You Can Write Some Sentences to Answer the Question, but You Do Not Have Enough Knowledge

6.1 Deployment of Knowledge / 6.2 & 6.3 Source Skills & Interpretations

L1

Grade F /

You can write some sentences to answer the question, but you do not have enough knowledge and understanding of the topic to be able to write a paragraph.
You may write a paragraph, but not actually add very much to what you have said in the opening sentence.
Your answer may be a general statement. This means that you have suggested that everybody was treated the same or that you have given one general reason why something happened.
You may also have written a description that could be true of almost any period of history. This can often happen when you are describing a war or the role of women in society.

This means that you read and look at the sources and take out the information from them, but do not do any more than that.
Your answer will contain the information from the sources, BUT you have not tried to put the sources into context or explained any of the details in the provenance.
Context means the historical background of the source. What you know from your own knowledge.
Provenance means the details that you are given about who wrote the source and when it was written etc.

Target to improve: /

To improve to further you will need to add more detailed information to help you back up and explain your answer and try to write in paragraphs.

To improve to further you will need to make inferences or pay attention to the ‘provenance’ of the source; that is the information given at the top.

This means that you back up your answer with more detailed knowledge and understanding of the topic.
You write an opening sentence for each paragraph and then explain this in more detail.
Your answer will be a series of paragraphs that contain detailed information about the topic.
The information that you include in each paragraph must be relevant to the topic that you are writing about.
It is no good just writing about anything that comes into your mind.
The best idea is to stop and give yourself time to remember what you have studied.

This means that you are able to make inferences from sources, for example you can work out what is going on in the background.
You can also spot is a source is unreliable or one-sided (biased) but your answer will often be undeveloped and unbalanced.
You only give the limitations of a source when asked if it is useful.
You can look at the contents of a source when deciding whether it is reliable or accurate.
You still tend to describe the contents of the source, what it says or shows, rather than judging whether it is accurate, reliable or useful.
You can compare two sources but may go through the sources in turn rather than looking for similarities and/or differences.
Your answers are often undeveloped.

Target to improve: /

To improve further, you will need to take time to plan your answer and ensure each factor is well developed.

To improve further you will need to give a more balanced, developed answer and try to look at contents and provenance of sources, their value and limitations.

6.1 Deployment of Knowledge / 6.2 & 6.3 Source Skills & Interpretations

This means that you have written a sequence of developed paragraphs with detailed knowledge and understanding and have organised the paragraphs in a way that makes sense.
The most important feature of a Level 3 answer is that it must read logically.
There must be no paragraphs that are out of place and you must have spent some time planning before you start writing.

There is more balance and focus to your answers and they are more developed. You use your own knowledge to put the sources in context and answer the question.
You use the context, content or provenance of sources to decide upon utility, reliability and accuracy.
In utility questions you fully explain limitations and positive value with reference to content or provenance. In deciding reliability you evaluate the provenance of the source or use your own knowledge to question the contents and context
You can judge an interpretation by analysing the purpose of the author or the content/nature of the source.

Target to improve: /

To improve further you will need to organise your answer so that you write an introduction, an argument and a conclusion.

To improve further you will need to write a fully balanced answer totally focused on the question.

Grade A – A* /

This means that you have read and fully understood the question. You must also have worked out what you are going to say in the conclusion before you actually start writing the introduction. To do this you must plan your answer fully.
The introduction must state clearly what you believe are the main factors and this must be supported by the argument in the following paragraphs.
Your conclusion should be a sustained judgement on the key issue in the question.

This means you can give a fully developed, focused and balanced answer. You use the context, content and provenance of sources to decide upon utility, reliability and accuracy.
You use your own knowledge to put the source in context and answer the question.
In utility questions you fully explain limitations and positive value with reference to content and provenance.
In deciding reliability you evaluate the provenance of the source and use your own knowledge to question the contents and context.
You can judge an interpretation by analysing both the purpose of the author and the content/nature of the source.
You write a conclusion, which gives a final. Sustained judgement on the source or sources.

Target to improve: /

How to improve your GCSE Grade