How do you answer the 12-mark how fully contextual question in Advanced Higher History?
The 12-mark how fully question: establishing and interpreting the view of a source, then developing it with contextual knowledge and historiography to judge how fully it explains an issue.
How to answer the SQA Advanced Higher History 12-mark how fully question. Covers establishing the source's view, interpreting its points, the wider contextual development that earns most marks, the use of historians' interpretations, and reaching a how fully judgement.
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What this key area is asking
The second source question is the 12-mark how fully question: you judge how fully a source explains a given issue. You establish and interpret what the source argues, then develop the answer with your own detailed knowledge of what it covers and omits, and reference how historians have interpreted the issue, before reaching a clear how fully judgement.
What earns the marks
- Interpretation. Establish what the source argues and select the relevant points it makes.
- Contextual development. Bring detailed own knowledge of the points the source covers and the significant ones it omits.
- Historiography. Refer to how historians have interpreted the issue, to deepen the development.
- Judgement. State how fully the source explains the issue, naming what it covers and what it omits.
Measuring the source against the whole picture
The skill is comparison between the source and your own knowledge. The source supplies part of the picture; your contextual development supplies the rest; the judgement weighs the two. An answer that lists your own knowledge without linking it to the source has missed the question, because the marks come from measuring the source, not from displaying knowledge.
A reliable structure
- Establish the view. State what the source argues about the issue.
- Interpret the points. Select the relevant points the source makes.
- Develop the omitted context. Bring detailed own knowledge of significant points the source leaves out.
- Bring in historiography. Note how historians have interpreted the issue.
- Judge how fully. Name what the source covers and omits, and conclude how fully it explains the issue.
Examples in context
Try this
Q1. What does the how fully judgement measure a source against? [2 marks]
- Cue. The full historical picture: what proportion of the relevant explanation the source supplies.
Q2. Where do most of the marks in the how fully question come from? [2 marks]
- Cue. From wider contextual development and historiography, not from interpreting the source alone.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA AH 201912 marksHow fully does Source C explain the reasons for the issue in the chosen field?Show worked answer →
The 12-mark how fully question is marked across interpreting the source's points, wider contextual development, and reference to historians' interpretations, ending in a how fully judgement.
Plan: establish what the source argues and select the relevant points it makes (interpretation), then develop the answer with detailed own knowledge of reasons the source does and does not mention (contextual development), and refer to how historians have interpreted those reasons (historiography). The judgement states how fully the source explains the issue: it usually covers some reasons well and omits others, so the answer should specify what it explains and what it leaves out. Most marks are in the contextual development.
SQA AH 202312 marksHow fully does Source A explain the consequences of the development in the chosen field?Show worked answer →
Marked out of 12 on interpretation, contextual development and historiography.
Establish the consequences the source identifies and interpret them, then bring in detailed own knowledge of further consequences the source omits, and note how historians have weighed those consequences differently. The how fully judgement should be precise: name the consequences the source explains well, the significant ones it omits, and conclude how fully it accounts for the issue. Avoid simply listing your own knowledge with no link to the source; the marks come from measuring the source against the wider picture.
Related dot points
- The 12-mark source evaluation: judging a single source through its provenance (origin and purpose), its content, and developed contextual and historiographical knowledge, and how the marks are split.
How to answer the SQA Advanced Higher History 12-mark source evaluation. Covers provenance (origin and purpose), interpretation of the content, the contextual development that earns most of the marks, and how reference to historians' views lifts the answer.
- The 16-mark two-source comparison: establishing the overall view of each source, comparing detailed points of agreement and disagreement, developing them with context, and relating the views to the historiography.
How to answer the SQA Advanced Higher History 16-mark two-source comparison. Covers establishing each source's overall view, comparing detailed points of agreement and disagreement, developing them with contextual knowledge, and relating the sources to historians' interpretations.
- The historiographical skill: identifying the schools of interpretation in a field, setting out and evaluating historians' views, and using them to develop source answers, essays and the dissertation rather than name-dropping.
How to use historiography across SQA Advanced Higher History. Explains what historiography is, the schools of interpretation in a field, how to set out and evaluate historians' views, and how to weave them into source answers, essays and the dissertation rather than name-drop.
- The 90-mark, three-hour question paper: Part A (two 25-mark essays) and Part B (the three-part source exercise worth 12, 12 and 16 marks), how to split your time, and what each part rewards.
How the SQA Advanced Higher History question paper is structured and marked. Covers Part A (two 25-mark essays), Part B (the source exercise worth 12, 12 and 16 marks), the three-hour timing, and what each part rewards so you can plan the exam.
- The 25-mark essay: an introduction that takes a position and previews the factors, analytical paragraphs that argue rather than narrate, and a conclusion that weighs the factors and reaches a judgement matching the line of argument.
How to structure a 25-mark SQA Advanced Higher History essay around a sustained line of argument. Covers the introduction that takes a position, analytical paragraphs that argue not narrate, and a conclusion that weighs factors and reaches a judgement.
Sources & how we know this
- Advanced Higher History Course Specification — SQA (2019)
- 2019 Advanced Higher History Finalised Marking Instructions — SQA (2019)