one question; first 45-minute paper to include maths.

Next: Next paper: BEFORE giving the link, run the five-minute warm-up the W41 synthesis designed and that was not run on 7 Oct - three quotations with a suggestion each on a tiny text - plus a first line on two unfamiliar-looking maths questions; no say-back; then the paper with one printed check. Target given to her on 7 Oct: no 'skip' - every question gets a first line before hand-in. Record: count of 'skip' answers (7 Oct: 5 of 12), quotations in the language answer (0), minutes on the largest question (0) against the smallest, any question of 2 marks or fewer over 5 minutes (Q3: 18), flags (0), hand-in minute (30 of 45).

2026-W40 · week of 2026-09-28

2026-10-02 ✓ reviewed

Technique reading of test #6 (resit of the 12-mark language and 16-mark comparing questions from this morning, same sources, 2 Oct 18:40): handed in by her at 19 of 45 min (guide 40), 0 blank of 2, 7/28 against 0/28. Minutes: 3 on the 12-marker (guide 15), 16 on the 16-marker (guide 25) — the largest question got the most time. The target, a quotation in every answer, was met (1 and 2 quotations; morning 0 and 0) although she could not say it back in three attempts before Start. The paper's own printed checks (three quotations; two from each source) were not met. The sitting followed a 30-minute warm-up that rehearsed each answer type once, about 2 h 20 min earlier, and a conversation with her parent about what the questions ask.

T2 Not started → Not started — Test #6 resit, 2 Oct: 3 and 16 min on 12 and 16 marks; the largest question got the most minutes (morning: 2 and 2). Two-question paper after a warm-up.

T4 Not started → Not started — Test #6 resit, 2 Oct: closed by her at 19 of 45 min; printed checks (three quotations; two per source) unmet; no re-read recorded. Fifth early hand-in running.

R2 Not started → Not started — Test #6 resit, 2 Oct: 12 marks about 30 words and 1 quotation; 16 marks about 95 words and 2 quotations.

A3 Not started → Not started — Test #6 resit, 2 Oct: both extended answers reached a level — Level 1 (2/12) and Level 2 bottom (5/16); first sitting 0 and 0.

A5 Not started → Not started — Test #6 resit, 2 Oct: 0 blank of 2 and 0 line-only answers; each answer contained a quotation.

Next: Next paper: prime it by doing the countable behaviour once in a warm-up beforehand (three quotations on a short text), not by a target she says back — say-back failed three times on 2 Oct yet the rehearsed behaviour appeared. Record quotations per question, minutes per question against marks, and the hand-in minute. The language answer stopped at one quotation in 3 of 15 minutes: the target for the next paper is three quotations in any language answer before moving on.

2026-10-02 ✓ reviewed

Technique reading of test #5 (English Language non-fiction reading placement, 2 Oct): handed in by her at 26 of 120 min (guide 100), 0 blank of 4, 7/40. Minutes per question 3, 19, 2, 2 on 4, 8, 12, 16 marks against guides of 5, 9, 12, 18. The one countable target given before Start — largest question at least 15 minutes and three quotations before Hand in — was not met: 2 minutes, 0 quotations. The 12- and 16-mark answers are one line each with no reference to either text; the summary question took twice its guide and earned the paper's only band-marked marks (3/8). Marks lost to technique rather than knowledge sit mainly on the 12-mark language question; the 16-mark comparing question is untaught content.

T2 Not started → Not started — Test #5, 2 Oct: 3, 19, 2, 2 min on 4, 8, 12, 16 marks; the largest question got 2 min against a stated target of at least 15 and a guide of 18.

T3 Not started → Not started — Test #5, 2 Oct: summary question 19 min against a 9 min guide for 3/8; no flag data in the sitting record; later questions 2 min each with 94 min of the window unused.

T4 Not started → Not started — Test #5, 2 Oct: closed by her at 26 of 120 min; no re-read recorded. Fourth early hand-in running (50, 28, 32, 26 of 120).

R2 Not started → Not started — Test #5, 2 Oct: answer length against marks — 4 marks four letters; 8 marks about 65 words; 12 marks five words; 16 marks ten words.

A3 Not started → Not started — Test #5, 2 Oct: 12- and 16-mark answers reached no level (0/12, 0/16), 0 quotations in either; 8-mark answer Level 2 bottom (3/8).

A5 Not started → Not started — Test #5, 2 Oct: 0 blank of 4; 2 of 4 answers are a single line with no reference to the text (28 of 40 marks).

Next: Next paper: before Start she types the one target back in her own words — every answer worth more than 4 marks gets at least one quotation before Hand in. Record quotations per question, minutes per question against marks, and the hand-in minute. A target only stated in chat has now failed twice (general on 30 Sep, countable on 2 Oct). Before that paper, one extended answer is built in a subject lesson with a visible timer, so staying on a big question has happened once outside a test.

2026-09-30 ✓ reviewed

Technique read of test #3 (English Language placement, fiction reading, 40 marks, typed): handed in by her at 32 of 120 minutes, 0 blank of 4, no flags, answered in paper order with no return recorded. Time ran inverse to marks: 9 min on the 4-mark list (guide 5), 16 min on the 8-mark language question (guide 10), 3 min on the 8-mark structure question (guide 10), 2 min on the 20-mark evaluation (guide 20) — 25 of 30 focused minutes on 12 marks, 5 minutes on 28. The 20-marker is one sentence and the structure answer three. Both the paper's instructions (half the marks are on the last question) and the chat opener (go back to the biggest question and add a paragraph before handing in) were general; neither changed the sitting. Marks lost to technique rather than knowledge are mainly on the structure question and the length of the last answer; the evaluation question's content is untaught.

T2 Not started → Not started — Test #3, 30 Sep: 25 of 30 focused minutes on the first 12 marks, 5 minutes on the remaining 28; 20-mark question 2 min of a 20 min guide. No status change from marking.

T4 Not started → Not started — Test #3, 30 Sep: handed in at 32 of 120 min, 88 min unused; saved in order Q1-Q4 with no return to any question recorded. Third paper closed under half the window (50/120, 28/120, 32/120).

R2 Not started → Not started — Test #3, 30 Sep: 1 sentence for 20 marks, 3 sentences for 8 marks, 2 sentences for 8 marks; the 4-mark list got four full points. Length did not scale with marks above 4.

A3 Not started → Not started — Test #3, 30 Sep: all three level-marked answers placed in Level 1 (2/8, 2/8, 1/20); none carries a developed point; 0 quotations on the 20-marker.

A5 Not started → Not started — Test #3, 30 Sep: 0 blank of 4, including the untaught 20-mark question, which was answered in one sentence.

Next: Friday 2 Oct paper (/exam/5): before Start give one countable line, not a general one — the biggest-mark question gets at least 15 minutes on the clock and three quotations before Hand in. Record minutes per question against marks, and whether the sitting passes 45 minutes. Keep watching whether any answer grows after she first finishes.

2026-09-28 ✓ reviewed

Technique read of the CS paper 2 placement (test #2, 2 h window, 53 marks, guide 90 min). Started 12:52 Mon 28 Sep, closed by Paige after 28 min — 92 of 120 min unused. Order: Q1, Q4, Q7, Q22 (the six-marker, fourth, against the instruction to do it last), then Q2, Q3, Q5, Q6, Q8–Q11, Q16–Q21, Q12–Q15. No flags. 17 'skip' entries as the placement allowed, all on untaught content, so not counted as avoidance; 0 typed blanks. Time: Q3 and Q6 (binary) 7 min each before skipping — effort on untaught content, not a time hog since neither had a guide she could meet. The six-marker: 3 min against a 9-min guide, two sentences, one of three named groups, no verdict — Level 1, 2/6; this is the same shape as yesterday's Literature one-sentence 24-marker and is the technique target: the extended answer is attempted but stops at the first idea. Marks lost to technique rather than knowledge: Q22 — 2 further marks were available from the school's side and a verdict with content she had (she named the hack risk); Q11 — 'ram and memory' answered the component not the function, a command-word loss on a topic she partly had.

A3 Not started → Not started — CS paper 2, 28 Sep: 6-mark discuss answered in two sentences, one group of three, no conclusion, Level 1, 2/6 in 3 of 9 min — attempted, not developed.

R2 Not started → Not started — CS paper 2, 28 Sep: 3 min and two sentences on a 6-mark question with a 9-min guide — tariff not read as length.

A5 Not started → Not started — CS paper 2, 28 Sep: 0 typed blanks; 17 'skip' as instructed on untaught content; the six-marker was attempted.

T4 Not started → Not started — CS paper 2, 28 Sep: closed at 28 of 120 min; six-marker not revisited.

Next: Next paper with a discuss/explain question: before Start read one line aloud — 'a 6-mark discuss wants each group the question names, one point and one because each, then a verdict'. Record sentences written and minutes used against the guide. Keep watching whether she closes with most of the window unused.

2026-09-28 ✓ reviewed

Technique read of the Literature placement (test #4, 2 h window, 32 marks). Started 11:28, closed by Paige after 26 min — 94 of 120 min unused. Order: Q2 (recall) saved first, then Q1 (unseen). Q1 21 min of 30 guide, 2/24; Q2 4 min of 10 guide, 2/8. 0 blanks, nothing flagged. Marks lost to technique rather than knowledge: Q1 — one sentence for a 24-mark question (tariff not matched, extended answer never reached a band) when she had shown she understood the poem; Q2 — quotations given without the explanation the question asked for twice, and a theme given where a form/structure fact was asked. Time hog: none in the usual sense — Q1 took under its guide and scored under half, so the problem is stopping, not stalling. No checking time used: closed with 78% of the window unused and a one-sentence 24-marker on the page.

T4 Not started → Not started — Closed by Paige at 26 of 120 min, 94 min unused, with a one-sentence answer on the 24-mark question and no explanations on Q2. No checking pass. 0 blanks. Single paper, no status change.

R2 Not started → Not started — 24-mark question answered in one sentence (21 min); 8-mark two-part question answered with quotations only, the 'explain' half of each part and the 'effect' half of part 2 left out. Tariff not read as length. Single paper, no status change.

A3 Not started → Not started — Extended 24-mark answer: one correct sentence, no quotation, no paragraph; Level 1 of 6. Band not reached on content she had grasped. Single paper, no status change.

A5 Not started → Not started — 0 blanks of 2 questions; both attempted. But the 24-marker's one sentence is functionally a near-blank. Single paper, no status change.

R1 Not started → Not started — Q2 'explain what it shows' done for neither quotation; 'state one thing about form or structure' answered with a theme. Command words not followed. Single paper, no status change.

Next: Next paper (CS theory Tue): watch whether she closes early with time unused and whether the extended answers get more than one sentence. On the next Lit/Lang paper: before Start, read one line aloud — 'a 24-mark question wants three paragraphs; write a plan then paragraph one'.

2026-W39 · week of 2026-09-21

2026-09-27 ✓ reviewed

Technique read of the CS paper 1 placement (test #1, 2 h window, 52 marks, guide 90 min). Started 12:26 Sun 27 Sep, closed by Paige after 50 min — 70 of 120 min unused, 40 min under the 90-min guide. Order: Q1, Q7, Q8, Q10, Q14, Q16, Q17, Q6, Q15, Q19, Q2, Q12, Q13, Q18, Q20, Q21, Q22, Q4, Q5, Q11, Q3, Q9 — jumped around the paper, no flags. 0 typed blanks; Q12(2) 'i don't know', Q20(2) empty. Marks lost to technique rather than knowledge: Q18 0/3 — three correct test-data values with no 'what the program should do', a two-part instruction half answered; Q9 mark 3 — correct logic printed instead of stored in the named variable, and a premise ('age already holds a number') ignored; Q11 last mark — trace continued one pass after the condition was false. Time hog: none — Q9 ran 6 min on a 4-min guide and scored 2/3; every other question at or under its guide. No checking time: closed with 58% of the window unused and two sub-parts empty.

R1 Not started → Not started — CS paper 1, 27 Sep: Q9 'store in a variable called price' answered with print statements; Q18 'give a value and state what the program should do' answered with values only — 4 marks lost to reading the instruction, not to knowledge.

A5 Not started → Not started — CS paper 1, 27 Sep: 22 questions, 0 typed blanks; 2 sub-parts empty (Q12b, Q20b), both on untaught content.

T4 Not started → Not started — CS paper 1, 27 Sep: closed after 50 of 120 min, 40 min under the paper's own guide, with two sub-parts empty and no checking pass.

T2 Not started → Not started — CS paper 1, 27 Sep: every question at or under its time guide except Q9 (6 min on 4); total 50 min against a 90-min guide — pace is not the problem on this paper.

Next: Next paper: before Start, read one line aloud — 'when a question asks for two things, answer both; when it names a variable, use it'. Watch whether the trace table stops at the false condition, and whether she uses any of the leftover time to check.