Question and answer

THE PROCESS OF PREPARING AN EXAMINATION PAPER is long and may take up to two years. Although each examining board works in slightly different ways, these are matter of detail and the boards follow similar procedures.

Question Types: Answer Types
It starts with a chief examiner, a blank piece of paper and a copy of the syllabus. Rough drafts of problems are sketched out, possibly useful quotations are found. Notes of previous examination papers are consulted; a question which proved to be too testing or ambiguous will be avoided. There should be a balance in the types of problems which are set. Some questions will involve comparison, the ability to bring together two or more elements and to assess their significance in relation to each other. ('Compare the contributions of Cavour and Mazzini to the achievement of Italian unification.' 'Which posed the great problem for Elizabeth I, the Catholics or the Puritans?') Answers to such questions should devote approximately equal attention to each aspect. Other questions will be more analytical, requiring answers which focus on particular aspects. ('How far did Henry VII solve his financial problems?' 'How significant was the role of sea-power to the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War?') Although candidates may be able to discuss wider aspects of the problem, the focus should be on the issues which are specifically mentioned in the question. For example, in the question on the Second World War, a candidate might refer to air and land power but will be expected to spend most time discussing naval warfare. Some questions invite candidates to consider more wide-ranging problems as an exercise in making judgements about a lot of material. 'Assess the effects of inflation on sixteenth-century Europe.' 'What was enlightened about thought in the eighteenth century?') Other questions might offer a particular point of view for discussion, especially through a quotation. ('The origins of English feudalism are found in the "Norman Conquest". Discuss'. 'How justified is the claim that the origins of the English civil wars are to be found in the reign of James I?') In History, there is no single 'right' or 'wrong' answer and candidates may agree or disagree with the basis of the question; what is important is the quality of the argument which is provided.

Off Limits
There are some sorts of questions which are not acceptable at this level. First, questions should not simply ask candidates to describe what happened. 'What were the most important events of the Thirty Years' War?' would not be a good question because candidates would only have to write a list and would not be guided about the argument which they should use. 'How justified is the claim that the Edict of Restitution was the most important turning point in the Thirty Years' War?' is a much better question. Questions which can only be answered with a knowledge of the most recent research article should be avoided. Whilst up-to-date study is given credit, the rough guide used in drafting questions is that they can be tackled realistically by most candidates who have studied the appropriate sixth-form books on the subject. But it does require reading beyond the standard outline textbooks for anything above the lowest grades.

All examining boards now set questions on documents and these are different in format from the essay questions; the qualities which they test are also different. These document questions are usually sub-divided into parts and the boards often provide an indication of the marks as a guide to the length of time to be devoted to each part. The short questions which are given 1 or 2 marks need to be answered exactly as well as briefly. Other questions must be worded very clearly to make it apparent how they are to be tackled, whether the documents are to be analysed or compared, or how far the answers should be confined to the printed documents and how far outside references are needed. In these questions, the instructions such as 'analyse' or 'compare' or 'using only these documents' should be followed precisely.

Gradually, the jigsaw is put together and the first draft is ready. A moderator will then look at the paper. He is an independent person, not an examiner, who is given a special responsibility by a board for ensuring that papers are fair. He will assess whether the questions reflect a balanced view of the syllabus or whether major areas are omitted. This does not mean, for example, that there will always be a question on Luther or Gladstone but there should be something on the Reformation or liberalism or the Irish problem if these are significant parts of the syllabus. The wording of questions must be absolutely clear; there must be no hidden clues or implications which are not immediately evident to candidates as they read the question papers in the tense atmosphere of an examination room. The questions must be possible for the less able candidates who are hoping for an E grade and they must also offer scope to the potential A grade students. They should not reflect too closely questions which have been set in very recent examinations but that does not mean that similar questions cannot be set again if they offer a fair test. For example, a question on Louis XIV's responsibility for the wars after 1689 might be followed in the next year by one on the aims of his foreign policy. The papers should be neither more nor less difficult than previous papers and should compare well with papers set by other boards so that candidates face a similar level of examination whichever syllabus and board they prepare for.

It may take several drafts before the chief examiner and moderator are satisfied. The next stage involves a meeting, perhaps more than one meeting, at which a cross-section of teachers, other experienced people and staff from the examining board are present. The paper is again looked at in detail, questions are cut, amended, polished and finally agreed. So, two years is not too long a time to prepare and mark a paper.


Seven Don'ts for Answer Writers

• Don't be irrelevant. Irrelevance is probably the most common reason why candidates in History examinations gain disappointing results. You must remember that you are answering a question set by somebody else. The purpose is to discover if you can select from the material which you have learned the arguments and factual knowledge which are appropriate to deal with this question. Hundreds of questions can be set on the causes of the Reformation or on Gladstonian liberalism and the test is whether you can discuss effectively this year's question, not whether you have a general knowledge of the topics. Although you may have worked hard to prepare for the examination, do not simply write out a prepared answer. Think about what this year's question demands.

• Don't be disorganised. Answers should be presented in a straightforward and clear manner. There is insufficient time in an examination to write out long plans but it is useful to jot down the main points and then put them into order. Discuss first the most important issues and spend more time on them. By the end of your answer, you should be dealing with less important issues which can be covered quite briefly.

• Don't write long introductions. A lot of candidates worry unnecessarily about introductions. As a general rule, it is better to begin discussing the question immediately. There is no need to explain the general background to problems and a well-focused discussion is more effective. There is sometimes a temptation in popular topics to try to mention many side issues at the beginning. But, for example, if a question is on the foreign policy of Napoleon I, candidates will receive little credit if they write several paragraphs on his domestic policies at the beginning.

• Don't write general descriptions. At A Level, questions do not ask what happened and candidates should avoid writing only narratives of events. Questions tend to ask about reasons ('Why did Peter the Great attempt to westernise Russia?'). They may be concerned with consequences ('Explain the effects of the First World War on British society in the 1920s'). They may ask candidates to compare people or factors ('Compare the dangers to the Elizabethan religious settlement presented by the Catholics and Puritans'). Look for key words in questions, such as 'Explain', 'To what extent?' and 'Analyse' and use them to frame your answers.

• Don't write waffle. This is when candidates write in very general terms, not mentioning the elements of the question and providing few supporting facts. The wording of the question should direct you to the issues to be discussed. A Level questions are clear and candidates should not fear traps or hidden clues but the questions themselves state issues which must be discussed. A question on the reasons why Hitler gained power in Germany should not be an opportunity to describe the general course of German history from the rule of Bismarck. Instead examiners are looking for a concentrated explanation of the rise of Hitler: What did it depend on? What was the role of the army and other political parties? How influential was the personal influence of Hitler? Why did the opposition prove ineffective? Such points as these should be supported by relevant factual knowledge. When did Hitler come to power? Who were the main leaders of the army and of the other political parties?

• Don't quote excessively. Examiners will give credit for relevant and appropriate quotations or references to historians but it is better to use a few quotations or references to historians and then to discuss them than to sprinkle essays with quotations in an unselective way. Answers often show that candidates have not read or understood the historians who are mentioned and cannot use the quotations to advance their arguments. Credit is given when candidates show by brief comments that they understand the significance of what historians have written. Avoid quotations which have become cliches; for example, it is rarely useful to describe James I as 'the wisest fool in Christendom'.

• Don't run out of time. The questions are designed so that candidates can answer them adequately in the available time. Examiners do not expect long and detailed answers. It is a mistake to spend too long on a question about which you know a lot and then run out of time by the end of the examination. Long answers might indeed earn a few extra marks but the marks lost by a later incomplete or note-form answer will usually be more and you will be penalising yourself. Unnecessarily long answers usually contain an excessive amount of factual material. Remember that the examiner is looking primarily at the quality of the argument, supported by appropriate factual material. An answer which has a direct argument and which includes appropriate factual knowledge will often be worth more marks than a long and detailed essay which contains an unclear argument.

Russell Williams. Cheltenham and Gloucester College.