How to review a practice test

Taking a practice test is a measurement. Reviewing it is the training. Budget as much time for the review as the test took — two hours, split across two sittings if you need to.

#The order

1. Before looking at any answers, re-do everything you flagged or felt unsure about. Untimed. This separates "didn't know" from "didn't have time", and those need completely different fixes. Mark which ones you now get right.

2. Now check the answers. Every question you got wrong goes in the error log with a real reason (see The error log).

3. Then check the ones you got right. This is the step everyone skips. For each correct answer ask: did I know why, or did I narrow it to two and pick well? A guessed-right question is a miss that hasn't happened yet. Log it as "right for the wrong reason" — it belongs in the same pile.

4. Read the official explanation only after you've re-solved it yourself. Reading first robs you of the attempt, and the attempt is where the learning is.

#What to look at across the whole test

• Where in each module did accuracy fall? If the last five questions are consistently wrong, that's pacing, not content.
• Which domain leaked most? Compare to your last test. One domain that's stubborn across three tests needs a different approach, not more of the same drilling.
• Are conventions questions taking you more than 40 seconds? If so, the rule isn't automatic yet, and that's costing you time everywhere else.
• Did you leave anything blank? There's no penalty for wrong answers. A blank is a wasted lottery ticket, and it should never happen twice.

#What not to do

• Don't re-take the same test. You'll remember answers and get a number that means nothing.
• Don't review only the wrong ones. See step 3.
• Don't take another test the next day. Nothing has changed yet. Do a week of targeted work on what this test showed you, then measure again.

#The cadence

Test → review → two to three weeks of targeted work → test. Real practice tests are a finite resource. Spending one every weekend converts a diagnostic tool into a way of feeling busy.