Using examination questions and past papers as part of your revision is one of the most effective ways to improve your knowledge. These are best used in combination with active recall techniques and spaced repetition.
Past exam papers are an amazing resource that not only gives insight into the format and structure of an exam but also helps you practice your exam technique. Use them regularly, and they will help you become familiar with the types of questions, the time constraints, and the overall layout of a subject exam. This makes it an excellent preparation strategy.
Use a range of past papers from previous years to help you organise your revision. You should focus on revising topics that you are weakest in so identifying topics addressed in each paper is a good place to start. Once these are identified you can then use specific past papers to help you revise this content.
Using mark schemes is an excellent way to improve your knowledge. As well as helping you to understand how marks are awarded and what was required from each of the questions you answered, it will also help you to see where you are losing marks and what you can do to correct this. After marking your work. Work on identifying any mistakes or knowledge gaps. Note these areas and dedicate additional time to revising them.
It's always a good idea to read the examiners' reports for past exams. These are written by the people who mark the exams. and they write a report on each exam paper explaining what they wanted to see from students and where students went wrong. This is an amazing resource for understanding exactly what's expected of you in an exam.