OCR A-Level History essay and NEA technique overview quiz quiz

A narrative of the events retold carefully in the order in which they actually happened

Evaluating four primary sources for their reliability, utility and provenance in turn

Summarising the views of two named historians without weighing the causes against each other

Ranking the causes and reaching a judgement

By theme or factor, one per paragraph

Chronologically, working through the events one by one in the order they occurred

By source, devoting one paragraph to each primary source rather than to each factor

Randomly, moving between points in whatever order they happen to come to mind

A long background narrative setting the scene before the argument of the essay begins

A thesis that signals the judgement

A list of every fact the candidate intends to deploy across the rest of the essay

Only the question restated in slightly different words without any answer being offered

A short source enquiry sat under timed conditions in the examination hall like the other papers

A multiple-choice test of factual recall covering each of the named key topics in the option

An independent essay of 3000 to 4000 words on a debated issue, testing all three AOs

A timed exam essay written in the hall, marked out of 25 and testing AO1 on its own

It is broad and descriptive, inviting a sweeping survey rather than a focused argument

It duplicates one of the examined units so the same content can be reused for the coursework

It has a single agreed answer that all historians accept, leaving nothing left to debate

It is debatable, manageable, distinct from the exams, and analytical

Integrated, so sources and historiography advance the argument

In three completely separate sections, one for each assessment objective in turn

By ignoring AO2 and AO3 entirely and concentrating only on building the argument for AO1

By listing the views of historians at the very end in a section bolted on after the argument

Equally across the three answers, giving each exactly the same amount of writing time

About an hour on the interpretations essay and 45 minutes on each thematic essay

Almost all of it on the interpretations essay, leaving only a few minutes for the rest

By writing as fast as possible throughout, so that every answer is finished well early

Because all the options cover essentially the same content, so any revision will serve

Because generic themes are banned by the board and cannot be referred to in the exam

Because the essays are written from the named key topics of your exact options

Because the options never appear in the exam, so only the broad themes are ever tested

Planning answers before writing, which uses up time that should be spent on the prose

Using precise evidence, which slows candidates down and leaves them short of time at the end

Reaching a judgement too early, which wastes the time needed to set out the argument first

Over-writing one answer and starving the others of time

Reach a substantiated judgement that ranks the factors with reasons

Summarise the factors discussed in the essay without reaching any judgement between them

Introduce fresh evidence that was not deployed anywhere earlier in the body of the essay

Restate the question in the same words it was set, without offering any answer to it