OCR A-Level Law legal skills and application overview quiz quiz

10 per cent

40 per cent

20 per cent

60 per cent

Identify, Reason, Argue and then Conclude the matter

Issue, Result, Authority and the relevant Case name

Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion

Introduce, Recall, Apply and finally Close the answer

In describing all of the relevant law on the topic in as much detail as possible

In citing the largest number of cases you can recall, whether or not they fit the facts

In writing the longest answer you can, so the examiner sees how much you know

In applying each rule to the precise facts

Discuss the extent to which and Evaluate

Describe in full and then Explain how each rule operates in practice

State the relevant rule and Outline the steps that follow from it

Define each of the key legal terms and List the points in order

As long, descriptive and detailed as possible, setting out every rule the candidate can remember

Answers the question, balanced, supported by examples, and reaches a reasoned judgement

Lists every relevant case in turn, giving the facts of each one in careful and full detail

Sets out both sides of the argument carefully but deliberately avoids reaching any conclusion

By listing the relevant facts in any order, leaving the examiner to draw the connections

By describing the whole of the relevant law first and adding a personal opinion at the very end

By theme, with each point supported and evaluated, building to a judgement

As a single unbroken paragraph that runs through every point without any structure at all

With its full official law-report citation and the name of the court that decided it

Only by the year in which it was passed, without naming the Act itself at all

It does not need to be cited at all, because statutes are assumed to be common knowledge

By the name of the Act and, where relevant, the section

It is name-dropping and does not show the principle the case establishes

It uses up too much of the limited space available in the answer booklet

Cases should never be named in an answer, only paraphrased in the candidate's own words

It is against the examination rules to refer to decided cases by name in a Law answer

AO1

AO3

AO2

All equally

Because AO1, the recall of knowledge, is worth more than any other objective on the paper

Because the substantive law itself is not directly examined anywhere in the assessment

Because AO2 and AO3 together carry 80 per cent of the marks

Because exam skills entirely replace the need to know any of the substantive law at all