When we talk about class 10th it is a quite crucial time for the students and there is immense pressure on the student to score above 90% marks, as this is the first time that the student appears for an exam that is not conducted by their schools and is set outside by some examiner not known to you. It becomes quite a scary situation for the students and they often experience fear and anxiety and tend to make mistakes. It is very important that students practice keeping in mind the format of the exam and spend time on chapters and questions that are asked most frequently in the exam and avoid getting stressed. Students must always have a positive attitude. The best way that a student can practice and make the maximum out of it is by solving past year question papers, which will give the student an idea of the type of questions the examiner asks, and this is also the most organized and practical way to be sure about your preparation.
So, the question arises that when should you start solving the past year question papers and what procedure you must follow to make the best out of it, the answers to some of these questions are given below in detail :
When should you start solving question papers in the course of your preparation?
There is a very simple and practical answer to this question, which is the advice of most experts. The answer is that you must start solving previous years’ question papers as soon as you complete your syllabus and you must keep in mind that you must completely finish your syllabus at least a month in advance of the exams. You must start your question papers a month before the exam; this will allow you to identify and correct yourself so that you can do better on the day of the exam. You can find CBSE Class 10 Previous Year Question Papers here.
What are the benefits of solving old question papers?
There are a number of benefits that solving old papers brings with them, which are given below:
- You know what to expect
When you solve old question papers you get an idea of what the exam might be like, so when you get to face the exam in reality you are already familiar with the pattern of the exam and you have a sufficient idea of the type and level of the questions. You would also know how to handle a wide variety of questions.
- Method to self evaluate
The most important practice the students must do is that they must have the habit of self-analyzing and self-evaluating themselves, and solving past year papers helps them self-evaluate themselves and lets them explore their strengths and weaknesses and then find ways to tackle their issues. No one can know the student better than he himself, and that’s what solving past papers do, they help the student to know their capabilities.
- The reliability factor
In today’s time, there are numerous books floating in the market that guarantee a good score in the exams. These books contain several questions which are sometimes irrelevant or so difficult that they are not expected to be asked in the class 10th board exams. In this case, the previous years’ question papers serve as the most reliable source of practice questions. It is seen that numerous times the questions in the exam are directly repeated in the exams, which makes them even more trustworthy. So, practicing from these papers always comes with a feeling of trust.
- Trend analysis
Solving the question papers from the past years gives an idea of the trends in the board exams in terms of the format of the paper, the level of the paper, or the length of the paper. You can also judge the important questions and chapters which are most important from the point of view of the exam. If the student has a proper idea of the successive trends in the old question papers then he will also be able to judge the present paper and will have a relaxed and positive attitude before the exam and this will help the student perform better.
- Saves time
Solving old exam papers saves you a lot of time as it provides you with the right approach to solve the exam paper in reality. You will already know how to move forward with each type of question and due to which a lot of time will be saved in the exam.
- Self-improvement
As it is discussed in the above points, solving old question papers lets you know about multiple ways to approach a question and multiple ways of how to handle complex questions. It is also a fact that it also tells you about your mistakes and by carefully analyzing your mistakes you will be able to improve yourself and you will try to focus on subjects and chapters you’re weak with and tend to get confused easily.
Now that we have talked about the advantages of solving old question papers, we must also know about the procedure of how to practice for your board exam using past year question papers.
What is the correct method of solving previous years’ question papers?
It is usually seen with a number of students that they keep looking at the solutions to questions they get wrong while simultaneously solving the paper, which is completely not the right way to go forward. You must ensure that you solve the paper in one go by setting a timer, and after completing you must analyze your mistakes and work on the questions you were not able to solve earlier. You should solve the paper as if you are giving the real exam, only then will you be able to be comfortable on the day of the exam.
How many question papers should you solve?
You must solve at least the past ten-year question papers to get a proper idea of the exam.
So, this was all about the past years’ question papers and their advantages. Students must solve past year question papers to ensure good marks on their boards.