5 Things I Wish I Knew Before My Mocks

Recurring nightmares about missing calculators and speed writing onto coloured booklets can mean only one thing! Mocks 2022 are just around the corner. With the arrival of the pre-Leaving Cert exams comes the stresses that only a state exams student can know. My Leaving Cert is behind me now so while I am not facing any mocks this year, I do have the advice and recommendations of someone who survived them!

Tips And Advice To Rock The Mocks 2024

Fuel Up

I could not tell you a single question that came up on my business mock, but I will never forget how loudly my stomach rumbled for the entire second hour of the exam! I had always associated exerting energy with physical exercise but as my mock exams taught me the use of brain power also requires some serious fuel. Regardless of any potential nerves it is always essential that you eat a nutritious breakfast. Even without taking the physical benefits into account, trust me that the embarrassment associated with your stomach rumbling in the middle of silent exam conditions will not be a lesson you look to repeat.

It can be a bit of a novelty

This is one that you might have to experience to believe. However, after all the talk and pressure coming up to the mocks there was a part of me that felt it wasn’t as bad as I had feared. Within the school building there is a sense of reverence around the exam year students. Combine this with the fact that some days only had two hours of exams to sit in comparison with the usual long school days and honestly the actual week itself was far less panicky than I anticipated.

Sleep is better than study

Like most exam students my sleep schedule during exam periods was notoriously bad. Despite this there is no doubt that the brain requires rest to rejuvenate and prepare for an exam. Lack of sleep also increases irritability and heightens your emotional response which is definitely not ideal during the stress of exam season. If you’re still unconvinced then read our article exploring the debate between overnighters and early nights.

You may lose motivation

When my motivation waned in the lead up to my mocks, I reassured myself that I would cram massively during the week of the exams themselves. By contrast I found that after the mental strain of actually sitting an exam, my motivation to prepare for the next was almost non-existent. After an exam I frequently found myself scrolling mindlessly on my phone or getting into bed. This was in direct contrast to the hours of revision that I expected to cram in between my papers. Similarly, I actually found myself mentally over my last exam papers before they had even started. This is not necessarily a tactic I would recommend but it is worth considering the mental stamina that will be required to maintain focus during a two week exam session.

They really are not the end of the world

Mock exams are stressful. There is no debate over the correct response to that statement. However, your future will not be dictated by something scribbled down on paper months before your real exam. Your mocks might go brilliantly or they might be terrible but I can honestly say that when someone asks me how my mocks went I think back to my stomach rumbling during the business paper far more than I do any of the results.