HIGHER LEVEL HISTORY
TIMING!
Timing is an issue in History. You have two hours and 50 minutes to complete the paper. This leaves very little time to make fancy essay plans. To save time, the first thing you should do is identify the three essay questions you will answer as quickly as possible. Circle the questions that appeal to you most – the ones you feel you have the most information on and are best able to answer in full.
Next, read through the documents, you have no choice here, so don’t dally! You should spend no more
than 45 minutes on the document-based questions – this leaves you 40 minutes (per essay) to answer the three essay-style questions. (ONE from your Irish topic – TWO from Europe and the Wider World). Aim to write 3 ƒ - 4 A4 pages on each of the long questions.
TIP
Getting your timing right is crucial. There is no point in spending too much time on any one section and then failing to answer a question from another section. To maximise your marks, you must attempt all four sections of the paper and answer them as fully as possible.