Syllabus Edition
First teaching 2024
First exams 2026
The 8 Mark "How Useful are Sources A & B" Question (Edexcel GCSE History)
Revision Note
Summary of Question 2 (a)
Question 2 (a) requires you to evaluate how useful two sources are for a historian about the issue outlined
You should:
Refer to the content and provenance of the sources
Include knowledge that is relevant to the source
Make a judgement on how useful the source is for the given issue in the question
It will always be based on the historic environment: The British sector of the Western Front
Amount of marks | 8 |
---|---|
The time that you should spend on the question | No more than 15 minutes 5 minutes of planning 10 minutes of writing |
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:
Year of Exam | Question Topic |
---|---|
2018 | |
2019 | |
2020 | |
2021 | |
2022 | |
2023 | New techniques being used on the Western Front to deal with injuries |
What is a historical enquiry?
A historical enquiry is when historians ask questions, select evidence and make judgments about the past
Question 2 (a) in Medicine in Britain is focused on a historical enquiry
The question asks you to decide how useful Sources A and B are for the enquiry
The enquiry will always be based on your historic environment: The British sector of the Western Front
You cannot achieve more than 2 marks for this question if your answer is not linked to the enquiry in the question
Using the content & provenance of a source
A historical source is made up of two sections:
The provenance
The content
Provenance
Provenance is the background information of a source
The provenance can be found at the top of each source
The provenance usually tells you
Who created the source
What type of source it is, for example, a newspaper article
When the source was made
Where the source was created
For the example question, here is a breakdown of the provenance of Source A:
Who | May Tilton, a senior nurse on the Western Front |
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What | A written account |
When | Published in 1933 but about events in 1917 |
Where | A Casualty Clearing Station on the Western Front |
In this question, you should use the provenance of the source to:
Help you explain the usefulness of a source
Content
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 to:
Help you explain the usefulness of the source
Making judgements in a “How useful are sources A & B” question
The 8-mark "How Useful” question requires you to make a judgement
The common mistakes that students make when making a judgement are:
Not giving a clear judgement. Students do this by:
Explaining that neither of the sources is useful to a historian
Failing to decide how useful the sources are
Using language in their answer which is not decisive e.g. “kind of” or “maybe”
Focusing on reliability rather than how useful the source is. Students do this by:
Not making any judgement about the source’s usefulness
Stating that, because the source is unreliable, the source is not useful to a historian
All sources are useful for a historian but not all sources are reliable
Unreliable sources can be very useful. For example, a photograph taken of a Regimental Aid Post by the British Army might be staged. However, it tells historians about how the Army assured citizens back home that their loved ones were well-cared for
Good judgements will include:
Specific content from the sources
The source’s provenance
Your knowledge of the time period
This will help you to see if the source is accurate or typical for the period
Good judgements will also keep going back to the focus of the question
For the example question, the focus of the question is the work of medical staff in the Casualty Clearing Stations.
Your judgement does not need to include limitations and you can receive full marks without one
Students’ responses are often given higher marks if they only focus on the source's strengths. This is because the question wants you to pick parts of the source that are useful
However, if you include a limitation you will be credited, you must make sure the limitation is:
Supported by knowledge
Focused on the question
Relevant to your answer
"How Useful" Question Structure
You will find the sources in an insert called the Sources Booklet
An insert is an additional booklet to your answer paper. It provides key sources or interpretations needed to answer specific questions in the exam
Your answer should consist of:
How useful the sources are to the given issue in the question
Content from each source
Comments about the provenance of each source
Specific relevant knowledge
Your answer could be written in PEE paragraphs
P- Make a point about the question
Make it clear how useful the source is
Use the source to make an inference about the issue in the question
E- Use information from the source and knowledge to support the point you have made
Your knowledge should be specific
Focus on the content and provenance of the source
E- Explain why this shows that the source is useful
Focus on the given issue in the question
For top marks, your judgement about the source’s usefulness will combine the content of the source, the provenance of the source and your own knowledge of the issue in the question
To achieve full marks, you will need two paragraphs
The focus of Paragraph One should be Source A
The focus of Paragraph Two should be Source B
You will achieve 8 marks for your analysis and evaluation of how useful both sources are for the enquiry (S)
Worked Example of a "How Useful" Question
Worked Example
2 (a) Study Sources A and B in the Sources Booklet.
How useful are Sources A and B for an enquiry into the work of medical staff in the Casualty Clearing Stations (CCS) on the Western Front?
Explain your answer, using Sources A and B and your knowledge of the historical context.
(8)
Answer
Source A is useful in an enquiry into the work of medical staff in the Casualty Clearing Stations (CCS) because it shows the dangerous conditions (S). Tilton states that 'a big shell' narrowly missed the CCS killing 'fourteen gunners who were nearby' (S). From my own knowledge, I know that the CCS was a few miles from the frontline. This was usually just outside of the range of enemy artillery. However, in some cases, the CCS was hit by enemy fire which had a devastating impact on treating severely wounded soldiers (S). Tilton's account is useful because, as a senior nurse, she probably had a lot of experience working in the CCS and knew of the dangers. As a result, her account is likely to contain a range of accurate and useful details of the work carried out in the CCS (S).
Source B is also useful for the enquiry into the work of medical staff in the CCS because it states how busy they were during a battle (S). Garden states 'When needed, our team worked from one o’clock in the morning until five o’clock in the evening' (S). From my own knowledge, I know that the CCS became increasingly busy as the war progressed. Better technology was developed in base hospitals, which filtered into the CCS. As a result, an increased number of patients were treated in the CCS rather than transported to a base hospital. This made the CCS very busy during battle (S). Garden's interview is useful because she is speaking of her own experiences as a nurse in a CCS on the Western Front. However, the interview took place in 1986, a significant amount of time after the First World War. This may affect the accuracy of the information that she provides (S).
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