Historical Skills overview quiz - WJEC A-Level History quiz

AO1: demonstrating accurate knowledge and clear chronological narrative

AO3: evaluating differing historians' interpretations of the past

AO2: evaluating primary sources in their context

AO4: spelling, punctuation and the accuracy of written communication

The length of the extract, its font and its title heading

The selling price, the place of sale and the named publisher

Only the emotional tone, the prevailing mood and the writing style

Author or origin, date, and purpose or audience

It is strong evidence of what a regime wanted people to believe

It is always a completely factually accurate record of real events

It is a neutral account that contains no bias whatsoever from its author

It should be ignored entirely because it cannot be trusted at all

Carefully judging the value of the source against its context

Saying a source is 'biased, therefore useless'

Drawing on the provenance to assess the source's value

Reaching a clear, supported overall judgement at the end

The birthplace and nationality of the historian who wrote it

The exact number of words the printed passage happens to contain

The argument it makes and the basis it rests on

The full postal address of the academic publisher involved

Simply summarising the content of the passage in your own words

Quoting long sections of the passage at length without any comment

Agreeing with the interpretation in vague and general terms

Evaluating the interpretation against your own knowledge

A non-examined extended essay you research and write over time

A strictly timed source paper sat under formal examination conditions

A short multiple-choice test marked automatically by the exam board

An oral examination conducted in front of a visiting external assessor

A settled factual question with a single agreed answer historians accept

A focused, arguable 'how far' or 'to what extent' question

A simple yes or no question that has only one possible correct answer

A question for which no primary sources or interpretations are available

Only general secondary textbooks aimed at school-age students

Only contemporary newspapers and no other category of material

Primary sources and historians' interpretations

Only your own unsupported opinion formed without any wider reading

It is purely optional decoration that the markers do not bother to look at

It can simply take the place of having a clear, sustained argument in the essay

It is only ever needed in the timed final exam and never within coursework tasks

It shows the depth of your research and is part of the assessment