How to Build a Custom Past Paper with NeuraGeek

Past papers are essential for Cambridge exam preparation, but a full paper is not always the most efficient way to practise. Sometimes you need fifteen questions on a particular group of topics. Sometimes you want questions from two different papers. Sometimes you just want recent years, without spending half an hour searching through PDFs for the right ones.

NeuraGeek Test Builder is for that kind of targeted past-paper practice. Instead of generating new questions, it builds a custom test from the real question catalogue. Filter the pool by paper, topic, difficulty and year, decide exactly how many questions you want, split them across papers, then open the finished question paper alongside its matching mark scheme.

The walkthrough below uses Cambridge International AS & A Level Mathematics (9709). The papers, topics and number of available questions depend on the subject you open, so the exact options can differ between subjects.

Open Test Builder inside a subject

Open the subject you want to practise and select Build my own test from the subject dashboard.

Test Builder takes you through five setup stages: Papers, Topics, Difficulty & years, How many, and Review.

Choose which papers the questions should come from

The first step is Papers. Select one paper, or combine several papers in the same custom test.

In the Mathematics (9709) example, the builder lists Paper 1 through Paper 7 and shows the number of written questions available for each. For this walkthrough, Paper 1 and Paper 2 were selected. The split between them is decided later — at this stage you only choose which paper types are allowed into the question pool.

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Filter the test by syllabus topic

Next, choose the topics the test should cover. Select broad syllabus sections, or expand them and work at a more specific topic level. A search bar is available when you already know the chapter you want.

This is where Test Builder earns its place over manually opening full past papers. If you are weak in algebra, trigonometry, differentiation or another specific area, build a test around those areas without searching through years of papers question by question. Keep a wider mix selected instead when the goal is interleaved revision rather than one-topic drilling.

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Choose the difficulty and the years you want to practise

The Difficulty & years step controls two separate filters.

For difficulty, use Balanced mix or choose it yourself — Easy, Moderate or Hard. This example used Moderate. For years, use preset ranges (Last 3, 5 or 10 years, or All years), or adjust the range directly. The example test was set to 2016–2025.

A narrow recent-year range is useful when you want questions closer to the current exam period. A wider range gives the builder a larger pool for repeated practice.

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Decide how long the custom test should be

Set the number of questions. Test Builder currently allows up to 50 questions in one test, with quick presets and plus/minus controls for the total.

When more than one paper is selected, you can also control how the total is distributed. Use Auto-balance to let NeuraGeek handle the split, or set the paper counts yourself. In this walkthrough, the 15-question test was split into 8 questions from Paper 1 and 7 from Paper 2 — useful when you do not want one paper type to dominate the session.

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Review the filters before building the test

The Review step gives you one final summary before the test is built. Optionally name the test, then check the selected papers, topics, difficulty, years and length. Each line has an Edit option, so you can change one part of the setup without rebuilding from scratch.

At the bottom, Build my test automatically assembles the test from the filtered pool. Pick my own is there instead if you want to hand-pick individual questions.

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Work through the generated question paper and mark scheme

Once the test is built, NeuraGeek opens the custom Question Paper together with its Mark Scheme. The generated cover summarises the settings — syllabus, level, number of questions, papers, year range and difficulty mix.

In the Mathematics example, the viewer displays the question paper and mark scheme side by side, which makes post-test checking faster than opening separate files and jumping between tabs. For a genuine timed attempt, keep the mark scheme hidden while you work, then bring it back and compare your working line by line. The viewer can also switch to a single-pane or stacked layout.

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Ask the AI Tutor about a specific test question

The finished test connects to NeuraGeek's AI Tutor. Select Ask AI and choose the question you want help with — the Test Tutor already knows which question you are looking at, so you do not have to copy it into a separate chat.

Ask for help, request an explanation, or use the learning mode to be guided rather than shown the solution immediately. This is most useful after you have genuinely attempted the question: if stuck, use the tutor to find the concept or next step, then return and finish the working yourself, and check the mark scheme afterwards for exactly where the marks were awarded.

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Download the test, and find it again later

The test viewer includes a Download option, so the paper can be printed, worked by hand, sent to a teacher, or uploaded back to the AI tutor for grading.

Custom tests are also saved automatically to the subject dashboard. Scroll to Saved papers to find previous Test Builder papers without rebuilding the same test — each one shows its name and date, with an Open option to return to it later.

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Test Builder vs Mock Paper Generator: what is the difference?

Test Builder assembles a custom test from the existing past-paper question catalogue — real questions, filtered to your needs. Mock Paper Generator creates a fresh exam-style paper instead, choosing a full mock or selected topics and generating an AI paper with a mark scheme.

A strong revision workflow uses both: build targeted tests from real questions to fix weak areas, then generate fresh mocks when you need additional full-paper practice.

A simple Test Builder routine for Cambridge revision

1. Start with the weakness, not the tool. Decide which paper or syllabus area is currently costing you marks.
2. Choose the relevant papers and topics — narrow for repair work, mixed for testing retrieval across the syllabus.
3. Set difficulty and years deliberately, to match the purpose of the session rather than leaving everything on default.
4. Choose a manageable test length. 10–15 questions for focused practice, longer for sustained exam-style work.
5. Attempt the question paper before opening the mark scheme, if the goal is self-testing.
6. Review every lost mark: mark scheme first, then Ask AI when it tells you what was required but you still do not understand why.
7. Build the next test from the evidence. If one topic keeps causing mistakes, keep it in the next custom test.

Put it into practice

If you already know the chapter, paper or question type you need to improve, do not spend the next revision session searching through PDFs manually. Open a supported Cambridge subject in NeuraGeek, build a custom test around that weakness, attempt it without the mark scheme, then use the scheme and AI Tutor to understand exactly where the marks were lost.