Question 1

When should I start doing Pearson Edexcel GCSE Chemistry past papers?

Accepted Answer

There's no need to wait until the final weeks to start, and working through past questions topic by topic from early in the year is one of the most effective ways to revise.

As you finish each topic in class, our by-topic view lets you find past questions on just that topic, so you can check your understanding while the content is still fresh.

This kind of spaced retrieval, revisiting questions on a topic after some time has passed, helps the material stick far better than leaving everything until the run-up to exams.

We'd suggest saving 2–3 full past papers for the final few weeks of revision; your school mocks are a natural checkpoint for attempting a complete paper across all the Paper 1 or Paper 2 topics.

Question 2

How many past papers should I do?

Accepted Answer

There is no fixed number to aim for, and quality of review matters more than volume. For Edexcel GCSE Chemistry Higher, the spec has been running since 2018, so there are several years of Paper 1 and Paper 2 available, giving you a solid bank to work through.

We'd suggest spacing them out across your revision rather than saving them all for the end. This is a form of spaced retrieval practice, which research shows builds retention more effectively than cramming everything close to the exam.

After each paper, spend time going through every question you dropped marks on and use our by-topic view to fill those gaps before attempting the next one. Our exam practice is a great place to sharpen topic-by-topic skills in between full papers too.

Question 3

Should I do past papers under timed conditions?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Timed practice is worth building into your revision, and knowing the format helps: each Edexcel Chemistry Higher paper is 1 hour 45 minutes for 100 marks, so you have just over a minute per mark on average.

We'd suggest getting solid on the content first using our notes and flashcards, then moving into timed past papers as your exam date approaches. Any question that takes noticeably longer than expected is a useful signal pointing you back to our by-topic view for a closer look. Pre-testing, where you attempt a paper before you feel fully ready, is worth trying too: research shows it primes your memory and reveals gaps far more clearly than re-reading ever could.

Question 4

What should I do if I get a low mark on a past paper?

Accepted Answer

A low mark on a past paper is more useful than it might feel right now, because it tells you exactly where to focus. We'd suggest going through the mark scheme question by question to identify whether you're dropping marks on knowledge recall (AO1), applying that knowledge to unfamiliar contexts (AO2), or analysing and evaluating data (AO3).

Those three assessment objectives each carry real weight across both papers, so pinpointing which one is letting you down shapes everything that comes next. Once you've spotted the pattern, use our by-topic view to revisit the relevant Cognito notes before working through more exam practice on that area.

Spaced retrieval (coming back to those weak topics a day or two later rather than immediately re-reading them) is one of the most effective ways to make the content stick. If calculations are the issue, work through our exam practice on that specific topic and check each step against the mark scheme, not just the final answer.

Question 5

How do I mark my own past paper using the Pearson Edexcel mark scheme?

Accepted Answer

Marking your own work honestly is one of the most valuable things you can do with a past paper. For the multiple-choice, short-answer and calculation questions across both 1CH0 papers, it's worth reading each mark point in the Pearson Edexcel mark scheme and only awarding yourself a mark when your answer clearly satisfies that criterion. For calculation questions in particular, it's worth checking whether the mark scheme awards method marks separately from the final answer, since a slip early on doesn't always cost you every mark downstream.

Extended open-response questions are the trickiest to self-mark, because Pearson typically marks these using a levels-of-response approach, where marks are awarded in bands based on the quality of your reasoning rather than a checklist of bullet points. We'd suggest reading the level descriptors honestly and deciding which band best describes your response, then looking at the indicative content to see what strong answers included. Our exam practice on Cognito shows the kind of reasoning that earns marks at higher tier, which can really help you calibrate your self-marking.

Question 6

How does Cognito group Pearson Edexcel past-paper questions by topic?

Accepted Answer

Our by-topic view organises every past-paper question from the Pearson Edexcel 1CH0 spec into the course's nine topics, so you can focus your practice on exactly the area you need. Questions on Topic 3 (Chemical changes), Topic 7 (Rates of reaction and energy changes), or any of the other topics are pulled together in one place, regardless of which paper or year they appeared in.

Three moments where our by-topic view works especially well:
- **Just before an end-of-unit test**, work through questions on that specific topic to check your understanding while it's still fresh. - **When mock results flag a weak area**, head straight to that topic and use active recall to rebuild your confidence question by question. - **During topic-by-topic revision in the run-up to the exams**, move through each of the nine topics in turn to make sure nothing goes unrevised.