Why the analysis matters more than the score
Taking a mock tells you where you stand today. Analysing it tells you what to change so that next week you stand somewhere better. A candidate who takes three mocks and reviews each deeply will usually improve faster than one who takes ten and only checks the score.
Plan roughly one and a half to two times the test duration for analysis: re-attempt every question you got wrong or skipped, understand why, and record it. A mock without this review is mostly wasted time.
Numbers to record after every mock
Keep a simple sheet, one row per mock, with per-section columns:
- Attempts and correct - from which accuracy (correct divided by attempts).
- Net score after the negative-marking penalty.
- Time spent in the section (if the platform reports it) and time per question.
- Unattempted count, split into "didn't reach" and "chose to skip".
- Sectional cut-off status - did you clear the likely minimum for that section.
Over several mocks these columns show trends: is accuracy rising while attempts hold, is one section always the time sink, are you consistently just below a cut-off somewhere.
Categorising every wrong answer
For each wrong answer, tag it with one cause:
- Knowledge gap: you did not know the concept, formula or rule. Fix: study that topic.
- Application error: you knew the idea but set up or executed it wrongly. Fix: more practice on that question type, focusing on the setup step.
- Careless error: misread the question, wrong option marked, arithmetic slip, missed a "not". Fix: a checking habit, not more study.
- Time-pressure error: rushed because the clock was low. Fix: pacing and set selection, from the time-management topic.
Count how many of each you make. Careless and time-pressure errors are usually the fastest to cut and the most common in borderline scores.
Keeping an error log
Maintain a running list of the questions you got wrong or found slow, with: the topic, the error category, the correct method in one or two lines, and the specific lesson ("read the DI table headings before the questions", "remember senior takes 'to' not 'than'").
Re-read the log before your next mock and before the exam. Many candidates find that the same five or six lessons appear again and again; getting those to zero moves the score more than learning new topics.
Turning analysis into next week's plan
End every analysis with two or three concrete actions, not vague resolutions:
- If a topic caused several knowledge-gap errors: schedule two study sessions on it and a topic-specific drill this week.
- If one section is a time sink: do three timed sectional drills of that section and set a tighter walk-away limit.
- If careless errors are high: add a fixed 10-second check (units, sign, the word "not", the option letter) before marking, and watch the careless count in the next mock.
Then take the next mock and check whether those specific numbers moved. That feedback loop - measure, change one or two things, measure again - is the whole point.
Common mistakes
- Only looking at the score and rank. They tell you nothing about what to fix.
- Reviewing only wrong answers. Also review the ones you got right slowly, or by luck.
- No error categories. Without them you cannot tell a study problem from a checking problem, and you fix the wrong thing.
- Taking mocks back to back with no analysis in between. Two analysed mocks beat five unanalysed ones.
- Vague resolutions. "Be more careful" is not an action; "do a 10-second units-and-sign check before marking" is.
- Changing many things at once. Change one or two, measure, then change more - otherwise you cannot tell what worked.
Quick revision
- Analysing a mock matters more than taking it; budget 1.5 to 2 times the test length for review and re-attempt every wrong or skipped question.
- Record per section, every mock: attempts, correct, accuracy, net score, time, unattempted (didn't-reach vs skipped), cut-off status. Watch the trends.
- Tag every wrong answer: knowledge gap (study it), application error (practise the type), careless (build a checking habit), time-pressure (fix pacing).
- Keep an error log with topic, category, the right method in one line, and the specific lesson; re-read it before each mock and the exam.
- Close each analysis with two or three concrete actions, take the next mock, and check whether those numbers moved. Change one or two things at a time.