AS-LEVEL
HISTORY
Unit HIS2F
Report on the Examination
Specification 2040
June 2016
Version: 1.0
Further copies of this Report are available from aqa.org.uk
Copyright © 2016 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.
AQA retains the copyright on all its publications. However, registered schools/colleges for AQA are permitted to copy material from this
booklet for their own internal use, with the following important exception: AQA cannot give permission to schools/colleges to photocopy any
material that is acknowledged to a third party even for internal use within the centre.
REPORT ON THE EXAMINATION – AS HISTORY – HIS2F – JUNE 2016
Unit HIS2F
Unit 2F: Challenging British Dominance:
The Loss of the American Colonies, 1754–1783
General Comments
As most of the students were presumably repeating this exam, hoping to improve on previous
grades, the overall quality tended to be slightly lower than in previous years.
Question 1
01
Most students were able to identify both differences and similarities across the two sources,
and were often able to supplement this with appropriate and constructive ‘own knowledge’.
Even relatively weak students were able to recognize that Source A was critical of weak
French leadership, whilst Source B referred to a French army that was ably led by
commanders who, in the face of adversity, had sunk their differences. Many referred to the
significance of the victory at Quebec, seen by Source A as decisive, whilst Source B
regarded it as not really being conclusive. A smaller number noted that Source A gave main
credit to the army, whilst Source B attributed greater credit to the navy. The main similarities
were the weakness of French forces by 1759, the key role of Wolfe in achieving victory at
Quebec, and the arrival of a very cold winter in 1759/1760; usually students could identify at
least one of those points.
02
Most students were able, based on source extraction and own knowledge, to produce
reasonable responses to this question. Source C referred to a number of ways in which Pitt
contributed significantly to the British success; also Source A pointed out that Wolfe was
Pitt’s appointee, and both Sources A and B raised a range of other factors which helped to
explain the British triumph. Given the range of factors supplied by the sources, own
knowledge came mainly in the form of expanding and developing these points. A key
discriminating factor was the extent to which students were able to link the various factors, in
particular identifying the role played by Pitt in most areas of the campaign.
Question 2
03
Most students were able to supply at least some outline reasons for the holding of the Stamp
Act Congress, though relatively few were able to supply significant development. A small
number tended to put more emphasis on the Sugar Act than the Stamp Act; others soon
exhausted their knowledge of the reasons for the Congress, and filled out their responses
with descriptions of the immediate aftermath. One student was under the impression that the
British government had called the Congress.
04
This question produced some of the least satisfactory responses. The main problem was a
relatively consistent failure to cover the full range of the period stated in the question;
sometimes responses would dry up around 1770, whilst others effectively dealt only with the
early 1770s. Students need to be aware of the importance of covering the whole of the
3 of 4
REPORT ON THE EXAMINATION – AS HISTORY – HIS2F – JUNE 2016
period quoted, even if this may be at the expense of minor issues/events scattered across
the period.
Question 3
05
This question produced some good responses, with students often able to demonstrate both
the weaknesses of the British forces and the comparative strengths of the colonial militias.
Usually reference was also made to the nature of the terrain. Despite the comments made in
previous reports, too many students are still unaware that Washington was not present at
Saratoga.
06
Some very good responses here, with most able to identify a range of factors for American
victory in the conflict. They were usually able to develop and substantiate these factors.
Weaker students tended to generalize, especially with British failings. Also, this was the last
response for most students, and there were occasionally signs that students were racing to
complete the paper on time.
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
Convert raw marks into Uniform Mark Scale (UMS) marks by using the link below.
UMS conversion calculator
4 of 4