GCSE Revision for History Medicine

Question 1:
The big skill here is inference so for goodness sake in your answer say: From this source I can infer that.... Now, inference means what a source can tell you beyond the description it gives. Remember to give evidence and show how you came to that answer your explanation. Do this and you hit leve 2 which is 3 to 4 marks. Last years example (mock paper) used the following: E.g. nursing changed from informal care to trained/professional care; Nursing used to be carried out at home within the family but changed to take place in hospitals This had a mix or own knowledge and the source used to infer the changes

Question 2
You have a choice here do not do both! To get a D to C you need to basically tell the story of the person or the event it mentions. I might suggest you quickly bullet point the story at the beginning of the exam so you can remember it when you do it Do this on the question paper not in your answer. To get the C you need to make sure you relate it back to the question at the end of the story. This will hit high level 2 To get level 3 which is B to A* you need to analyse it. Normally that means placing it in context of the development of medicine. You need to relate it to other factors that might have limited or advanced the topic you are studying. Last years paper used this as the Level Three example. Remember though you still need to tell the story as you do this.

E.g. since understanding of disease was based on faulty theories. Harveys improved understanding of physiology had little relevance to treatment; Flemings investigation did not show how penicillin could be purified and mass produced. Answer about inhibiting factors, e.g. reluctance to accept new ideas, difficulties in mass production etc; must be securely placed in context.

Question 3 or 4 Remember you dont do both

Again plan this at the beginning in the first 5 mins same as the old 9 and 12 mark questions! Grade D to C grade question here will tell the story of the discovery or person you need to refer to. You might mention several elements and what the results were.B Grade B to A* will be more focused to the question so it will relate everything to the question. I suggest you PEE each paragraph/topic and relate it back to the question i.e. is it a limiting factor or a development etc. Try to make links between events or factors/themes if the question allows you to. Remember to add an overall conclusion to your answer.

Question 5a/6a Public Health Topic

This is a simple recall key features of the period/topic question but it worth 9 marks so it means several paragraphs. You need to describe several factors not just single sentences try three for each. To get level three (B to A*) refer to the significance of the factors.

Question 5b/6b
This is worth 12 marks and there is a focus on spelling and grammar. The skill here is all about recall of knowledge, analysis and evaluation of importance so for goodness sake do a decent conclusion. Again to get a D to C grade you need to describe the bullet points- do not just reiterate them go into detail about each of them and an extra if you can and then do a conclusion as to the importance of them. To get higher grades you need to consider how important these events, people or factors were so at the end of each paragraph make sure you do it and then at the end decide which is more important. Try to evaluate the role of people, factors or discoveries.