Top Students Do This One Thing: Read Examiner Comments
- Ashish Sharma
- Mar 31
- 3 min read
If you are reading this blog and are preparing for your final exams by going through practice papers and marking them then I would highly advise you use another resource to aid your revision:
Examiner comments!
These are reports associated with past papers that are generated by exam boards. The main aim of these reports are actually for the teachers as they:
Give insight on how the entire cohort of students fared across questions in a particular paper
Show teachers common themes where students struggled on that could further inform teaching practice
Highlight strengths of a cohort across different questions to confirm effective practice
However these PDF documents which are quite easy to access can and SHOULD be used by students as well.
Here is a question below from a particular paper (Edexcel June 2024 Paper 1 Pure):
Here is the examiners comment for the same question:
What are the key takeaways from this report?
1. Learning What the Examiner Wanted Students to Do
The report states that the question was “very accessible” and that most students correctly used the factor theorem to form a simple linear equation in k.
Why this matters :
Students learn the intended method:
✔ Apply factor theorem → substitute 3 → form an equation → solve for k.
This clarifies the examiner’s expectation, which doesn’t always feel obvious from the question alone.
2. Understanding exactly where students lost Marks
The report lists several common errors:
incorrect setup of the linear equation
failing to include a=0
attempting unnecessary algebraic division
trying to substitute g(−3)=0 (an irrelevant value)
errors in solving the linear equation
Examiner comments act like a “mistake checklist” students can revise from. If a student recognises that they do the same things, they’ve found an instant revision target.
3. Learning which methods are efficient — and which waste Time
The examiner clearly warns:
“A common alternative route was to attempt division… which made this otherwise routine question significantly more challenging.”
This is extremely valuable feedback.
Students often overcomplicate questions. Examiner reports help them identify the quickest, cleanest approach — vital for timing in the exam.
4. Seeing Examples of “Recoverable Marks”
The report mentions:
“Some candidates did not include a=0… however they were able to recover and achieve the marks if implied by later work.”
This teaches students that:
showing working matters
even if they forget something, they can still score well
clarity and logical reasoning are rewarded
Students should understand that exam marks are not “all or nothing.” Examiner comments highlight where marks can still be earned in imperfect solutions.
5. Developing better judgement on Method Choice
The examiner says:
“Centres should ensure candidates consider which method is more appropriate.”
This is exam technique — not maths content.
Examiner comments help students develop exam judgement, which is often what separates the top grade students from the rest.
6. Awareness of rare but unhelpful attempts
The report refers to:
“Quite rarely, g(-3) = 0 was attempted…”
This shows what happens when students misinterpret the factor theorem or grab the wrong root.
Understanding how students misinterpret prompts helps others avoid similar misunderstandings.
7. Learning how Marks are withheld until a Key Step Is completed
The marker notes:
“…marks could not be awarded until their linear remainder… was set equal to zero.”
Overall this is great evidence that:
examiners need mathematically complete steps
an incomplete method cannot earn full marks
structure and reasoning matter
Students can learn exactly what “complete working” looks like from real exam commentary.
8. Realistic Benchmarking: What do Successful Candidates do?
The examiner praises:
the majority who used factor theorem correctly
those who worked neatly within the intended method
the very small proportion who successfully factorised or used algebraic division properly
Students often wonder, “What do strong candidates actually do?”. Examiner comments give them a model to emulate.
This 2024 examiner’s comment on Question 1 shows exactly why reading these reports is so important. Students can see the simplest correct method (use the factor theorem), the easy pitfalls (incorrect equation setup), the unnecessary methods that waste time (algebraic division), and how marks are awarded based on clear reasoning.
Examiner comments turn real candidates’ mistakes into revision lessons you can learn from without losing marks yourself. To find examiner comment documents you will most likely need to access the relevant exam board website and search for it there.
I would highly advise using them after you have done a practice paper yourself to get a feel for how questions were answered, what the major pitfalls were and how best to ensure you can get those marks!
Best of luck!
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