A-LEVEL
HISTORY
Unit HIS3E
Report on the Examination
Specification 2040
June 2016
Version: 1.0
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REPORT ON THE EXAMINATION – A2 HISTORY – HIS3E – JUNE 2016
Unit HIS3E
Unit 3E: France and the Enlightenment: Absolutism Under Threat, 1743–1789
General Comments
There was a number of impressive responses to this paper, especially from students that were in
command of dates and were able to identify specific events. This was especially true of Questions
01 and 03 in which specific knowledge served as a very effective discriminator in quality.
Most students were able to structure their responses very well and very few had an issue with time
management. Pleasingly, there were some very good examples of effective introductions which
established an argument from the outset. Most responses were balanced but there remain a
stubborn few examples of descriptive rather than of argued balance. Likewise there were a few
students that referred to schools of history without any effective development.
Question 1
01
This was answered very well, as might be expected considering how central the question is
to the specification. The obvious issue for many was the use of dates. It was clear that quite
a number of students had little effective knowledge of precise events that took place within
the date range. This meant that some responses were highly generic and might have been
applied to any period of the course. However, the best responses were very good indeed
and there were some outstanding examples of students able to maintain an argument
supported by precise knowledge throughout the whole response.
Question 2
02
Students were very well versed in the Maupeou years and were able to make some valid
commentary about ministerial rivalry based upon this. Some struggled to go beyond this
event which was rather surprising considering the factional rivalry that rent the monarchy in
the late 1780s. Whilst some students were able to mention the role of Necker, it was the
better response that was able to link this to ministerial rivalry. The very good responses
came from students able to identify specific ministers.
Question 3
03
There were a number of really pleasing responses to this question. The knowledge of
Enlightenment works was impressive in the main – this was especially true in linking the
Enlightenment to the physiocrats and the demand for reform to finances. There were some
students that were so confident on the Enlightenment that unfortunately they neglected to
offer much in the way of balance. Conversely, there were a small number of responses that
failed to mention the Enlightenment at all. This was a real shame as these students often
had a very precise knowledge of the dire necessity for financial reform and were able to
make some very informed commentary, but their essay failed to achieve highly because
they had almost completely ignored the focus set in the question.
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REPORT ON THE EXAMINATION – A2 HISTORY – HIS3E – JUNE 2016
Mark Ranges and Award of Grades
Grade boundaries and cumulative percentage grades are available on the Results Statistics
page of the AQA Website.
Converting Marks into UMS marks
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