4 Mock Exam Tips 5

1.      Create a stairway of significance as a revision tool to assess the main themes of significance that you will need to assess in your different essay plans for each topic. (see example below) 

Why did GB go to War?

Balance of Power
The commitment to the balance of power had been GB’s aim since 1856, additionally she did not want to see the equilibrium upset by the grandiose ambitions of one nation in 1815 it had been France (Congress of Vienna) and by 1912 it had become Germany. Although there had been a lull in proceedings, nevertheless Germany were still determined to tip the balance in favour of Germany especially as they had aligned themselves with Austria-Hungary.  Therefore the Balkan security was increasingly becoming an issue.  For instance. Serbia emerged as a new country in 1912, tipping the balance away from a German block towards a Slavic dominance of the region.	German naval rivalries/threat
	GB and German tensions increase because of Weltpolitik.  Berlin-Constantinople railway also heightened this.  Naval rivalry was more important than colonial and economic rivalry because German sought to undermine Britain’s capacity to maintain her trade links and her security to her empire. The balance of power within the arms race was tantamount to war		Nevertheless if GB truly went to war because of naval rivalry, then they would have gone to war in 1908, when the tensions were at their peak.  Furthermore, then tensions had subsided by 1914 and where not so high. Therefore an important reason Britain went to war in 1914 was the German naval threat and the rivalry this caused from Germany seeking to undermine Britain’s capacity to maintain trade links. However, it was not the central cause as if it was they would have gone to war in 1908 when naval tensions were at their peak.	Entente
				Since GB had been in splendid isolationism, she thought it would be best to form attachments with her neighbours. France – in 1904 the Entente Cordiale agreement was signed.  By 1912 GB and France had entered into a naval agreement.	However, this is not a comprehensive explanation for GB go to war.  Moreover, there are many underlying factors that have significance, such as GB’s commitment to the balance of power.  For GB.  Moreover, the political divisions within the liberal party and Britain’s domestic problems could also be evaluated to be more significant in the reason for GB going to war than their commitment to the Entente. Nevertheless, it could be suggested that if GB did not support France after their previous military discussion her moral worth would have been challenged and she would have been left isolated in Europe, if Germany should win.  Thus she was compelled to go to war, regardless of Belgian.

2.      Create a PEEL table (as below and use it with your essay plan to ensure you are outlining and assessing the question as best as possible.

Point made (P)	Point explained (E)	Point evidence (E)	Point Evaluate & Link (EL)
The Brown-Peterson study used a lab experiment so it is low in external validity.	This means that it is difficult to generalise the findings to real-life …..	….. because we don’t usually get asked to remember trigrams while counting backwards, so we don’t know if this accurately measures our real STM.	Therefore, the Brown-Peterson study demonstrates that whilst it offers us insight, it lacks applicability to the real world.

3.      Write as many essay plans for the previous exam questions as you can and then when you have finished all the past papers.  Begin to start writing your own questions and creating plans for those, it is likely they will phrase a question in a new and unusual way and you want to be prepared for any question they could ask.

Outline and assess the functionalist contribution to crime and deviance (50)

Evaluate and critically assess the view that crime and deviance is both inevitable and normal (50) made up question

Intro: What is functionalism? Value Consensus, biological anatomy etc. They see crime as functional however many social theories disagree I.e. Marxism. 

Literally work your way down the theorists and concepts.
P1: Durkheim critique with Marxism
P2: Merton’s Strain Theory Critique with New Criminology

P3: Albert Cohen evaluate with Left realism

P4: Cloward and Ohlin evaluate with Feminism
+ Many more

Conclusion:
There valid in this sense: blah blah blah
There not good in this sense: blah blah blah

For the top grades you need to evaluate a point as soon as you explain it. So rather than having a chunky evaluation at the end, you criticize your own point as soon as you write it. Really abuse those evaluative words, "However", "On the other hand", "Per Contra"... try and spell it out to the examiner. Don't worry about the AO3 marks, if you did an essay in the structure I just gave you then you will be fine.

4.      It is important when revision to create an evaluation grid which you can use generically and specifically with the topic which highlights the strengths and weakness of the topic under discussion.

Evaluation grid of the House of Commons

Strengths	Weaknesses
Representation
Calling government to account
Scrutiny
Legislating
Deliberation
Checking government power
The commons retains the power to veto legislation and this represents a discipline upon governments	Party loyalty and discipline means than many MPs are reluctant to challenge the government.  The government rarely loses a major vote in the Commons.
Overall analysis
Therefore in overall evaluation of the effectiveness of MPS in relations to the functions of Parliament, clearly MPs Parliament has significant strengths in relation to calling the government to account, the use of scrutiny, legislating and via deliberation.  Especially because MPs can effectively question ministers on the floor of the House.  Additionally, some independent-minded, campaigning MPs can work effectively on behalf of pressure groups and political campaigns.  Nevertheless, Whips can enforce strict party discipline on all key debates and votes.  Finally MPs have little time reserved in Parliament for backbench business.  Therefore, whilst Parliament can be an effective check on government power nevertheless…. (make your own judgement)