[ale]

I wuz wondering wt i av 2 do in all 3 of my exams to get a C grade plus my coursework added to that. I am doing the AQA board exam and:
1. Crime and Punishment
2. Changing role and status of women
3. Hitler's gemany

I would b nice 2 know thanks.

[MrJohnDClare]

GCSE exams are marked by a 'levels of response format.
That means that the marker doesn't look to see that you have got the 'right facts' in the answer (as in, for example, Science).
They look at the WAY you are setting about answering the question.

a. a Level 1 response will get you a G or an F. Really this is just when the candidate jots down random or truncated facts or statements which have something to do with the question. If you can't do that you shouldn;t really have been entered.

b. a Level 2 response is where the candidate's answer gives 'points'. By points', I think they mean statements which are relevant to the question which has been asked. Thus, for instance, suppose you were asked: 'Why did Hitler rise to power?' If you go to http://www.johndclare.net/Weimar7.htm you will see that I give eight factors that helped Hitler come to power. If your answer was to start: 'There were eight reasons Hitler came to power' and then list them, you would be credited with a level 2 answer. Depending on how many 'points' you made, and how much factual detail you included in your answer, you would get a good level2 or a poor level2 mark. WHAT IT IS VITAL TO REALISE is that a top level 2 mark will gain you a 'C' grade at GCSE.

Now you;ve got to be a bit careful here. What I am saying is that an answer, making points relevant to the question, crammed full of relevant facts, will gain you for grade C equivalent mark for that question. To get a grade C overall doing this, however, would require you to do that for EVERY question, and the chances of you being able to do that, you will appreciate, are slim.
Consequently, if you want to get a grade C overall, you will need to answer at least some questions at level of response 3.

So how do you do that?

c. a Level 3 response makes relevant points AND EXPLAINS HOW THEY ANSWER THE QUESTION. Thus, for the question: 'Why did Hitler come to power?' you would need to cite at least three of the eight factors, but - for each - you would need to explain HOW that helped him come to power. Thus, with the point 'Long-term bitterness', you would need to state that this was a factor, give some relevant facts about the Treaty of Versailles, the stab-in-the-back theory, the 'November criminals' etc AND ALSO EXPLAIN that this caused many ordinary Germans to be fed up with the centre/pro-democracy parties of the Weimar republic, and to look instead to extreme right-wing nationalist parties such as the Nazis, and that this gave Hitler more support/credibility than he otherwise might have had and helped him come to power.

Can you see how saying that EXPLAINS how the 'long-term bitterness' helped Hitler come into power? When you can do that, consistently, for three relevant points for question (points which address the question), and this backed up with a few relevant facts, THEN you will be assured of a grade C.