Guide to
assessment
A step-by-step guide to the assessment
of our GCSE History qualification
Version 1.1
May 2016
Guide to assessments
Two approaches to bring our assessments into the classroom
All the questions in our exam papers can be divided into two aspects which
you can use with your students.
These approaches reflect the assessment objectives.


Aspect 1: knowledge, understanding, analysis and explanation (AO1
and AO2)
Aspect 2: sources and interpretations (AO3 and AO4)
Aspect 1: knowledge, understanding, analysis and
explanation (AO1 and AO2)
Assessment objectives
AO1
Students need to ‘demonstrate knowledge and understandings of
key features and characteristics of the periods of history they
have studied.’
AO2
Students need to ‘explain and analyse historical events and
periods using second-order concepts.’
AO1 and AO2 normally are tested together because in order to explain historical
events students need to have knowledge and understanding of the key features and
characteristic of the history they have studied.
AO1 and AO2 are nearly always equally weighted in the mark scheme, enabling
students at all levels to access them.
Three ways of thinking
There are three ways of thinking that underpin AO1 and AO2.
Identify
Explain
Evaluate
Students state and/or describe relevant causes,
consequences, similarities.
Students use extended reasoning and knowledge to
demonstrate an understanding of second order concepts.
They may show understanding of sequencing and
connections.
Students reach a balanced, relevant and justified judgement.
So, what are second-order concepts?
Second-order concepts help students to organise their knowledge and
understanding about history. The criteria now requires that we now test the
full range of concepts, which is why on the surface, our ‘explain’ and our
‘essay’ questions may look more varied than in the previous specifications.
The second-order concepts include:
 cause
 consequence
 change
 continuity
 similarity
 difference
Describe
[4 marks]
 significance
The describe question is only tested in Paper 1 Section A (options A to D). Here is an
example from the specimen paper for 1B Germany, 1918-1939.
04
Describe two problems faced by Kaiser Wilhelm II’s governments in ruling
Germany up to 1914.
Students need to identify two problems and show some understanding of each
problem. In future years, students could be asked to identify issues, difficulties,
features, problems or solutions.
‘Explaining concepts’ [8 marks]
The ‘explaining concepts’ questions all require students to identify and explain.
Though they may focus on causes, consequences, similarities, differences, changes,
continuity or significance, they all use the same mark scheme.
These questions appear as Question 05 in the Paper 1 ‘Understanding the modern
world’ Section A Period Study, Questions 02 and 03 in Paper 2 ‘Shaping the Nation’
Section A and as the 03 question in the British depth studies in Section B of Paper 2.
Below is an example of a ‘explaining concepts’ question where students use change.
This example comes from 1B Germany, 1918-1939 but applies to all question 05’s
from the period studies.
05
In what ways were the lives of women in Germany affected by Nazi
social policies? Explain your answer.
To answer this question, students need to identify and explain the way(s) in which
the lives of women were changed by Nazi rule. We use ‘in what ways’ to signal to the
students that there a number of ways in which women’s lives were changed.
What do we mean by significance?
Certain second order concepts lend themselves more appropriately to particular
types of study. For example, when explaining significance, students could be
explaining the importance of a key feature at the time and over time – then and now;
therefore, the best place to do this is in the context of the thematic study in Paper 2
Section A as it is covers a broad span of time.
Below is an example of a significance question from Health and the People.
02
Explain the significance of anaesthetics in the development of
medicine.
Students are asked to identify and explain the significance of a key
event/development/individual and/or group. In this instance, they need to consider
the significance of anaesthetics, which is a key feature in the development of
medicine.
When tackling this question, students could use as part of their answer different
aspects of significance such as:





why it was important at the time
the short-term impact
the medium-term
long-term consequences
influence today
Similarity
Below is an example of an ‘explain’ similarity question from Health and the People.
Like the significance question is will only be tested in Paper 2 Section A of the
thematic study.
03
Compare the Black Death in the Middle Ages with the Cholera
epidemics in the 19th century.
In what ways were they similar?
Explain your answer with reference to both epidemics.
Students need identify and explain way(s) in which the two key events are similar.
In order to do this, they need to reference both key events. Students do not need to
identify or explain differences as well. However, in future exam papers, we may ask
students to look as differences as an alternative.
Students could approach this type of question by thinking about the following:
Reasons
Are the reasons why the two key features happened similar?
Development
Are there any similarities in how the key features developed or
happened?
Impact
Are there any similarities in the short and/or long-term impact,
outcome or results?
Write an account [8 marks]
As part of the new requirements, students now need to demonstrate their ability to
write structured accounts.
Our ‘write an account’ questions are weighted equally between AO1 and AO2. This
enables students to use second-order concepts to frame their narratives and make
the questions more manageable to answer. They are very similar to the ‘explain’
questions, but require a greater understanding of sequencing and/or connections.
The ‘write an account’ questions appear in the Conflict and tension options on Paper
1 Section B and in the British depth studies on Paper 2 Section B.
We test the ‘write an account’ questions in both our depth studies as we believe this
is where students will have the appropriate level of knowledge and understanding of
the complexities of the historical situation.
Below is an example of the narrative question from Conflict and tension, 1918-1939.
09
Write an account of how events in Manchuria became an international
crisis in the years 1931 to 1933.
Students need to be able to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of a
sequence of events and use cause and/or consequence to demonstrate how these
events led to a wider problem.
‘Evaluative’ questions (12 and 16 marks)
There are four ‘evaluative’ questions. There are three 16 mark questions, which are
tested at the end of Paper 1 Section B, Paper 2 Section A and Section B and there is
one 12 mark question, which appears at the end of Paper 1 Section A.
Their approach is very similar to the ‘explaining concept’ questions in their approach,
as they require the students to identify and explain factors using second-order
concepts of either: cause, consequence, change and/or continuity. The only
difference is that they ask the student to make a sustained judgement.
This example is from the Conflict and tension, 1918–1939 option in Paper 1
Section B.
14
‘The Nazi-Soviet Pact was the main reason for the outbreak of the
Second World War in 1939.’
How far do you agree with this statement?
Explain your answer.
[16 marks]
Students will need to explain the main reason given for the outbreak of the Second
World War in order to evaluate how far they agree with the statement. They will also
need to identify and explain other factors that also led to the outbreak of the Second
World War. This question enables them to bring their knowledge and understanding
of the causes of the Second World War to reach a judgement about which was the
‘main reason’.
Below is an example of the type of 16 mark question which will be asked in Paper 2
Section B, the British depth studies.
08
‘The main change that Elizabethan manor houses demonstrated
was the greater prosperity of their owners.’
How far does a study of Speke Hall support this statement?
Explain your answer.
You should refer to Speke Hall and your contextual knowledge.
Once again students need to explain the stated second-order concept (change) and
to identify and explain other changes in order to reach a judgement about which
‘change’ was the main change.
The approach is the same for the 16 mark essays in the thematic studies on Paper 2
Section A. Students will look at factors, such as ‘religion’, which are listed in the
specification. Students can bring any relevant factor into their answer and can use
relevant examples from any of the periods covered in the thematic study. We have
designed the question to be broad so that students use what they know to answer
the question.
The 12 mark ‘evaluative’ question from the period studies in Paper 1 Section A asks
students to evaluate two named factors. They should use their knowledge and
understanding of these two factors to explain and reach a sustained judgement about
which factor was more important. Unlike the 16 mark essay question, students simply
need to refer to the two given factors and not expected to include other factors in
their answer.
Aspect 2: sources and interpretations (AO3 and AO4)
The approach you can use in classroom for sources and interpretations is the same,
although the assessment objectives are separate.
The assessment objectives are:
AO3
Analyse, evaluate and use sources (contemporary to the period) to
make substantiated judgements in the context of historical events
studied.
AO4
Analyse, evaluate and make substantiated judgements about
interpretations (including how and why interpretations may differ) in
the context of historical events studied.
When looking at sources and interpretations students should consider the following
elements:
Analysis
What is the source/interpretation saying? What is the message or
inference?
Provenance
Usings author, place, time it was created etc to determine purpose
Historical
context
How does the source/interpretation relate to their contextual
knowledge of the historical period?
What does the phrase ‘contextual knowledge’ mean?
You will see that when we ask questions relating to sources and interpretations
we ask the students to use their ‘contextual knowledge’. What this means is
that their knowledge needs to be relevant and linked to historical
event/development depicted in the source or interpretation.
So what are sources?
Sources are primary evidence that is contemporary to the period. There various
types of sources: visual sources, such as photographs, cartoons, propaganda
posters and written sources, such as newspaper article, speeches, diary extracts.
Where do we test sources?
We test sources in Paper 1 Section B – the Conflict and tension depth studies and in
Paper 2 Section A, the thematic studies. In Paper 1 Section B we use a range of
sources that enable the students to bring together their source skills and in depth
knowledge of the specified content to their answer. Only one source tested in Paper
2. It will be focused on a key event, development, individual, group that is central the
thematic study.
How do we test sources?
We used two questions to test sources (AO3).
‘How do you know?’ [4 marks]
This type of question is only used in Paper 1 Section B in all five options. It will apply
to Questions 07, 11, 15, 19 and 23. This example is taken from Conflict and tension,
1918–1939.
Source D
11
A cartoon published in Britain in February 1919 entitled ‘Giving Him
Rope’.
Study Source D.
Source D opposes Germany. How do you know?
Explain your answer by using Source D and your contextual
knowledge.
Students will be given a source (written/visual) and a statement about the message
of that source.
To answer this type of question students will analyse the source using the context
and/or provenance of the source to identify and explain how the source supports the
statement.
‘Utility’ questions [8 and 12 marks]
We use utility questions to test sources in our Conflict and tension options in Paper 1
Section B and in our thematic units on Paper 2 Section A.
Below is an example of a 12 mark ‘utility’ question from Conflict and tension, 1918–
1939.
Source E
A German newspaper cartoon published in July 1919, entitled
‘Clemenceau the Vampire’. The figure on the bed represents
Germany.
Source F
From J M Keynes’ book ‘The Economic Consequences of the Peace’ published in
1919. Keynes was a leading economist who worked for the British government but
resigned in protest three weeks before the Treaty of Versailles was signed.
Nations should not morally visit on the children of their enemies the wrongdoings
of parents or of rulers. The Treaty includes no provisions for the economic
recovery of Europe - nothing to make the defeated Central Empires into good
neighbours. The Big Three were preoccupied with other issues - Clemenceau to
crush the economic life of his enemy, Lloyd George to bring home something that
would be acceptable for a week, the President to do nothing that was not just and
right.
12
Study Sources E and F.
How useful are Sources E and F to a historian studying opinions
about the Treaty of Versailles?
Explain your answer using Sources E and F and your contextual
knowledge.
To answer the ‘utility’ questions, students will draw on their contextual knowledge to
evaluate the usefulness of both sources. They can use content and provenance to
identify, explain and evaluate how useful the sources are.
For the 8 mark ‘utility’ questions in the thematic studies in Paper 2 Section A the
approach is exactly the same, but there is only one source, which will be from the
broader context.
So what is an interpretation?
An interpretation is an attempt to portray and/or make meaning of the past that is a
deliberate construct created after the event(s). It can take on a number of forms such
as: accounts written after the event by people who were there at the time, academic
texts written by historians; reconstructive drawings; historical films etc.
These are two examples of written interpretations we have used in our specimen
Paper 1 Section A, Germany 1918 –1939.
Interpretation A
Albert Speer, writing in his book, ‘Inside the Third Reich’ written in 1960.
He remembers hearing Adolf Hitler speak in January 1931 at Berlin
University. Albert Speer went on to become the Nazi Minister for weapons.
He was sentenced to 20 years in prison after the war and released in
1966.
‘Everything about him was reasonable and ordinary looking; he was no
shrieking fanatic in a uniform. He spoke passionately; it was hypnotic and
persuasive. We were carried on a wave of enthusiasm. It swept away our
doubts. Here, it seemed was hope, new ideals, a new understanding. The
peril of communism could be stopped.’
Interpretation B
Victor Schiff, in an article written in 1950 where he explains Hitler's rise to
power.
Schiff was a German journalist and socialist who worked as the Paris
correspondent for the American ‘Daily Herald’ newspaper in the 1930s.
‘If there is one point on which we all agree, it must be surely that Hitler
owes his rise and ultimate victory to the World Economic Crisis. Hitler
appealed to the despair of the unemployed workers; the young people
who had no future; to the middle class businessman and craftsman
heading for bankruptcy and to the farmers threatened with a fall in
agricultural prices.’
Where do we test interpretations?
We test interpretations in Paper 1 Section A, the Modern World period study and in
Paper 2 Section, B the British depth study in order to ensure that students are able to
draw upon the contextual knowledge and understanding of the periods in order to
answer the questions.
Our approach is to test AO4 in isolation and to break the strands – how, why,
evaluate - down, making it clearer to students which skills they are being tested on
and what they have to do in order to answer the question.
We use the following three types of question to test interpretations. They appear as
the first three questions of Paper 1 Section A Options A to D.
These examples are taken from 1B Germany, 1890-1945: Democracy and
dictatorship.
01
How does Interpretation B differ from Interpretation A about
Hitler’s appeal to the people of Germany?
Explain your answer using Interpretations A and B.
[4 marks]
For Question 01 students need to analyse how the two written interpretations differ
using the content of the interpretations.
02
Why might the authors of Interpretations A and B have a
different interpretation about Hitler’s appeal to the people of
Germany?
Explain your answer using Interpretations A and B and your
contextual knowledge.
[4 marks]
For Question 02 students need to identify and explain why the authors have different
interpretations using the provenance provided.
We do not expect students to evaluate why historians differ as this is difficult for
GCSE students to do in a meaningful way under exam conditions. The written
interpretations for the period study will arise from recognisable provenance based on
the authors’ experience or situation, for example, Albert Speer.
03
Which interpretation do you find more convincing about Hitler’s
appeal to the people of Germany?
Explain your answer using Interpretations A and B and your
contextual knowledge.
[8 marks]
To answer Question 03 students need to use their relevant knowledge and
understanding of the period in order to evaluate which interpretation they find more
convincing. Students are not expected to evaluate provenance.
The same type of question ‘how convincing’ is used in the four British depth studies
options (Questions 05, 09, 13 or 17). The only difference in approach is that students
need to evaluate how convincing they find one interpretation using their contextual
knowledge of the specified period.
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May 2016
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