Controlled Assessment Section A
For Assessment Part A you must
produce a Historical Explanation. You
will be assessed on Assessment
Objectives- AO1/AO2 (recall knowledge
and demonstrate understanding of key
concepts and key features)
This year the task for the A Section
assessment is : Explain why
government control of civilians
increased in the years 19141918
Part A must be produced under controlled conditions in 30 mins. It is marked out of
10 marks. It is worth 5% of your overall marks for the History GCSE.
You will have six lessons to work on this.
a)Today your teacher will do some focussed work with you on government control of
civilians in the First World War, building on this topic from the background teaching.
They will also talk through this booklet making it clear how the Controlled
Assessment A works.
b)You will then have three lessons to further research government control of
civilians. You must decide what you think the key reasons for increased government
control were, and how you will catagorise these causes. You should then make
structured notes from reading and research.
c)You will then produce a plan for your answer. This needs to provide you with a
clear structure and some of the detailed evidence, which you will need to include in
your answer.
The plan should be one A4 side long.
● It can be: bulleted or numbered points, mind maps and spider diagrams, short
phrases and key words.
● It cannot be continuous sentences or paragraphs.
● It will be handwritten, unless you have exam dispensation to use a laptop for
exams
● It must be produced in controlled conditions and cannot be worked on at home
d)Your teacher will then check that your plan fits the rules above and you can
practice writing up your answer, using your plan. However, your teacher cannot look
at or comment on this.
e)Finally, you will produce your answer to the question, in half an hour.
All planning and preparation in class should take place in controlled
conditions and students must work individually, not collaborativel
Your teacher can:
● teach you about the topic and guide you on the rules for the task.
● help you find relevant information for the enquiry. There is a dedicated, password
Weebly page, which is now live for the fortnight. On this are five key texts available
for reading and lots of useful links.
● give general advice about planning and structuring an essay, but not specifically to
this question
Your Teacher may not:
● provide writing frames specific to the task
● provide words or phrases for you to include in your answers.
● give the precise detailed evidence to be included in the answer
What do I need to do in the assessment for Part A?
In this part of the assessment, you will be successful if you:
● focus on the question – This year it is on explaining and analysing causationreasons why government control of civilians increased during WW1
● use information to back up the points you want to make
● organise your points so that they connect to make an explanation and analysis
● use good spelling, punctuation and grammar and communicate clearly
● at the end of your answer, sum up the reasons you have given in your explanation.
What must be present in a Level 4 response?
This is an explanation of causation requiring an analysis of various causes or
reasons. It is important to analyse the role that each factor played, such as in
affecting the nature or timing of changes in government control of civilians. A good
explanation would also recognise that factors are affected by the context of events or
by other factors, and would demonstrate an awareness of the interaction between
different factors.
Part A does not require evaluation. The question does not ask for a judgement on
which was the most important cause.
Students may include comments in the conclusion about the most important impact
but this is not required in the markscheme and they should not be rewarded for
prioritising impacts, only the analysis of the role of each impact.
The introduction should be brief and clear
The conclusion may be used to reinforce the analysis of factors or their interaction.
Part A Mark Scheme –Student Version
Level 1 (1 -2 marks)
• The answer is descriptive and generalised.
• Few specific factual details are included.
• The answer does not link the information to the explanation focus in the question.
• The answer is not well organised and clear.
• There are mistakes in the spelling, punctuation and grammar.
Level 2 (3 – 5 marks)
• The answer is mainly descriptive.
• The answer includes a range of mostly relevant and accurate information, but it is
generally used to provide factual information rather than to support the explanation
or analysis.
• The answer does not make it clear how the information it includes supports the
explanation focus in the question, although the answer might say that the
information links to the question, or assume the link to the question is obvious
• There is some organisation of the information in the answer but the overall
structure is not clear.
• The spelling, punctuation and grammar are mainly accurate; some historical terms
have been used.
Level 3 (6- 8 marks)
• The answer is mainly focused on providing an explanation.
• The information included is relevant and used to support the explanation.
• The answer has been organised (each point is treated separately and the
information is linked to the explanation
• There is some use of categories to analyse different aspects of the explanation,
such as different distinct causes.
• The spelling, punctuation and grammar are mainly accurate and create a clearly
expressed answer; historical terms have been used correctly.
Level 4 (9-10)
• The answer is completely focused on providing an explanation and analysis
• The information included is relevant and has been precisely selected to support the
explanation.
• The answer covers a range of different aspects, clearly defined into different
causes and the role each plays considered.
• The answer has been organised to create a clear overall explanation and analysis;
this will often include showing how different aspects are linked.
 The spelling, punctuation and grammar are very accurate and create a well
written, clearly expressed answer; historical terms have been used correctly.