How should a child use mock exams in the last four weeks?
Use full mocks to rehearse the day, not to chase a score: at most two a week, each followed by a careful review, with short drills on the weakest topics between them and a light final week. This is our view, not the advice of any school.
Everything below is our view, written from how children tire at a screen and how revision tends to go. It is not advice from any school, and a child’s own pace matters more than any plan. The one external fact is that Dubai College says a child may sit its Year 7 entrance assessment only once (source: the school’s Year 7 frequently asked questions, read 16 October 2026), which is a good reason to treat a mock as a rehearsal.
What is a mock for?
A full mock does three jobs. It lets a child rehearse the length and the screen. It shows which topics need attention. And it makes the real day feel familiar. It does not tell a family whether their child will be offered a place, and we do not claim it does.
What does each week look like?
| Week | Full mocks | Between mocks |
|---|---|---|
| Four weeks out | One, to find where the child is | Short drills on the two or three weakest topics, 20 to 40 minutes, a few times a week |
| Three weeks out | Up to two, with a rest day before and after | Review every wrong answer, then drill the topics that came up again |
| Two weeks out | Up to two, one of them a single module on its own | Keep drills short; praise method, not marks |
| The final week | One, early in the week | Light drills only, no new topics, normal bedtimes; nothing at all the day before |
How should a family review a mock?
- Leave it a few hours. A tired child does not learn from a review.
- Go through the wrong answers only, and ask the child to say why the right answer is right.
- Look for patterns: a topic, a careless slip, or running short of time.
- Choose the next drill from the pattern, and stop there.
On Mockplan, the results page opens with the wrong answers, and the study plan keeps to at most two full mocks a week, counted back from the test date.
What should a family avoid?
- Marathons. Two full mocks in a day teach tiredness.
- New topics in the final week. Familiar practice builds confidence; new material builds doubt.
- Comparing scores with other children. Mock papers differ, and so does the real test.
- Treating a bad mock as a verdict. It is information about what to practise next.
Questions parents ask
- How many full mocks should a child sit in the last four weeks?
- Our view: up to two a week in the middle weeks, one early in the final week, and none in the last two days.
- What should happen after each mock?
- A review of every wrong answer, then a short drill on the two or three topics that went least well. The review is where most of the learning is.
- Should a child keep practising the day before the test?
- Our view: nothing at all, or one short, easy drill if the child wants it.
- Are the timings in a mock the real ones?
- No. Timings and question counts in our mocks are based on publicly reported information and are not official.
- Can a child resit the real test if a mock goes badly?
- That depends on the school. Dubai College says a child may sit its Year 7 assessment only once, which is a reason to treat mocks as rehearsal, not as a verdict.
- Do mocks predict the result?
- No. A mock shows how one paper went and what to practise next. We make no prediction of any result.
Sources
Facts last checked on 17 October 2026. Everything else on this page is our own view.
- Dubai College: Year 7 frequently asked questions(opens in a new tab)read 17 October 2026
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Mockplan is independent practice. It is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, any school or test publisher named on this page, and the names are used only to say what the practice is for.