A-Level History — Skills, Breadth & Depth

What AO2 requires

• Analyse and evaluate contemporary (primary) source material to reach a supported judgement on its value for a specific enquiry - not just what it says.

Analysing content

• What does the source say/show? Select relevant detail and use your own knowledge to explain, support, challenge and contextualise it.

Evaluating provenance (NOP)

• Nature (type of source - letter, speech, diary, cartoon, report), Origin (who, when, where) and Purpose (why produced, intended audience) - then judge how these affect reliability and utility.
• Consider tone, bias, and typicality; a biased source can still be useful as evidence of attitudes.

Reaching a judgement

• Weigh the source's strengths and limitations for the specific question ("How valuable is this source for an enquiry into...?"), using content + provenance + context together. Avoid stock phrases ("it's biased so it's useless").

Comparing sources

• Where two sources are given, evaluate each and reach a judgement on their combined value/weight.

Judge value for the specific enquiry using content + NOP provenance + own knowledge - a source's bias often makes it more useful as evidence of viewpoint, not less.

Diagram