Confused by A Level exemplar

I was having a look at the OCR exemplar for 2023 and I’m confused by the 2nd exemplar. They’ve capped it level 4 because of a lack of judgments butI’m pretty sure there are some. Just a bit confused because this severely limits marks.

https://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/703546-examiners-report-liberals-conservatives-and-the-rise-of-labour-1846-1918.pdf

Reply 1

esther_greenwood

Original post by lmnop1234

I was having a look at the OCR exemplar for 2023 and I’m confused by the 2nd exemplar. They’ve capped it level 4 because of a lack of judgments butI’m pretty sure there are some. Just a bit confused because this severely limits marks.
https://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/703546-examiners-report-liberals-conservatives-and-the-rise-of-labour-1846-1918.pdf

I feel like OCR is just evil.

Reply 2

lmnop1234

Original post by esther_greenwood

I feel like OCR is just evil.

Yeah like I’m dead certain that essay has judgements and they’ve capped it at a C because it doesn’t have any but I’m like they’re right there. Zero faith in examiners now if they’ve put this in the examiner’s report.

Reply 3

lohiba

Original post by lmnop1234

I was having a look at the OCR exemplar for 2023 and I’m confused by the 2nd exemplar. They’ve capped it level 4 because of a lack of judgments butI’m pretty sure there are some. Just a bit confused because this severely limits marks.
https://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/703546-examiners-report-liberals-conservatives-and-the-rise-of-labour-1846-1918.pdf

This is so weird! It also looks wrong to me. These exemplars are not reliable and examiners even disagree with each other on marking. It's not for no reason they have moderators to review the examiners work .. Personally I'm using Tilf now to mark my essays so I know where I stand and it's not a big reveal on exam day. That being said, on exam day it's an examiner who will mark me so ..

Reply 4

McKerrow_History

Original post by lmnop1234

I was having a look at the OCR exemplar for 2023 and I’m confused by the 2nd exemplar. They’ve capped it level 4 because of a lack of judgments butI’m pretty sure there are some. Just a bit confused because this severely limits marks.
https://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/703546-examiners-report-liberals-conservatives-and-the-rise-of-labour-1846-1918.pdf

This is a classic B/C response. The candidate is explaining three factors but she never substantiates relative importance. She says that the Tory split was the most important factor but does not explain WHY she thinks this. I see this kind of response all the time as a teacher. Go to my profile and go to my website. A pop up will pop up and you can get a guide on how to write essays including how to substantiate factors.

Reply 5

lmnop1234

Original post by McKerrow_History

Hi thanks! So is it more like the judgements are incomplete rather than not there? When I read it I thought they were saying the split was the most important because without it the other factors wouldn’t have happened. Does it needed to explored more than this? Thank you 🙂

(edited 3 weeks ago)

Reply 6

McKerrow_History

Original post by lmnop1234

So they really want you to explain WHY you think your most important factor is the most important. When they say they want a substantiated judgement that's what they mean. I'm a teacher and examiner of Edexcel, and I can tell you that this is what separates a B/C response from an A*/A response. Most candidates can remember three factors and discuss them, but it is hard to explain why you think the Conservative split was more important than Gladstone and the Aberdeen gov't. That's why A*/A is hard to come by. Good luck, Dr McKerrow.