The 4 Mark "Follow up" Question (Edexcel GCSE History)

Summary of Question 2 (b)

• Question 2(b) requires you to ask questions about one of the sources used in the previous question ("How useful are Sources A and B" question) to investigate the historical enquiry further

• It will always be based on the historic environment: The British sector of the Western Front

• The answer section is broken down into four guided questions which you must complete

• An example of the type of question you may encounter can be seen below:

• In previous years, this question has focused on the following topics in Medicine in Britain:

Key skills required in the "Follow up" question

• The "Follow up" question is a very different question style to other questions in the Edexcel GCSE History exam

  • It requires students to have some of the following key historical skills:

    • Selecting relevant content from a historical source

    • Creating a relevant historical question

    • Selecting historical sources to support your chosen historical question

Using the content of a source 

• The content is the information presented in the source

• The content could be a variety of different types of sources such as:

  • A picture 

  • A photograph

  • An extract from a book 

  • A speech 

  • A political cartoon 

  • A letter 

• In this question, you should use the content of the source in the first section of your answer

  • The section asks you for "Detail in Source ... that I would follow up"

  • You should write a key quote or describe a section of the source in this answer space

Asking historical questions

• The second section requires you to create a "Question I would ask" about the source specified in the question

• The question should be:

  • Linked to the 'detail' that you have selected from the source

  • Relevant to the area of the enquiry in the question

• There should only be one question written in this section. The question should be written with a question mark

Selecting relevant sources

• The third section asks you "What type of source I could use" to answer your historical question

• In this section, avoid selecting sources such as:

  • Wikipedia

  • The Internet

  • A historian

  • The same type of source as the source identified in the question

    • For the example question, you should not follow up Source A with another written account

• Versatile sources that you can use for this section are:

  • RAMC medical records

  • Base hospital records

  • Personal diaries from soldiers or medical staff on the Western Front

• For your selected source, you should try to make it as specific as possible by:

  • Adding dates

  • Explaining what the source would contain

How to answer the "Follow up" question

• The "Follow up" answer space is laid out clearly into four, guided sections

• Your answer should consist of: 

  • A quote (for a written source) or a description (for a visual source) written in the "Detail in Source ... that I would follow up" section (1)

  • One, clear question written in the "Question I would ask" section (1)

    • The question should be relevant to the area of enquiry and the source specified in the question

  • A specific, historical source in the "What type of source I could use" section (1)

  • An explanation of why the source would help you to answer the historical question in the "How this might help answer my question" section (1)

• The first two sections are connected

  • If you do not provide a detail, you will not receive a mark for your question

• Sections three and four are also joined together

  • If you do not select a relevant source, you cannot receive a mark for why that source can help you to answer your historical question

Worked example of a "Follow up" question