Using AI to Generate Practice Questions and Mock Tests

Active recall — pulling information out of your head — is the single most powerful study technique we know of. AI gives you an unlimited supply of questions tailored to your exact syllabus, difficulty level, and weak spots. The catch is that the default prompt produces lazy, predictable questions. This tutorial shows you how to ask for the kind of test that actually stretches you.

1. Introduction

Most students re-read their notes and call it revision. Decades of research suggest this is one of the worst uses of study time. What works is the opposite: closing the book and forcing yourself to retrieve the information from memory. Every retrieval strengthens the memory. The problem has always been finding enough quality questions to test yourself with — past papers run out, textbook exercises feel repetitive, and writing your own questions is impossible because you do not yet know what you do not know.

AI solves that bottleneck. With a single thoughtful prompt, you can produce twenty fresh questions of escalating difficulty on any chapter you choose. But generic prompts produce generic questions — the kind that test recall of a definition and nothing else. This tutorial gives you the prompt patterns that produce the harder, deeper questions that real exams ask.

2. The Concept Explained

Good questions come in layers. Educators call this Bloom's taxonomy — a ladder of thinking skills from simple recall at the bottom up to creation and evaluation at the top. A well-designed mock test mixes questions from across the ladder. AI, by default, sits stubbornly at the bottom two rungs. You have to explicitly ask it to climb.

Imagine you are studying photosynthesis. A bottom-rung question is "What is the chemical equation for photosynthesis?" — you either remember it or you do not. A top-rung question is "A plant placed in red light grows faster than one in green light. Explain why, and predict what would happen under pure blue light." That second question requires you to understand the chlorophyll absorption spectrum, apply it to a new scenario, and reason about an outcome. Both questions are valid, but they train different muscles.

The mental model is simple: when you prompt AI for questions, tell it exactly which rungs you want and in what mix. Three "remember" questions, three "apply", two "analyse", and one "evaluate" — for example. The result is a mini mock test that feels like a real exam, not a flashcard deck.

3. The Problem Without Good Prompts

Here is the kind of prompt almost every student starts with — and the kind of result it produces.

Give me practice questions on the French Revolution.

4. The Solution

Act as an experienced history examiner who writes
A-Level question papers.

Generate a 10-question practice paper on
"Causes and consequences of the French Revolution
(1789–1799)" for a Year 12 student.

Mix of question types:
- 2 short-answer (factual recall, 2 marks each)
- 4 medium-answer (explain or compare, 6 marks each)
- 3 source-analysis (interpret a short quoted source,
  8 marks each — invent realistic sources if needed)
- 1 essay question (25 marks, 40-minute response)

Constraints:
- Question difficulty should escalate from Q1 to Q10
- Use the actual command words used in real exams
  (describe, explain, assess, to what extent)
- After the paper, list the mark scheme for each
  question but DO NOT give the model answers yet —
  I want to attempt the paper first.

5. Step-by-Step: Building a Mock Test Prompt

1. Name the exam style. "GCSE Biology", "GATE Computer Science", "AP Chemistry", "UPSC Prelims". AI knows the typical paper structure for major exams — use that.
2. Specify the topic precisely. Not "chemistry" but "Chapter 4: Equilibrium and Le Chatelier's principle".
3. Define the question mix. Tell AI how many of each type and at which Bloom level. This is the step that separates a real mock from a trivia round.
4. Set a difficulty curve. Ask for questions that start easy and end hard — mirrors real papers and builds confidence.
5. Withhold the answers. Always ask for the paper first, then attempt it, then ask for the mark scheme. AI is too eager to reveal answers immediately.
6. Mark yourself honestly, then ask for feedback. Paste your answers back: "Mark my answers against the scheme. Be a strict but fair examiner. Point out specifically where I lost marks and why."

Tip: Keep a "missed questions" log. Every time AI marks a question wrong, paste it into a separate note. After a week, ask AI: "Here are the questions I keep getting wrong. What pattern do you see? What concept am I weak on?" The diagnosis is often more valuable than the questions themselves.

6. Practice Exercises

7. Key Takeaways