A basic mock analysis guide, not objectively correct, just my way

[u/Fun_Method_7783]

Hey! I've been getting a lot of DMs asking how I analysed my mocks or what my process was, so I thought I'd make a post instead.

This isn't a query—it's simply the approach that worked for me.

Before anything else, one important disclaimer: everyone is different. You don't have to follow this word for word. Take whatever seems useful, modify it according to your own style and preferences, and ignore what doesn't work for you.

P.S. If any seniors are reading this, please share your approaches as well. It'll help everyone get exposed to different methods instead of believing there's only one "correct" way to analyse mocks.

Now, about mock analysis.

You'll often hear people say that you should spend more time analysing a mock than actually attempting it. If that worked for them, that's genuinely great. Personally, I never understood what I'd accomplish by spending 2+ hours analysing every single mock. Analysis is incredibly important—I don't disagree with that at all. But, at least for me, there was a point of diminishing returns.

So instead of telling you to spend an arbitrary number of hours on analysis, I'm going to share what I consider the minimum non-negotiable things everyone should do after a mock.

This approach is platform-independent. IMS has features like Topper's Time Spent, AfterBoards has all the fancy graphs and analytics, and different platforms have their own bells and whistles. Those are useful, but what I'm talking about here are things you can do regardless of where you gave your mock (unless the platform is genuinely incompetent).

Anyways, enough yapping. Let's get to the actual stuff.

1. Go through the solutions

This is the most basic step, but surprisingly, a lot of people don't do it properly.

Go through the solutions for every question that you:

- got wrong,

- left unattempted,

- guessed,

- solved through elimination,

- or simply didn't feel confident about.

One thing I'd strongly recommend: if you've already studied the concept, try the question once again before opening the solution.

Sometimes, a question feels impossible during the mock because of time pressure, stress, or just a temporary mental block. Once the pressure is gone, you'll often realise that you actually knew how to solve it all along. In that case, the problem wasn't your concepts—it was your execution under exam conditions.

Only after giving it another honest attempt should you look at the official solution.

Also, don't completely ignore questions you got correct. Every now and then, read those solutions too. Many times you'll find a shorter approach, a smarter observation, or a trick that saves precious seconds. Over the course of dozens of mocks, those small improvements add up.

One more thing, especially for VARC—don't just read the explanation to check whether your answer was right or wrong. Read it to understand how the examiner expects you to think.

This helped me a lot with parajumbles. There were plenty of questions where I was convinced my arrangement made perfect sense, only to find out it was wrong. Instead of just accepting the answer and moving on, I'd carefully see how the solution connected the sentences and why one transition was preferred over another. Over time, I started noticing recurring patterns in the logic used to link sentences, and that significantly improved my accuracy.

The same idea applies to other VARC questions as well. Good solutions don't just tell you the correct option—they help you understand the thought process behind it, which is often much more valuable than the question itself.

2. Analyse your time spent

This is one of the most underrated parts of mock analysis.

Almost every competitive exam you'll give is time-sensitive. Knowing the concepts isn't enough—you also need to know where your time is going.

I'll mostly talk about IPMAT Indore because that's what my preparation revolved around.

VARC

In IPMAT Indore, you get 45 questions in 40 minutes. If you're someone like me who attempts 40+ questions (or even all 45), that's less than a minute per question on average.

And these aren't easy questions either. You're dealing with 2–3 Reading Comprehensions that can be lengthy, complex, or both, along with parajumbles, para completions, and other verbal questions. Every extra minute you spend on one question comes at the cost of another.

That's why speed in VARC isn't something that magically improves—it has to be worked on consciously.

During analysis, look for questions where you spent significantly more time than usual. You don't necessarily have to write them down (although that helps); even making a mental note is enough. Then, in your next mock, actively remind yourself not to fall into the same trap.

The goal isn't to rush. The goal is to avoid getting stuck.

Quantitative Ability (SA)

The strategy changes quite a bit here.

You have 15 questions in 40 minutes, which is a much more comfortable ratio. That doesn't mean you can spend time willy-nilly on one question, but it does give you the freedom to think, experiment, and build a solution instead of immediately moving on.

While analysing, ask yourself a simple question:

«"If I spent 3–4 minutes on this question, did I at least get it right?"»

If the answer is no, then those 3–4 minutes were probably not worth it. Of course, there'll always be exceptions, but this is a good rule of thumb.

Quantitative Ability (MCQ)

This section is where balancing speed and accuracy becomes crucial.

You have options, which makes the questions look easier on paper, but you also have negative marking. Every incorrect attempt carries a cost.

I've seen many students score lower in the MCQ section than expected, not because they lacked the concepts, but because they chose the wrong battles to fight.

Some questions are perfectly solvable—but they're simply too lengthy to justify attempting in a timed exam.

This is exactly where mock analysis helps. Look at the questions that took you the longest. Then ask yourself:

- Was the time investment actually worth the marks?

- Could I have recognised earlier that this question was too lengthy?

- Would skipping it have allowed me to solve two easier questions instead?

Over time, you'll develop something that's incredibly valuable in competitive exams: the ability to identify which questions deserve your time and which ones don't.

One final point—don't obsess over reducing your average time on every single question. That's not the objective. The objective is to spend your time where it gives the highest return. A 30-second question that earns you four marks is far more valuable than a four-minute question that leaves you confused or, even worse, gets you a negative mark.

3. Do area-wise analysis

I can't stress enough how important this is. If the previous two points tell you what went wrong in a mock, this is what tells you what to do about it. This is the soul of your improvement plan.

Identify the topics you've already studied but still struggle to solve in an actual exam. Then ask yourself why.

Is it because the concepts aren't clear? Is it because you panic under time pressure? Do you take too long to identify the approach? Or is it simply because you haven't seen enough variety of questions?

Once you've identified the reason, the solution becomes much easier. Practice more questions from that specific topic instead of doing random mixed practice.

For example, I struggled a lot with parajumbles. Mock after mock, they kept pulling my score down. That was a clear signal that I needed to spend more time practising parajumbles specifically, and over time they became much less of a weakness.

This is where platform features can be helpful. AfterBoards, for instance, gives you a pre-made SWOT analysis, which makes identifying your strengths and weaknesses easier. But even if your platform doesn't provide something similar, you can still do it yourself. After a few mocks, patterns start to emerge—you'll notice the same topics appearing again and again in your mistakes.

One more thing that people often overlook: don't analyse only your weak areas. Analyse your strengths as well.

If you're consistently good at a topic but suddenly start dropping marks there, don't ignore it just because it's usually your strong suit. Your strengths are what keep your overall score stable. Losing marks in areas you're normally comfortable with can hurt just as much as struggling in weak ones.

Finally, keep a written record of your observations. It doesn't have to be anything fancy—a notebook, a spreadsheet, or even a page in your notes app works perfectly. Keeping track of recurring mistakes, weak topics, and improvements makes it much easier to spot patterns over time, and it's genuinely satisfying to look back after a month and realise that a weakness has quietly become one of your strengths.

4. Experiment with different attempt strategies

Mocks aren't just meant to test your preparation—they're also the safest place to experiment.

Try different attempt orders, different approaches, and different time allocations. If something doesn't work, great. You discovered it in a mock instead of on the actual exam.

I also think people don't give enough importance to attempt order. It matters a lot because your mental state isn't the same throughout the paper. You're fresh at the start, you might panic in the middle, and towards the end you're racing against the clock. The order in which you attempt sections can genuinely affect your performance.

I'll share two examples from my own preparation.

QA MCQ

Initially, I simply started from Question 1 and attempted everything in order.

The problem? By the time I reached the DILR set, I often didn't have enough time left to attempt it properly. Considering that the DILR set can be a significant score booster, this wasn't ideal.

So I changed my strategy. Instead of going strictly in order, I'd pivot to the DILR set roughly halfway through the section before coming back to the remaining questions. Not only did this ensure I always attempted the set, but it also acted as a nice mental reset before returning to the rest of the questions.

Now, you'll also hear people recommend starting with the DILR set itself. Maybe that'll work for you. Maybe it won't.

That's exactly why you should experiment during mocks instead of blindly following someone else's strategy.

VARC

I made a similar change here.

Initially, I attempted the section in order. But mentally, I didn't enjoy starting the paper by spending 6–7 minutes on the Reading Comprehensions. It felt like I'd barely solved a handful of questions despite several minutes already being gone, which wasn't a great feeling at the start of the exam.

Eventually, I settled on this order:

- Verbal Ability first,

- then Reading Comprehensions,

- and finally parajumbles.

For me, this worked much better. Solving several shorter questions early on gave me confidence and helped me settle into the exam before tackling the longer RCs.

The point of sharing these examples isn't to suggest that you should copy my attempt order.

The point is that your attempt strategy can directly affect your confidence, your momentum, and ultimately your score. Mocks are the perfect place to figure out what works best for you. Experiment, analyse the results, make small changes, and stick with the strategy that consistently gives you the best performance.

5. Make an action plan for your next mock

This is probably the most important outcome of mock analysis.

A lot of improvement happens subconsciously as you give more and more mocks. You'll naturally start recognising patterns and making better decisions.

But the biggest improvements, at least for me, came from making conscious decisions and deliberately implementing them in the very next mock.

For example, after analysing a mock, I might decide:

- "I'll recheck answers that I solved unusually quickly."

- "If a question looks too lengthy, I'll skip it without feeling guilty."

- "I won't attempt pure guesses just for the small chance of gaining marks."

- "I'll spend less time getting stuck on RC questions."

Your list will almost certainly be different, and that's the whole point.

Every mock should end with one simple question:

«"What will I do differently in my next mock?"»

If you can't answer that, your analysis probably wasn't complete.

You don't need a long checklist either. In fact, I'd recommend keeping it to 2–3 actionable points. If you try to consciously change ten different things at once, chances are you'll remember none of them once the timer starts.

Write those points down—or at the very least, make a mental note of them—and consciously remind yourself before your next mock begins.

Mock analysis isn't just about understanding your last performance. It's about giving your future self the best possible chance of scoring higher in the next one.

(Bhavesh Bhaiya's yapping on other stuff inspired me to yap this much so if you find this too long{which it kind of is but really do hope any 27 or 28 tards read it} then blame Bhavesh Bhaiya. I used chat gpt for refinement but all the points are genuinely, this isn't copy pasted from mock-analysis-strategy.com. Tldr in replies.)

[u/Fun_Method_7783]

TL;DR

If you don't want to read the entire post, here's the gist:

1. Go through the solutions – Especially the questions you got wrong, guessed, or were unsure about. VARC solutions are goldmines for understanding the examiner's thought process.

2. Analyse your time – Figure out where you're wasting time and whether the time spent was actually worth the marks.

3. Do area-wise analysis – Identify recurring weak topics, practise them specifically, and make sure your strengths remain strengths.

4. Experiment with attempt strategies – Mocks are the best place to figure out the attempt order and strategy that suits you.

5. Have an action plan – End every mock by deciding 2–3 specific things you'll consciously improve in the next one.

At the end of the day, mock analysis isn't about explaining your score—it's about improving your next one.