Edexcel IGCSE History Past Papers

Common mistake: Many students correctly identify the author’s impression and support it with relevant quotes or information from the text. While this secures marks in Level 2, it prevents them from reaching the highest level.

How to solve it: To achieve Level 3, you must analyze how the author has deliberately created that impression.

Common mistake: Students often provide a detailed description of a historical event (e.g., the Munich Putsch or the Korean War) but fail to explain its actual effect. Descriptive writing alone limits marks to the lower levels.

How to solve it: You must explain the effect in terms of outcomes.

Common mistake: Students often have deep knowledge and can argue different sides, but when it comes to the final judgement, they simply state that one factor was "the most important" without explaining why it holds that rank.

How to solve it: A high-level response requires a criteria-based judgement. For example, define what "significance" or "importance" means in the context of the question (e.g., scale of the impact, the number of people affected, or the long-term nature of the change).

Common mistake: In Section A, Part (c), a significant mistake is carrying out a simple "audit" or matching exercise between Sources A, B, and Extract C without including contextual knowledge. Students often focus so much on the provided texts that they forget they are being tested on their own historical understanding.

How to solve it: Use your own knowledge to validate or challenge the claims made in the sources and extract. A high-level response uses the provided material as a springboard to deploy specific historical facts that support or oppose the given interpretation.

Common mistake: For Section B, Part (b) in Paper 2, candidates often identify valid reasons for a change but fail to explain why or how those reasons actually led to the specific outcome mentioned in the question. Many write "around" the topic rather than focusing on the exact context requested.

How to solve it: You must explicitly demonstrate the link between the factor and the result. After stating a reason for change, use a connective like "this led to..." and provide a detailed explanation of the mechanism that caused the specified historical outcome