How to Use the ALN Question Bank: A Step-by-Step Session

1. Choose your course and one small goal

Open Questions and select your exam board, qualification and subject. Make sure the specification matches the one you are sitting, especially where an older specification is also listed.

Then decide what this session is for. “Can I explain this process without missing a step?” is a better goal than “do lots of questions”. Pick a set small enough to leave time for checking and correcting, because that is where most of the learning happens.

2. Filter with a purpose

Open Filters to narrow things down by topic, paper, keywords, marks, year, time and difficulty, then press Apply. Start with a single topic and only add more filters when you need them.

To practise short explanations, choose a topic and a low marks range. To work through a particular paper, select that paper. If you end up with no matches, loosen one filter at a time rather than resetting everything.

Difficulty filters only apply to questions that have a difficulty rating, and time and difficulty are estimates. Random picks a question from whatever matches your filters. On the Free plan you see one random matching question at a time, and each new question uses part of your daily allowance. Basic and Premium show the full list.

3. Attempt it before you open the answer

Read the whole question: the command word, units, diagrams and how many marks it is worth. Answer on paper or in your own document, and show your reasoning, whether that is equations, intermediate steps, definitions or the evidence behind a conclusion.

Keep the mark scheme and model answer closed while you work. If you get stuck, note where, check an explanation, then come back and finish. An attempt you needed help with still counts as practice. Just be honest with yourself that it was not independent.

To practise under time pressure, use the timer. It counts down from the question’s estimated time, and you can start, pause or reset it.

4. Check what actually earns marks

Open the Markscheme tab and compare it with what you actually wrote, not what you meant to write. Look for the credited points, required working, units, acceptable alternatives and anything the guidance rules out. A correct final number does not always earn every mark.

For longer answers, read the level descriptors as well as the indicative content. Hitting a few keywords is not the same as reaching a level. If you are not sure how the guidance applies, keep your answer and ask your teacher.

If your plan includes model answers and one exists for the question, open it after marking to see how a full response can be organised. The mark scheme still decides what earns credit.

5. Record the result and the reason

Use the tick or cross to save your result. For partly correct answers, pick a rule and stick to it, for example “correct only if I got full marks”, and note the actual mark in your own notes.

Then write one specific correction, such as “I used the diameter as the radius” or “I stated the effect but did not explain the cause”, and redo that step without copying. That gives you something concrete to check next time.

Clicking the same tick or cross a second time removes your mark, so you only need to click once.

6. Come back through Attempts

Open Attempts to see your Correct and Incorrect lists for the subject, and select a question to open it again. Come back in a later session and try it before looking at your old working or the answer.

Once you can do that question, try a different one on the same topic. Reproducing an answer you have seen before is easier than choosing the right approach for a new question. The Dashboard shows your recent activity and subject performance to help you decide what to do next.

The Correct and Incorrect lists show your latest result for each question. Premium also keeps every mark you save and highlights your weakest topics.

For teachers: turn a good set into an assignment

In Teams, create a new assignment, give it a description and a due date, and choose questions from the question library using the same filters. Creating teams and assignments is included from Basic.

Consider asking learners to bring their written working and one correction to the next lesson. Assignment progress shows who has recorded attempts. It cannot show the quality of reasoning in work you have not seen.