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History GCSE Edexcel - Structuring answers???

I'm struggling to find any useful help with structuring answers for the medicine and treatment paper of the Edexcel History course...I'm really finding it difficult to grasp the exam technique so I'd be grateful for any advice or tips on how to answer them :T

It's structured:
Q1: 4 marks
Q2: 9 marks
Q3/4: 12 marks
Q5/6: 9 marks, 16 marks

Thanks :smile:
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 1
Original post by bytheseasons
I'm struggling to find any useful help with structuring answers for the medicine and treatment paper of the Edexcel History course...I'm really finding it difficult to grasp the exam technique so I'd be grateful for any advice or tips on how to answer them :T

It's structured:
Q1: 4 marks
Q2: 9 marks
Q3/4: 12 marks
Q5/6: 9 marks, 16 marks

Thanks :smile:


My question/mark structure is different to yours but I think I can help.
An examiner for Edexcel History came in to our school and gave us some really useful tips for the exam.
He's been marking papers for over 12 years and basically told us the difference between a C/B grade student or an A/A* student.Here's some of the things he said:

1.) When answering questions that are sources, never state that it is completely or not at all useful/reliable. Avoid using 'partly' or 'fairly' Try to use 'largely' or 'a little'. You want to impress the examiner by making a decision.

2.) For A*, be sure to use an 'overall' paragraph to sum everything up

3.) When answering 'explain why' questions, it's fine to use the same sentence starter for each paragraph. He said that students tend to waste time thinking of fancy ways to rephrase sentences (you don't get extra brownie points for this).

4.) When mentioning your own knowledge or own information for a question, never use : 'From my own knowledge I know that ...' Just try to infer what you know by saying 'This could suggest' etc instead.

5.) When analysing sources, he said that students always make the same mistake of saying that eyewitnesses are better than later accounts. This is not always the case because ..
Eyewitnesses = can lie
Later accounts = Have the advantage of finding more info about a particular event
So don't make the mistake of saying eyewitnesses are more reliable basically.

6.) Use the correct order - chronology is key E.G.
-Cause, What happened and then the result
-A reason, this led to.., as a result ... , Overall..

:smile:
Original post by Kiniun
My question/mark structure is different to yours but I think I can help.
An examiner for Edexcel History came in to our school and gave us some really useful tips for the exam.
He's been marking papers for over 12 years and basically told us the difference between a C/B grade student or an A/A* student.Here's some of the things he said:

1.) When answering questions that are sources, never state that it is completely or not at all useful/reliable. Avoid using 'partly' or 'fairly' Try to use 'largely' or 'a little'. You want to impress the examiner by making a decision.

2.) For A*, be sure to use an 'overall' paragraph to sum everything up

3.) When answering 'explain why' questions, it's fine to use the same sentence starter for each paragraph. He said that students tend to waste time thinking of fancy ways to rephrase sentences (you don't get extra brownie points for this).

4.) When mentioning your own knowledge or own information for a question, never use : 'From my own knowledge I know that ...' Just try to infer what you know by saying 'This could suggest' etc instead.

5.) When analysing sources, he said that students always make the same mistake of saying that eyewitnesses are better than later accounts. This is not always the case because ..
Eyewitnesses = can lie
Later accounts = Have the advantage of finding more info about a particular event
So don't make the mistake of saying eyewitnesses are more reliable basically.

6.) Use the correct order - chronology is key E.G.
-Cause, What happened and then the result
-A reason, this led to.., as a result ... , Overall..

:smile:


Ahhh! Thank you so much! This is really helpful actually, you're a lifesaver :3 And i'm actually kind of confused about the structure now...i saw a different structure that showed Q1 = 8 marks, Q2 = 6 marks, Q3 = 8 marks, Q4/5 = 12 marks and Q6/7 = 16 marks
O.o If you're doing the edexcel exam board, do you know which one is correct? :/
Reply 3
Original post by bytheseasons
Ahhh! Thank you so much! This is really helpful actually, you're a lifesaver :3 And i'm actually kind of confused about the structure now...i saw a different structure that showed Q1 = 8 marks, Q2 = 6 marks, Q3 = 8 marks, Q4/5 = 12 marks and Q6/7 = 16 marks
O.o If you're doing the edexcel exam board, do you know which one is correct? :/


What units/topics are you doing, are you History A/B? - I think the mark structures change depending on this
I'm doing History A Edexcel:
Unit1 (International Relations The Era of the Cold War, 1943–91) 2,4,10,6,15,13
Unit 2C (The USA, 1919–41) 4,6,8,8,8,16
Unit 3C (The transformation of British society, 1951–79 ) 6,8,10,10,16
Original post by Kiniun
What units/topics are you doing, are you History A/B? - I think the mark structures change depending on this
I'm doing History A Edexcel:
Unit1 (International Relations The Era of the Cold War, 1943–91) 2,4,10,6,15,13
Unit 2C (The USA, 1919–41) 4,6,8,8,8,16
Unit 3C (The transformation of British society, 1951–79 ) 6,8,10,10,16


Ohhh right, I see. I'm doing History B ^^ The marks seem to be really different but thanks for your help :smile:

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