PYQs vs Mock Tests: What Should You Prioritize and When?

For JEE and NEET aspirants, Previous Year Questions (PYQ) and Mock Tests are vital resources for analysing their performance and gaining insight into their weaker sections. However, each aspirant will inevitably face the question of whether to prioritise PYQ or Mock Tests to prepare for their exam. The secret lies in knowing when to prioritise each instrument.

PYQ: The Groundwork

It is important for students to start with PYQs, since they can offer students an idea of the pattern of the exam, what questions have been frequently asked, and how difficult the topics are to answer. When aspirants complete PYQ of JEE Mains or PYQ of NEET, they can track how many times a concept has been repeated and analyse chapter wise weightage of their exam. Those aspirants who continually practice PYQs are increasingly able to mentally sharpen a capacity to interpret questions, reducing a crucial stage of error on the day of the real exam. This grip and confidence built from constant practicing of questions on the same recurring topics, gives students conceptual clarity and a sound basis before moving to full-length tests.

Mock Tests: The Definitive Performance Assessment

While solving Previous Year Questions helps in topic-wise reach, Mock Tests are effective in testing the overall readiness levels closely matching the actual exam. Mock Tests are distinctly different from PYQs as they test a student's across-the- board test taking speed, stamina and overall exam skill set. Skill level is especially pertinent in JEE and NEET time based exams where managing time gets synchronously incorporated into performance.  

With the nearing of the exam date, the focus of the student should heavily lean to completion of more Mock Tests, whilst refocusing on previous year questions, especially in areas they are weaker. It is common for a lot of students to initially rely on JEE Mains mock tests before moving on to the full-length test. Seeing the results and useful analyses of the inputs from some Mock Tests will help students to identify areas to work upon to enhance performance by drawing upon the JEE Main Previous Year Question Paper or NEET Previous Year Question Papers as working material.

Achieving a Balance to Ensure Success

When you first start studying for exams, Previous Year Questions (PYQs) should be the primary focus. However, when the exam is approaching you will have to shift your focus. And this is where Mock Tests come in — they are crucial for getting used to the time bound pressure of the paper and experiencing the premise of the actual exam paper.

That being said, you cannot just dispense of PYQs at this stage. You would need to go back to them, especially for those topics which tend to be regular or recurring in the paper every year, as it would serve to boost your memory of the content you have already engaged with in addition to sharpening your working memory of the key concepts.

At the end of the day, there is no formula. Neither simply doing PYQs nor Mock Tests will be sufficient. The best way to approach it is to bring both components together: using PYQs to consolidate your understanding and Mock Tests to instill the level of confidence you need to have on exam day.

Conclusion

Although there’s an abundance of PYQ books claiming to be the best PYQ book for JEE or NEET, students should judge them based on authenticity of questions, quality of solutions and trend analysis before giving into one. Disha Publication combines extensive question banks with strategic insights such as chapter weightage, trend analysis and NCERT page locator (every question comes with an NCERT Page Number reference) to ensure optimal preparation. In order to quicken the revision process, the books Disha's 183 JEE Mains PYQ and Disha's 38 Year NEET PYQ come equipped with a self grading system where a box is provided against each question and the student can paste stickers (given at the end of the book) of different colors highlighting questions that you feel you need to revise before exam and the ones which are Tricky. Thus, in order to maximize their chances of success in JEE and NEET 2026, it’s crucial that aspirants integrate both previous year questions and mock tests into their study schedule. 

FAQs 

1.When should I start practicing PYQs ?

Ans. As soon as the syllabus is complete, start practicing PYQs.

2.Can I study solely from PYQs for JEE Mains?

Ans. Integrate both Mock tests and PYQs in your schedule to gain a thorough understanding of the syllabus.

3.Are Previous Year Questions Repeated in NEET UG ?

Ans. Although questions aren’t completely identical to the PYQs, they are similar in structure and are reframed with different values or data.

4.How exactly should I solve PYQs?

Ans. When you’re done with a topic, practice the PYQs of that particular topic. For this you’ll need a PYQ book that is organized chapter-wise and topic-wise. The framework of Disha's 183 JEE Mains PYQ and Disha's 38 Year NEET PYQ is organized in this way to enable easy location of questions.