Abstract
Objective: Mock questions are thought to benefit to students through help with learning, revealing specific areas of learning difficulties, practice examination timing and aiding a higher mark in the examination. The literature suggests practice questions have a direct impact on students’ academic performance and improving examination confidence.
 The aim of the study was to gather opinions of pharmacy students on using mock examinations and practice questions to prepare for summative examinations.
 Methods: Paper based questionnaires were distributed to all fourth year pharmacy students at the start of a university scheduled workshop session. The data was transcribed onto a Microsoft Excel™ spreadsheet and analysed.
 Results: Out of all fourth year pharmacy students 73% completed the questionnaire of which 91% had received access to mock questions but only 92% of those who had access used them. Common themes were identified; the benefits of using mock questions were ‘knowledge’, ‘examination style’ and ‘identification of weaknesses’. Furthermore, most participants chose ‘Year 3 Calculations exam’ (62%) as the most useful summative examination for which to use mock questions.
 Conclusion: Mock questions have a place in improving the performance of pharmacy students in examinations. The study results showed that the majority of participants who used mock questions found them to be useful in promoting learning, revealing specific areas of learning difficulties, improving awareness of examination structure, practicing their ability to apply knowledge to questions under examination conditions and to motivate students to revise more using better strategies.
Highlights
Mock assessments and practice questions allow students the opportunity to receive feedback on their learning and self-identify their weaknesses, aiming to prepare them for the summative examination [1, 2]
Out of all fourth year pharmacy students 73% completed the questionnaire of which 91% had received access to mock questions but only
Mock questions have a place in improving the performance of pharmacy students in examinations
Summary
Mock assessments and practice questions allow students the opportunity to receive feedback on their learning and self-identify their weaknesses, aiming to prepare them for the summative examination [1, 2]. Roediger and Karpicke (2006) stated that testing can have direct and indirect effects on education. Examples of the indirect effect include more time directed to study and improvement in revision skills. Medicines in Development and Use 1 (MDU) MDUpart 2. Used mock questions to prepare for examination Male Female. The results show a few differences in the most common examinations that mock questions were used for in all the age groups. For 21-23 y olds, the most common examinations mock questions used were year 1 and year 2 calculations and all of them found them useful. For 24-26 y olds, the most common examinations were year 1 and year 2 calculations and Medicines in Development and Use (MDU) part 1 examination
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