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Edexcel Govt and Politics Unit 1 and 2?

I just started studying the first chapter of unit 1. I also looked through the syllabus. Do i need to study all four chapters in Unit 1 in order to answer the questions in the exam? What about Unit 2? some advise would be great. thank you.

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Reply 1
Original post by ~Seraphina~
I just started studying the first chapter of unit 1. I also looked through the syllabus. Do i need to study all four chapters in Unit 1 in order to answer the questions in the exam? What about Unit 2? some advise would be great. thank you.


You need to be able to answer questions on all 4 chapters for each exam!
Reply 2
Original post by jamestg
You need to be able to answer questions on all 4 chapters for each exam!


really? then I am done for. there's just so much content its so perplexing! how are you getting on? which chapters have you covered for unit 1?
Reply 3
Original post by ~Seraphina~
really? then I am done for. there's just so much content its so perplexing! how are you getting on? which chapters have you covered for unit 1?


Well you could work out the topics likely to come up, but that is REALLY risky. Just stick with all four and start revising super early! Make mind maps summarising each bits and give relevant UK examples!

I'm really enjoying it but I'm struggling with the amount to write in the time limits!

So far we have just finished representative democracy in unit one and in unit two we have just finished devolution. You?
Reply 4
Original post by jamestg
Well you could work out the topics likely to come up, but that is REALLY risky. Just stick with all four and start revising super early! Make mind maps summarising each bits and give relevant UK examples!

I'm really enjoying it but I'm struggling with the amount to write in the time limits!

So far we have just finished representative democracy in unit one and in unit two we have just finished devolution. You?


yes I agree with you on the risky business bit. its a chance im not willing to take. well i've done only chapter 1 of unit 1 and the content is too much. did your teacher give you any resources such as online websites or soft copy charts/notes? i really need all the help i can get. you have no idea how desperate I am.

why did your teacher jump from a chapter in Unit 1 to another chapter from Unit 2?
Reply 5
Original post by ~Seraphina~
yes I agree with you on the risky business bit. its a chance im not willing to take. well i've done only chapter 1 of unit 1 and the content is too much. did your teacher give you any resources such as online websites or soft copy charts/notes? i really need all the help i can get. you have no idea how desperate I am.

why did your teacher jump from a chapter in Unit 1 to another chapter from Unit 2?


I have two teachers so one teacher is teaching is unit one and the other unit two!

YES THERE IS A LOT OF CONTENT! I'm sure though if you sit down one afternoon and summarise everything on a side of A4 you'll feel much more confident.

We don't really have any resources except for the powerpoints she emails us and the textbook! Reading newspapers twice a week and watching the news every day is good to get recent examples!
Reply 6
Original post by jamestg
I have two teachers so one teacher is teaching is unit one and the other unit two!

YES THERE IS A LOT OF CONTENT! I'm sure though if you sit down one afternoon and summarise everything on a side of A4 you'll feel much more confident.

We don't really have any resources except for the powerpoints she emails us and the textbook! Reading newspapers twice a week and watching the news every day is good to get recent examples!


Thats so cool. you actually get the best of both worlds!

since you've done representative democracy, what do you understand from the chapter and are there any parts of it that stuck out for you? has your teacher gone through with you on how to answer exam questions?
Year 13 G&P student here! Our teachers told us last year that we only needed to know 3 topics per unit really well - obviously you could (and probably should) do all 4, but in the exam you only write about 2 topics per paper. For example, I don't even remember this year's exam but I think for U1 I did Democracy and PGs and for U2 I did Consititution and Parliament. I know that you COULD only revise 2 topics for U1, but it's extremely risky - you don't want to get a really crap Democracy question and have to answer something about Parties if you haven't revised for that topic.

TLDR; revise a minimum of 3 topics for each unit and you're golden. Unit 2 will ruin your life so start revising for it NOW, and good luck!
Reply 8
Original post by ~Seraphina~
Thats so cool. you actually get the best of both worlds!

since you've done representative democracy, what do you understand from the chapter and are there any parts of it that stuck out for you? has your teacher gone through with you on how to answer exam questions?


I understand pretty much all of it I think and some of it has really changed my opinion on things, like now I don't think MPs are a good idea because they are pretty useless for multiple things and I think that we should leave the EU to gain back sovereignty.

They went through how to answer 5 and 25 mark questions, but not 10 markers and we haven't looked at any 40 markers for unit two yet!
Reply 9
Original post by folieadeux
Year 13 G&P student here! Our teachers told us last year that we only needed to know 3 topics per unit really well - obviously you could (and probably should) do all 4, but in the exam you only write about 2 topics per paper. For example, I don't even remember this year's exam but I think for U1 I did Democracy and PGs and for U2 I did Consititution and Parliament. I know that you COULD only revise 2 topics for U1, but it's extremely risky - you don't want to get a really crap Democracy question and have to answer something about Parties if you haven't revised for that topic.

TLDR; revise a minimum of 3 topics for each unit and you're golden. Unit 2 will ruin your life so start revising for it NOW, and good luck!


Thanks for the advice!

How did you find the 25 mark questions in both papers and the 40 marker on unit 2? All of them sound really daunting and I got 16/25 on my first try - is this a good starting point or is it fairly average?
Original post by jamestg
I understand pretty much all of it I think and some of it has really changed my opinion on things, like now I don't think MPs are a good idea because they are pretty useless for multiple things and I think that we should leave the EU to gain back sovereignty.

They went through how to answer 5 and 25 mark questions, but not 10 markers and we haven't looked at any 40 markers for unit two yet!


Could you tell me why you think MPs are useless and also why britain should leave the EU?
Original post by ~Seraphina~
Could you tell me why you think MPs are useless and also why britain should leave the EU?


In theory MPs are a good idea however in practice they don't represent the people's views because of party whips and sometimes it can just be the MP's own opinion - not the opinion of the people who elected them. It just undermines the whole idea of a representative democracy. Also people aren't really voting for a representative anymore, but a party so what's the point of a representative if they're just going to be overlooked?

Britain should leave the EU to regain political sovereignty, this isn't just some ideological nonsense - it is important for all of the UK's sovereignty to be in the hands of UK elected individuals only.
Original post by jamestg
In theory MPs are a good idea however in practice they don't represent the people's views because of party whips and sometimes it can just be the MP's own opinion - not the opinion of the people who elected them. It just undermines the whole idea of a representative democracy. Also people aren't really voting for a representative anymore, but a party so what's the point of a representative if they're just going to be overlooked?

Britain should leave the EU to regain political sovereignty, this isn't just some ideological nonsense - it is important for all of the UK's sovereignty to be in the hands of UK elected individuals only.


oh thanks for sharing james. those are really some good points you raised. i wanted to ask you. there's just so much to read in the textbook. is it really crucial to read everything in the textbook? i mean will the information in the textbook need to be used to be written in the exams? there's just too much content and the exam duration is pretty short. I don't see how this is possible.
Original post by ~Seraphina~
oh thanks for sharing james. those are really some good points you raised. i wanted to ask you. there's just so much to read in the textbook. is it really crucial to read everything in the textbook? i mean will the information in the textbook need to be used to be written in the exams? there's just too much content and the exam duration is pretty short. I don't see how this is possible.


I would say it's important but what's even more important is that you summarise what it is saying into a piece of A4 paper. Having a collection of say 60 pieces of paper would make an excellent revision resource next summer instead of the very thick textbook!

The textbook is just expanding on things, giving tables and diagrams and also examples - so you won't need everything from it. If you think a piece of information is important/relevant - it probably is.
Original post by jamestg
I would say it's important but what's even more important is that you summarise what it is saying into a piece of A4 paper. Having a collection of say 60 pieces of paper would make an excellent revision resource next summer instead of the very thick textbook!

The textbook is just expanding on things, giving tables and diagrams and also examples - so you won't need everything from it. If you think a piece of information is important/relevant - it probably is.


ok what you says makes perfect sense! thank you. i've just done some reading online. many people have said that if britain leaves the EU then britain will no longer be a superpower that she is. and that the british economy will suffer and britain's place in the world will be much smaller. and if britain leaves the EU then does it mean that all the other british living in other EU countries have to return to britain because there's no longer free movement of people?
Original post by ~Seraphina~
ok what you says makes perfect sense! thank you. i've just done some reading online. many people have said that if britain leaves the EU then britain will no longer be a superpower that she is. and that the british economy will suffer and britain's place in the world will be much smaller. and if britain leaves the EU then does it mean that all the other british living in other EU countries have to return to britain because there's no longer free movement of people?


Obviously I can't predict everything but before the EU we did just fine economically and we all know we were an empire before the EU too. The economy shouldn't suffer because we'll still have trade agreements with other countries and we will have control over much more!

I'm sure people who are putting money into other countries' economies won't be asked to leave but people getting benefits in other countries or retired people will be asked to return to the UK.
Original post by jamestg
Obviously I can't predict everything but before the EU we did just fine economically and we all know we were an empire before the EU too. The economy shouldn't suffer because we'll still have trade agreements with other countries and we will have control over much more!

I'm sure people who are putting money into other countries' economies won't be asked to leave but people getting benefits in other countries or retired people will be asked to return to the UK.


but what about people who may say that if britain wants to leave EU thats britain choosing not to be united with other countries in EU? since EU is going through some tough times the hope is that all EU countries will stay together and solve all these problems together.

earlier you said MPs are useless? so what or who should be put in place of MPs?
Original post by ~Seraphina~
I just started studying the first chapter of unit 1. I also looked through the syllabus. Do i need to study all four chapters in Unit 1 in order to answer the questions in the exam? What about Unit 2? some advise would be great. thank you.


Right, I did gov pol for AS last year (carried it onto A2 this year).
I got 98/100 on unit 1

I only revised for 2 units, democracy and pressure groups.
Imo, these are the easiest to understand and when it comes to examples, there are a few and none of it changes majorly (unlike pol parties)

I didnt bother going over the other two, and I know tell you to study atleast 3, I'd say just learn 2 inside and out.
Original post by ~Seraphina~
but what about people who may say that if britain wants to leave EU thats britain choosing not to be united with other countries in EU? since EU is going through some tough times the hope is that all EU countries will stay together and solve all these problems together.

earlier you said MPs are useless? so what or who should be put in place of MPs?


It's simply down to the country to decide, if the majority wants to leave - we leave. The only things the EU have done good are - create peace, have a single market, more equal opportunities and have human rights. I can't really think of an event where the EU has all pulled together and had solved problems. The migrant crisis wouldn't be a crisis if it was dealt effectively by the individual countries and if the eu policy was slightly different.

We'd still have MPs, I wouldn't want them abolished, but there shouldn't be constituencies and so MPs won't represent a particular area anymore. We should have another 'house' which deals with local issues that debates on things to be dealt with in the HoC.
Original post by vis break
Right, I did gov pol for AS last year (carried it onto A2 this year).
I got 98/100 on unit 1

I only revised for 2 units, democracy and pressure groups.
Imo, these are the easiest to understand and when it comes to examples, there are a few and none of it changes majorly (unlike pol parties)

I didnt bother going over the other two, and I know tell you to study atleast 3, I'd say just learn 2 inside and out.


those are really good marks. congratulations. i will try to complete my reading on democracy and pressure groups too and see if any of it makes sense to me. so you're saying that knowing 2 chapters inside out will do? which 2 chapters did you study for Unit 2? which option are you doing for A2? could you share with us how to answer exam questions? what are good resources for AS and also the american option for A2?

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