How do you evaluate primary sources for value in the AO2 enquiry, using content and provenance against context?
AO2 source skills: evaluating primary sources for their value to a stated enquiry, using content, provenance and contextual knowledge to reach a judgement rather than labelling sources reliable or biased.
An OCR A-Level History skills guide to evaluating primary sources for the AO2 enquiry. Explains how to judge a source's value for a stated enquiry using content, provenance and contextual knowledge, why bias is not a verdict, and how to reach a judgement on usefulness, with a worked example transferable to any Unit 1 option.
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What this dot point is asking
The AO2 skill, tested in the Unit 1 enquiry, is evaluating primary sources for their value to a stated enquiry. This page teaches the transferable skill that any Unit 1 option needs: how to judge what a source is worth for answering a specific question, using its content, its provenance and your contextual knowledge, and reaching a judgement on usefulness rather than a verdict on "bias" or "reliability".
The answer
Value, not reliability
Content: what the source reveals
Start with the content: what does the source actually say or show that bears on the enquiry? Read it closely and relate it directly to the question, rather than describing it in general. Content alone, however, is not evaluation: a top-band answer uses content as the starting point for judging value.
Provenance: nature, origin and purpose
Context: the standard for judgement
Finally, set the source against your contextual knowledge. Context lets you test the source (does it fit what you know?), explain its purpose, and judge how far it can be trusted for the enquiry. Without context, evaluation collapses into assertion; with it, you can judge value precisely and reach a substantiated conclusion.
Examples in context
A model answer never stops at "this source is biased": it explains what the bias makes the source valuable for, which is the move that lifts an answer into the top levels.
Try this
Q1. Why might a hostile newspaper editorial be valuable evidence in an enquiry, despite its bias? [10 marks, AO2 style]
- What the marker wants. An AO2 answer explaining that a hostile source is valuable for revealing the attitudes, fears or arguments of its author or audience, precisely because of its purpose, and that value depends on the enquiry, not on the source being neutral.
Q2. What three things do you use to judge a source's value for an enquiry? [2 marks]
- Cue. Its content, its provenance (nature, origin and purpose), and your own contextual knowledge.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
OCR H505 Y106 202020 marksUsing these four sources in their historical context, assess how far they support the view that Henry VIII's break with Rome was driven mainly by the desire for a male heir. [shown at the 20-mark cap; the enquiry is worth 30 in the full paper]Show worked answer →
The Section A enquiry (AO2), shown at the 20-mark cap (worth 30 in the full paper). The top level evaluates the sources for the enquiry using provenance and context, grouping rather than summarising.
Method. Group the sources by what they suggest about the motive (those stressing the succession against those stressing wealth, anti-clericalism or Anne Boleyn).
Provenance. A royal proclamation is valuable for the official justification of the break; a foreign ambassador's report is valuable for an outside view of Henry's motives.
Judgement. Set against context (the King's Great Matter, the Act of Supremacy in 1534) and judge how far the sources support the succession explanation. The top level answers the hypothesis on the balance of the evidence.
OCR H505 Y113 201920 marksUsing these four sources in their historical context, assess how far they support the view that the National Government handled the depression effectively. [shown at the 20-mark cap; the enquiry is worth 30 in the full paper]Show worked answer →
The Section A enquiry (AO2), shown at the 20-mark cap (worth 30 in the full paper). The top level evaluates the set for the enquiry using provenance and context.
Method. Group the sources by view (those praising recovery against those highlighting unemployment), comparing them directly.
Provenance. A government statement is valuable for the official case for its policy; an opposition or regional source is valuable for the experience of the depressed areas.
Judgement. Set against context (protection, cheap money, regional unemployment, the Jarrow March) and judge how far, on balance, the sources support the view. The top level answers the hypothesis.
Related dot points
- AO3 interpretation skills: analysing a historian's argument, emphasis and use of evidence, and evaluating which interpretation is more convincing in the light of context, rather than assessing reliability.
An OCR A-Level History skills guide to analysing historical interpretations for AO3. Explains how to identify a historian's argument, emphasis and use of evidence, how interpretations differ, and how to judge which is more convincing in the light of context, with a worked example transferable to the Unit 3 interpretations essay.
- AO2 source skills: applying the nature, origin and purpose framework to judge a source's value and limitations for a stated enquiry, turning provenance into evidence.
An OCR A-Level History skills guide to provenance for the AO2 enquiry. Explains the nature, origin and purpose framework, how each element affects a source's value for an enquiry, and how to turn provenance into evidence rather than a formula, with a worked example transferable across options.
- AO2 source skills: grouping and cross-referencing the four enquiry sources by what they suggest about the hypothesis, building an argument rather than treating each source in turn.
An OCR A-Level History skills guide to grouping and cross-referencing sources in the AO2 enquiry. Explains why you should group the four sources by what they suggest about the hypothesis rather than answering source by source, how to cross-reference, and how to build to a judgement, with a worked example transferable across options.
- Source and interpretation skills: deploying contextual knowledge to test and evaluate sources (AO2) and interpretations (AO3), integrating it with the material rather than narrating around it.
An OCR A-Level History skills guide to using contextual knowledge in AO2 source and AO3 interpretation answers. Explains how own knowledge tests and evaluates sources and interpretations, how to integrate it rather than narrate, and how much to use, with a worked example transferable across options.
- The assessment objectives: AO1 (analysis and judgement), AO2 (primary-source evaluation) and AO3 (interpretation evaluation), how they are weighted, where each is tested, and how to target the right skill.
An OCR A-Level History skills guide to the three assessment objectives. Explains AO1 (analysis and judgement), AO2 (primary-source evaluation) and AO3 (interpretation evaluation), how they are weighted across the units, where each is tested, and how to identify and target the right skill in each question.
Sources & how we know this
- OCR A Level History A (H505) specification — OCR (2015)