When are A-level mocks? Dates, whether they count and how to revise

Each card is today's short timed A-level mock: 8 questions and 25 to 35 marks, marked when you finish.

When are A-level mocks in 2026 and 2027?

Mocks are set by schools and colleges, not by the exam boards, so the only reliable dates are on your school calendar. The usual pattern is:

• Year 13 mocks: in the winter, most often between late November and January. For students sitting A-levels in 2027, that means now.
• Year 12 mocks: often in the summer term, near the end of the year. Some schools call these end-of-year exams.
• A second Year 13 round: some schools add one in February or March, nearer the real thing.

These are the fixed dates for the year, from JCQ and UCAS.

Do A-level mocks count?

No. Your A-level grades come from the summer exams and, in subjects that have it, coursework. Ofqual's guidance asks schools to run mocks in exam conditions and keep the work, but says that evidence would only be used for grades in the unlikely event that the summer exams could not go ahead. A university offer is met or missed on your real results in August, not your mocks.

Mocks can still shape things that matter. Schools decide predicted grades in their own way, and some use Year 12 exams as part of the evidence, so ask how yours works. Year 13 mocks also show where you stand while there is still time to act, and they are where any access arrangements, such as extra time, get tried out.

A-level mock exams: what to expect

Expect real-length papers. In the 2027 timetables from Edexcel and OCR, A-level maths and science papers last between 1 hour 30 minutes and 2 hours 30 minutes, and A-level Maths is three papers of 2 hours each. Ofqual says a mock should be timed like the real exam and supervised, with no notes and no sight of the questions beforehand.

The paper is often a recent real one. Pearson keeps its newest papers for teachers only, so that at least one can be used as a mock, and releases most papers once they are nine months old.

Are A-level mocks harder than the real exams?

The papers aren't, but the timing makes them feel it. In a Year 13 mock you may meet Year 2 topics you haven't finished, and A-level papers mix topics from across both years. Your teacher also has to grade the mock with an earlier year's boundaries. Ofqual advises boundaries from 2019 or earlier, or 2023 onwards, because grading in 2020, 2021 and 2022 was unusually generous.

How to read your A-level mock result

Look at the marks, not just the letter. In AQA A-level Maths, the three 100 mark papers add up to 300, and in June 2026 an A took 219 and an A* took 260. That is about 73 and 87 marks on a single paper. Score 68 on one paper and you are about 5 marks from an A: often one careless slip and one unfinished question.

Boundaries move every year, so treat a mock grade as a guide. Ofqual is clear that a grade given for a mock is not your final grade. Then sort every lost mark: didn't know it, knew it but slipped, or ran out of time. Each needs a different fix.

How to revise for A-level mocks

1. Get the topic list. Ask your teachers what each mock covers. If they won't say, assume everything taught so far.
2. Learn the booklets. Maths, physics and chemistry come with a formula or data booklet in the exam. Practise with the same one, so you know what is given and what you must remember.
3. Read the examiner reports. The boards publish one for each paper. They say where students lost marks, which tells you what the mark scheme rewards.
4. Sciences: revise the required practicals. Questions on methods, results and errors appear on the written papers.
5. Practise against the clock. Mix full papers at weekends with short timed papers on weekday evenings.

Use a daily paper as a short timed mock

A new paper appears every day for each A-level we cover. Maths is split by topic: Algebra and Functions, Calculus, Statistics and Mechanics, plus Further Maths. The sciences are split by year: Physics Year 1 and Year 2, Chemistry Year 1 and Year 2, Biology Year 1 and Year 2. There is also Computer Science.

1. Clear the desk and keep only what the exam allows, including your formula or data booklet.
2. Start the timer and don't pause it.
3. Mark the paper, then read the mark scheme for every part where you dropped marks.
4. Log the topic of each lost mark, and fix the biggest pile before tomorrow's paper.

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