A2 Government and Politics AQA Govp 4B - 10th June 2013

Yes, make sure it's balanced as an argument must respond to criticism. If you only provide one side then it is not a debate which is what your marked for. Example:

----The marketisation of education can be seen as ideological as the New Right sees market forces as an ideological doctrine. This re-instates the ideas of Friedman, Hayek and Adam Smith who believed that governments have no place to intervene in markets and that to get the best out of the market you should 'leave it be' i.e. laissez-faire economics. Applying this to the education sector led to an internal market between schools increasing competition in the hope it would drive standards up. This can thus be seen as ideological.

^^^ my argument for the ideology part

---However, on the other hand, at the time Thatcher took power the standard of education was declining and was not producing a workforce fit for a globalised economy. For example, companies such as Dyson which was started in the UK, moved their production to Malaysia as costs were cheaper. This shows that to be attractive to investors, the UK must produce a highly skilled & qualified workforce. Thus, Thatcher's implementation of market forces into education can also be seen as a pragmatic way of driving up standards to make our workforce be competitive internationally.

now we have seen both sides of the argument, by mini-conclusion I mean link back to the question. If you do not link back or leave the argument like this it becomes unclear at what your saying. however, you don't want a full on conclusion...

--- In this sense, it can be seen that there are ideological and pragmatic reasons for the marketisation of education. This disagrees with the statement in question, and thus shows that rather than being either/or, it is more a mixture of ideology and pragmatism that was present.

now you have linked back it provides clarity at what your argument was getting at .. then carry on to your next point - when reaching the FINAL conclusion at the end, link back to all this analysis you made



Yes 10 mins is a bit long, I usually spend 5, so whatever is best for you. Some people like to take the time to re-read there essay that's why I said 10. Literally, I conclude exactly what I put in the previous post. 1. Mention from the analysis you have done etc, that 2. your conclusion is .... and make sure your conclusion follows from the intro and analysis. NOTE: never raise a new point in your introduction, only refer back to ones you may have already done but do not analyse/evaluate them again.



it's hard to say because they vary a lot, I can give you an example?

Q: Argue the ideological case against private education.

- Define private education - make sure you REALLY define it. Not just one sentence, but an indepth definition is what is needed for higher marks. E.G. not just privately funded education, but ones which are independent from the state, offer some scholarships, can range in size/type etc.

Then I start arguments for private education until I run out of time. Arguments structured like;

- Point - Private education leads to money being able to buy you better life-chances
- Evidence - they make up 7% of student population yet are over-represented in high paying careers like politics, law, media etc.
- Evaluate - This leads to the fact that parents can effectively 'buy' life chances for their children, undermining the notion of a right to education and undermining meritocracy
- Conclude - This is thus a reason against private education, as we cannot live in a true meritocracy without a 'level playing field'

Ah I see! Ok I get that, thanks - this helped
Hopefully the exam will go well tomorrow

No problem, good luck!!! Actually terrified of this exam

what did you write for the 30 mark for the economy?

your answer sounds so good!!!! I literally had no clue what to write.... I started going on about how Blair was pragmatic and considered the polls but Thatcher + Attlee were idealists and took the long term view... and then talked about how Cameron introduced the tuition fees at the start but has now introduced more popular pol such as increasing tax free allowance + reducing top rate of income tax..... and then started blabbing on about recession and boom and how the pm is more popular in boom (blair) + not in a recession (brown).... but urgh... such a weird essay, so unlike any past papers! the 10 mark was ok though and multiculturalism was so much nicer......

No yours sounds much more on track then mine. I though the question sounded more like something that belonged in the Unit 1 topic of voting behavior and turnout! I really couldn't figure out what would be on the mark scheme.

The Minimum Wage thing was so easy though, loved that.

And ahh I did education not multiculturalism which had such weird questions. Overall, I can say I pretty much ****ed my chances for university.

For the 30 marker, I first wrote about the EU and how that is important (e.g. Cameron promised a referendum on the UK's EU membership)

Then I wrote about the budget deficit and how that was important in the last election.

Lastly, I wrote about tax levels and how that is important for businesses, therefore consequently economic growth.

In my conclusion, I said that what economic factors influences voting behaviour is can vary between groups and it is difficult to know which is the dominant factor...

Sounds like a good answer! We've all gone in quite different directions, which I suppose is expected with a question with such a wide stance. Really worried about these results.

What other Q did you do?

I did the environment. The 10 marker was ok, but I thought the 30 marker was a little random :/