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Exam technique

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

What is Section A of the OCR Analysing Performance paper, and how do you answer on two performance texts studied on a theme as a theatre maker?

Component 03 (H459/31) Section A: two extended essays on two performance texts studied on a set theme, answered as a theatre maker (director, performer or designer) showing how extracts would be rehearsed and interpreted (AO2 and AO3, 30 marks).
How to answer Section A of the OCR Analysing Performance paper (H459/31): two extended essays on two performance texts studied on a set theme, answered as a theatre maker showing how extracts would be rehearsed and interpreted, to earn AO2 and AO3 across 30 marks.
13 min answer →

How do you prepare for the closed-book OCR written papers and manage your time across Analysing Performance and Deconstructing Texts?

Closed-book recall and timing: building memorised banks of moments, staging and design ideas, and a live theatre record, and managing time across the two written papers (H459/31 and H459/41 to 48) under timed, closed-book conditions.
How to prepare for the closed-book OCR Drama and Theatre written papers and manage time: building memorised banks of moments, staging and design ideas, and a live theatre record, and pacing answers across Analysing Performance (H459/31) and Deconstructing Texts (H459/41 to 48).
12 min answer →

What do OCR Drama and Theatre command words require, and how do you answer as a director, performer or designer in the written papers?

Command words and the theatre-maker voice: reading OCR command words (Explain, Discuss, Analyse, Evaluate, As a director/performer/designer) and answering through specific, justified practical choices tied to audience effect.
What OCR Drama and Theatre command words require (Explain, Discuss, Analyse, Evaluate, As a director, performer or designer) and how to answer the written papers through specific, justified practical choices tied to audience effect.
12 min answer →

How do you structure an extended evaluative essay in OCR Drama and Theatre, especially the live theatre and whole-play questions?

Structuring an evaluative essay: organising an extended response by argument or judgement (not scene order), building each paragraph from a point, specific evidence and evaluation, and reaching a clear overall conclusion.
How to structure an extended evaluative essay in OCR Drama and Theatre, especially the live theatre and whole-play questions: organising by argument or judgement, building paragraphs from point, evidence and evaluation, and reaching a clear conclusion.
12 min answer →