Before
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Four weeks out: name the topics the mock will cover. Tell the class, in writing.
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Four weeks out: find out which of those topics the class thinks it is weakest on. Ask them, do not guess.
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Three weeks out: run a short recall task on the two weakest topics. Keep it low stakes.
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Three weeks out: show them one real question and take it apart before anyone answers it.
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Two weeks out: a timed section, not a whole paper. Timing is a separate skill from knowing.
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Two weeks out: hand back the timed section with the mark scheme, not just a mark.
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One week out: retrieval on everything, mixed up, not topic by topic.
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One week out: practical questions. Where is the exam, what do they bring, how long is it.
After, which is where the marks are
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Mark the paper by QUESTION across the class, not student by student. The pattern is the useful thing.
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Name the three questions the class did worst on. Those are your next three lessons.
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Give students their own three, not a grade alone. A number tells them where they are and not what to do.
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Reteach one of the three, then test it again within a fortnight. Without the retest it was a conversation.
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Write down what you would change next time, now, while you still remember.
A mock nobody acts on is an expensive way to confirm what you already suspected. If only one half of this sheet gets done, make it the second one.