understanding the page layout example question. assessment criteria: this is what is being

British Society c.1931- 1951 Exam Technique

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Understanding the Page Layout

Example Question.

Assessment Criteria:

this is what is being

tested in the question.

Example Answer: the

blue text gives examples

of different levels of

an answer.

The black italicised text

shows the Edexcel mark

scheme used for the level.

The Top Tip gives pointers

on improving your answers. .



Example QuestionsQuestion 1Study Source A. What can you learn from Source A about life in Britain in 1942 ? 6 marks

Question 2 8 marksStudy Source B and use your own knowledge.Why was this newspaper article published? Use details from the source and your own knowledge to explain your answer.

Question 3 10 marks

Study Sources A, B and C.Do Sources A and B support the evidence of Source C about the impact of the welfare state? Explain your answer using the sources.

Question 4 10 marks

Study Sources D and E and use your own knowledge.How reliable are sources D and E as evidence of people’s experience of the welfare state? Explain your answer, using Sources D and E and your own knowledge.

Question 5 16 marks

Study all the sources (A to F) and use your own knowledge.“The introduction of the welfare state was a change that was welcomed by everyone.” How far do the sources in the paper support this statement? Use details from the sources and your own knowledge to explain your answer.



What should I revise?

Question 1 Is a source comprehension and inference and inference support question. Tip: No factual revision is required, but review the example answer and make sure that you understand about inferences and how to support conclusions.

Question 2 Is a source comprehension and interpretation, message and purpose question. This requires that you are able to read and understand Source B, identify and explain its message and then use this to explain why it was produced. To do this you need to think about who produced it and to use your own knowledge of what was happening at the time that it was produced (contextual knowledge). Tip: This question is testing that you have studied the whole syllabus, so it could be on almost anything. Carefully study the example answer to understand how.

Question 3 is a comprehension, interpretation, and cross-referencing and recall of knowledge question. This requires you to compare three sources, namely A, B and C. You will be expected to read and interpret the meaning of the sources and to compare them for points of similarity and difference. For the top marks you will be expected to support what you say with evidence drawn from the sources as well as your own contextual knowledge and to consider the degree to which they support each other.Tip: Carefully study the example answer to understand how to answer these questions. It is very important that you focus on what the questions asks you to write about, in this case: “ To what extent do these sources agree about the impact of the welfare state?”

Question 4 requires the evaluation of sources for utility and recall of knowledge question. This requires you to make a supported judgement about the usefulness of two sources in order to answer a particular historical enquiry. For the higher marks you will have to discuss the nature (what the source is about and the type of source), the origin of the source (who produced it) and the purpose of the source (why it was produced). Tip: Make sure that you focus on answering the actual question. Study the top level of the example answer comments on “How reliable are sources D and E as evidence of people’s experience of the welfare state?” Study the example answers to understand how to do this.

Question 5 assesses your ability to explore the evidence for and against an hypothesis (an unproven statement contained in the question), using all of the sources skills assessed in questions 3 and 4. It also expects recall of knowledge. The question also assesses your quality of written communication. To gain the best marks you will have to provide a balanced answer that uses an introduction and paragraphs to examine the evidence for and against the hypothesis that forms a part of the question. In the case of the example answer: “The introduction of the welfare state was a change that was welcomed by everyone.” Tip: You are advised to plan carefully for this answer for at least 5 minutes, before spending 20 minutes writing the answer. Study the example answer to understand how to do this. Revise topics that lend themselves to different interpretations: what was the worst effect of the Depression, was everyone badly affected by the Depression, what was the worst effect of World War 2, what was the most important result of the war,did everyone welcome the Welfare State?



Sources Source A “Want is one only of five giants on the road of reconstruction; the others are Disease, Ignorance, Squalor, and Idleness.” William Beveridge, Report on Social Insurance and Allied Services, 1942 Source B“On Monday morning you will wake up in a new Britain, in a State which “takes over” its citizens six months before they are born, providing care and free services for their birth, for their early years, their schooling, sickness, workless days, widowhood and retirement. Finally, it helps defray the cost of their departure. All this, with free doctoring, dentistry and medicine - free bath chairs, too, if needed - for 4s 11d out of your weekly pay packet. You begin paying next Friday.” The Daily Mail, 3rd July 1948 Source C“The fifth of July 1948 was one of the great days in British history … it was a day that transformed like no other before or since the lives and life chances of the British people.” Peter Hennessy, Never Again, Britain 1945-51, 1992The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Source D“Society becomes more wholesome, more serene, and spiritually healthier, if it knows that its citizens have at the back of the consciousness the knowledge that not only themselves, but all their fellows, have access, when ill, to the best that medical skill can provide.” Aneurin Bevan, 1942The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Source E“ … oh, it was fantastic. My mother and dad had been having problems with their teeth for ages, and I think they were the first at the dentist, as soon as he opened … Instead of having just a few teeth out, they had the complete set out, and had free dentures. You know? They thought it was wonderful … My sister had school supply steel rimmed spectacles for ages … As soon as the NHS started she was there, (at the) optician. Marvellous NHS spectacles, you know, some style about them … And then I had another sister, she’d had one baby and it was rather bad, she had to pay 12s 6d for a midwife, no gas and air, anything like this and just after the NHS started she had her second baby, at home … Then she thought it was absolutely wonderful, because besides having a free midwife, she had a nurse come in every day … bathed the baby, showed her how to look after it. Mrs Claire Bond, part of an interview for the a BBC’s Now the War is Over, 1985



Question 2 Study Source B and use your own knowledge.Why was this newspaper article published? Use details from the source and your own knowledge to explain your answer. 8 marks

Targets: Source comprehension and interpretation, message and purposeExample Answer

It was published to tell readers about the new benefits. OR It was published just before the Appointed Day. Level One (1-2 marks) Simple statements.

The message of Source B is that the Welfare State is about to begin, as it was published two days before the Appointed Day. It explains how people will be looked after from the cradle to the grave, as it mentions … (provide supporting examples from the source).

Level Two (3-5 marks) Supported statements.

In this question the examiner will be assessing:Source comprehension (can you understand what the source is about?)Source interpretation (do you understand what the source really means?)Source message and purpose (do you understand the intention of the source?)

Top TipNotice how the level 2 answers explains an idea and provides a supporting example from the source. This example would earn the top of the level because it uses details from both the content and about its context. The next page shows the level 3 answer.



Question 2 Study Source B and use your own knowledge.Why was this newspaper article published? Use details from the source and your own knowledge to explain your answer. 8 marks

Targets: Source comprehension and interpretation, message and purposeExample answer

The message of Source B is that the Welfare State is about to begin, as it was published two days before the Appointed Day. It explains how people will be looked after from the cradle to the grave, as it mentions all of the benefits that will be available. (give supporting examples from the source). However, I think that the intention of the article was to criticise the introduction of the Welfare State, because it says “in a State which “takes over” its citizens”. At the time, the British people had just defeated Nazi Germany, which had exerted a strong control over it’s citizens. In addition, it ends by saying “You begin paying next Friday” which suggests a loss of the freedom to choose.

Level Three (6-8 marks) Explained purpose.

In this question the examiner will be assessing:Source comprehension (can you understand what the source is about?)Source interpretation (do you understand what the source really means?)Source message and purpose (do you understand the intention of the source?)

Top TipNotice how Level 3 goes beyond Level 2 because it actually answers the question, by writing about why the article was published. Because supporting examples are provided and the source is placed incontext by explaining what else was going on at the time, it would earn the full 8 marks.

understanding the page layout example question. assessment criteria: this is what is being

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