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EnglandAncient History

Essay Technique

4 dot points across 4 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How should you manage your time in the H407 papers and revise the content, sources and skills efficiently?

Exam timing and revision: how to divide the 2 hour 30 minute paper across the short answers, the 20-mark essay, the 12-mark source question and the 36-mark depth essay, and how to revise the content, the prescribed sources and the exam skills.
An OCR A-Level Ancient History technique guide to exam timing and revision. Explains how to divide the 2 hour 30 minute paper across the short answers, the 20-mark period essay, the 12-mark source-utility question and the 36-mark depth essay, and how to revise the content, the prescribed ancient sources and the exam skills efficiently.
13 min answer →

How do you structure the 12-mark source-utility question to evaluate one to four ancient sources for AO3?

The 12-mark source-utility question: reading the sources against the enquiry, weighing each source's provenance, grouping and comparing where there are several, testing against context, and reaching a judgement on usefulness for AO3.
An OCR A-Level Ancient History technique guide to the 12-mark source-utility question. Explains how to read the sources against the enquiry, weigh each source's provenance, group and compare several sources, test against contextual knowledge, and reach a judgement on usefulness for AO3, with a worked example transferable to the Greek and Roman topics.
14 min answer →

How do you plan and write the 20-mark period-study essay, ranking factors and reaching a judgement for AO1 and AO2?

The 20-mark period-study essay: decoding the command, selecting and ranking the relevant factors, organising thematically, supporting with precise ancient detail, and structuring towards a substantiated judgement for AO1 and AO2.
An OCR A-Level Ancient History technique guide to the 20-mark period-study essay. Explains how to decode the command, select and rank the relevant factors, organise thematically, support with precise ancient detail, and structure the essay towards a substantiated judgement for AO1 and AO2, with a worked example transferable to the Greek and Roman period studies.
14 min answer →

How do you plan and write the 36-mark depth-study essay, building an argument on and from the prescribed ancient sources?

The 36-mark depth-study essay: building a sustained argument on and from the prescribed ancient sources, integrating source evaluation with analysis, ranking factors, and reaching a substantiated judgement that weighs the evidence.
An OCR A-Level Ancient History technique guide to the 36-mark depth-study essay. Explains how to build a sustained argument on and from the prescribed ancient sources, integrate source evaluation with analysis (AO1, AO2 and AO3), rank factors, and reach a substantiated judgement that weighs the evidence, with a worked example transferable to the Sparta and Late Republic depth studies.
15 min answer →