Exam technique and revision
History · GCSE · The School
Command words decide everything
DESCRIBE wants features. EXPLAIN wants reasons with 'because'. HOW USEFUL wants source evaluation against an enquiry. HOW FAR DO YOU AGREE wants both sides and a judgement. Answering an 'explain' question with a description is the single most common way to lose marks while writing a great deal.
Revise specifics, not topics
Examiners reward precise, deployed knowledge: dates, names, numbers, terms. Build a page per topic with five specific facts you could drop into any answer. 'Many people died' is worth nothing; 'an estimated 12 million were transported, of whom roughly 1.8 million died on the Middle Passage' is worth a mark and shapes the whole answer.
Planning a 16-marker
Two or three paragraphs each making a point with evidence, one covering the other side, and a conclusion that actually decides. Plan for two minutes before writing — a plan is the difference between an essay that argues and one that narrates. Practise planning ten essays rather than writing two; planning is where the thinking is.
"DESCRIBE two features of the Blitz." (4 marks) — two short paragraphs of accurate content, no argument, five minutes. "EXPLAIN why the Blitz did not break civilian morale." (12 marks) — three reasons, each linked back to the question, twenty minutes. "'The Blitz united Britain.' How far do you agree?" (16 marks) — both sides, weighed, with a justified conclusion, thirty minutes. Same topic; the command word decides everything.
Time follows marks, and something must be abandoned
Write your finish time for each question on the paper before you start. The commonest disaster is a beautiful 4-marker and an unfinished 16-marker. If you are behind, abandon the polish rather than the question: three developed paragraphs and a one-line conclusion beat two perfect paragraphs and nothing. An unanswered question scores zero however good the rest was.
Underline before you write
Read the question twice. The first time is for the topic; the second is to underline the command word and the specific focus — a date range, a named factor, a particular source. Pupils lose marks answering the topic in general rather than the precise question asked, especially when a question narrows a big topic to one factor or one decade. Ten seconds of underlining prevents an accurate, well-written answer to the wrong question.