The Bishop’s Stortford High School
AS Government
& Politics
Survival Guide
Edited by: Scarlett Stock. Written by: Scarlett Stock. Front cover by: Ben Fuller.
Year 12 Subject survival guide
Subject: Government and Politics
Advice on:
1) General/classwork tips
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Don’t panic if you don’t understand any political theory or concepts, just ask your teachers,
they are always willing to help. If you let the things that you don’t understand build up then
you’ll end up with loads of things that you don’t understand and get panicked. Never leave
the classroom without understanding something.
Make extensive notes. Write down everything the teacher says and before the lesson read
the notes in the book so it’s more like re-capping in the lesson so that the knowledge in
cemented in your head.
Watch the news and read newspapers which will help you to understand politics in a
practical sense. Don’t just watch it but write down examples that are relevant to things that
you’re studying in class so that you can use them in essay plans later on.
Check the specification on the Edexcel website at the start of the course in order to organise
your folder into topics and so you have a checklist of things that you need to know. This way
when something on the news comes up or you find a case study you know where it fits into
your course and you know that it’s actually useful.
Have a section in your folder for class notes (which must be in order and in topics). Have a
folder for each teacher too. Then a section for essays and revision so when revising you can
find things easily and not waste time.
Don’t rely on just class notes; use your textbook for basic knowledge and examples, but your
main examples will come from extensive research on the internet.
Reading around the subject will help to develop your interest and understanding within the
subject.
If you hear any words that you don’t know, or there are any in the book that you don’t
know, you need to write them down and ask the teacher or google their definition. Make a
list of all of these definitions, then learn them. These will strengthen your understanding of
the subject, and be helpful in essays.
2) Homework tips
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You will get research, exercises or essays to do. The exercises will help your understanding,
the research is key for future essay plans and the essays should be written by hand regularly
so that you get used to writing extended essays. Make sure that you get it done quickly so
that you aren’t under pressure and you can get feedback from your teacher so that you can
do the essay again in order to get in perfect. Doing them again will help when you’re revising
because you can use good essays as a guide.
Edited by: Scarlett Stock. Written by: Scarlett Stock. Front cover by: Ben Fuller.
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Always keep in the with the essay structure: Intro (introduce the question and explain the
question and what it’s asking you), then signpost the points you are going to discuss. Add a
definition for any key words. For the 25 markers use 3 points for (with the PEEL structure)
and three points against. Do this alternately so that your analysis is strong. You may make
one point for the question and then say that the next point is against- making it a weighted
argument- which is what the examiner wants. Make sure you open with ‘’some people may
say…’’ then make your point and explain it, then use an example to prove it, then link it back
to the question explicitly (‘’therefore it can be said that ….. is true because …. *the point that
you just made*) –you need to let the examiner know that your points are relevant to the
question.
You need a strong conclusion so be analytical. Weigh up all of your arguments and say how
some may be important but others are more important because. Make a judgement at the
end ‘’in conclusion I believe that’’, but use the question in your last sentence, and state why
the arguments that you’re siding with are stronger or more important.
For 10 markers you need 3 paragraphs; make 3 points, explained, with an example in each.
For 5 markers you need
Even when you don’t get homework use the textbook to answer mock questions. Time
yourself to make sure that you can answer them quick enough.
3) Exam tips – ways to get the best grades
 Keep a close eye on the time. It’s a mark per minute so for a 25 mark question you can only
spend 25 minutes. You know how many paragraphs you need so divide the time you have by
the number of paragraphs you have to do. This way you can only spend a certain amount of
time on each paragraph and won’t run over and be under pressure. Take a watch or stopwatch into the exam.
 Read the question really carefully. Underline the key words and they can be tricky so make
sure you think up questions that could come up but are a bit difficult. This way if a hard one
comes up you can use the knowledge you already have to answer a slightly different
question. The examiner wants to see you actually answering the question so make sure you
read it carefully and understand it!
 After every past paper you do (and you should have done all of them by the time you get to
the exam) you need to look at the mark scheme (which can help you with making plans as it
gives you answers) and the examiners report (which points out common mistakes and shows
you other student’s essays). This way you know what the examiner is looking for and you can
avoid easy mistakes. All of this can be found on the Edexcel website.
 THE MOST IMPORTANT WAY TO PREPARE FOR POLITICS- make essay plans (3 arguments for
and against for 25s and 4 arguments for and against in the same structure for 40 markers).
Look at all of the past essays, plus the specification and this will give you a list of all of the
possible topics they could ask you on. For all of the possible essays you need to make a plan,
add an example for every point you make (a statistic, quote or event) to prove your point
and learn it. This will mean that you’ll be ready for pretty much any question that could
come up. But, don’t plan the intro or conclusion because in the exam the question could be
slightly different so just know how to do them instead of planning them exactly.
Edited by: Scarlett Stock. Written by: Scarlett Stock. Front cover by: Ben Fuller.
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Start making essay plans from the revision- even if you can’t find an example at the time- go
back to it later. For each topic you need essays plans so that you can start learning the
arguments from the beginning so when it comes to revision it’s easier to remember things.
Examples and linking are what gets you the marks. Be analytical and give a two sided debate.
Know what the question is asking you. The book wont give you everything so you need to
ask the teacher and use the internet for example help.
To get extra marks use a piece of news as an example from the week of the exam to impress
the examiner.
You need to be revising from the beginning and recapping what you’ve learned in lessons
and through independent work every week. Therefore when you start revision you will
actually be revising, rather than re-learning everything.
Edited by: Scarlett Stock. Written by: Scarlett Stock. Front cover by: Ben Fuller.