Difficulty verdict

Taken together, these three June 2025 papers are demanding but predictable: about 4 out of 5 stars. Almost every mark is awarded by level of response, so a candidate cannot rely on recall alone. Only about 11 of the 210 marks come from short outline or describe questions.

Where the marks are

  • Interpretations (50 marks): J410/02 has two interpretation questions, worth 25 marks each. Both test how and why historians differ, not just what happened.
  • Extended judgement (56 marks): 'How far do you agree' and 'How significant' questions carry 14, 18 and 24 marks. The 24-mark Power question is the largest single question across the three papers.
  • Source questions (20 marks): usefulness and purpose questions are worth 5 marks each, or 10 for the comparative Kenilworth question. They are the most reliable marks to bank.
  • Explain questions (48 marks): five 8 or 10 mark questions reward two developed reasons.

Pitfalls the mark scheme punishes

  • On interpretation questions, answers are capped at Level 3 if the given interpretation is misunderstood, even when other interpretations are used well.
  • A chronological summary of the historiography, or the candidate's own critique, does not score highly. Link each other view to a specific aspect of the given interpretation, then explain why it differs using the date and context it was written in.
  • Phrases like 'many historians' are not enough. Name a period, a school of thought or a historian.
  • On source questions, knowledge in isolation earns nothing. Always tie it to the source, and state the purpose or inference clearly.
  • Explain questions need two developed reasons for Level 5. One fully explained reason tops out at Level 4. Stay on the exact relationship the question asks about, for example tension between two named powers, not just one of them.
  • Short describe questions often need one general point plus one specific detail from the right period.

Strategy

  • Spend about 1 minute per mark.
  • Use the structure 'point, evidence, link to question' for each reason.
  • For source questions, always state a purpose or inference first.
  • For extended questions, set up a judgement early and weigh factors against each other.
  • On the 5-mark SPaG questions, use specialist terms accurately.

Looking ahead

Past-paper history shows Conflict and co-operation 1918–1939 and the Cold War in Europe are the most reliably heavy international relations topics. Establishing Communism in China, Economic impact of empire and the Cultural Revolution were absent from this year's set and are statistically due. Germany topics did not appear in earlier sets in our data, but are central to the 2025 paper.