1. History Mock Exam Feedback 2015 The most common problem that led to loss of marks was failure to use the sources Each paragraph must contain at least one direct accurate quotation from the sources Knowledge should be integrated with the sources to produce the answer.

2. History Mock Exam Feedback 2014 Second common problem was lack of own knowledge. This may be due to lack of revision. Knowledge that is being used is not detailed enough Generalisations are made rather than use of specific own knowledge. History Mock Exam Feedback 2015

3. History Mock Exam Feedback 2014 Lack of balance. Some essays included too much information on achievements of the Attlee government and not enough on whether it was a period of austerity. The difference between poverty and austerity was not always clear. This was often caused by a lack of planning before starting the essay. History Mock Exam Feedback 2015

4. Lack of a sound conclusion. The conclusion must sum up the arguments made in the essay and reach a judgement based on what has been outlined in the essay There should be no new material in the conclusion. The conclusion must link back to the question

5. History Mock Exam Feedback 2015 In some essays the provenance of primary sources was not addressed. Time was wasted looking at the provenance of secondary sources which are not relevant

6. Use Sources 4, 5 and 6 and your own knowledge. Do you agree with the view that, for the British public, the years 1945–51 were genuinely an age of austerity? Explain your answer, using Sources 4, 5 and 6 and your own knowledge. (40) Spend a good 10 minutes planning your answer and about 40 minutes writing it About three sides should be adequate MOCK EXAM 2015

7. SOURCE 4 (From Martin Pugh, State and Society: A Social and Political History of Britain since 1870, published 1994) Many of the welfare benefits of 1945–51, such as family allowances, were very cost-effective ways of relieving hardship. When a study of poverty in York was made in 1950, the conclusion reached was that only 2.77% of the working-class suffered from poverty. If the welfare state did not abolish poverty altogether, it represented the most effective single campaign against it.

8. SOURCE 5 (From the Economic Survey for 1947 published by the government. The survey set out the government’s economic plans for the coming year.) We can live without new radio sets and furniture, but we cannot live without imported food. We can indeed live without new houses and holidays, but our national existence becomes quite impossible if we cannot produce enough coal and electric power. Those things which are fundamental to our national life must come first. The Government has examined the national needs for 1947, and has decided that first importance must be attached to basic industries and services, particularly coal and power.

10. Use Sources 4, 5 and 6 and your own knowledge. Do you agree with the view that, for the British public, the years 1945–51 were genuinely an age of austerity? Explain your answer, using Sources 4, 5 and 6 and your own knowledge. Were genuinely an age of austerity Not an age of austerity Source 5 ‘live without’ consumer goods like radios and furniture – focus on necessities like coal and electricity and food Source 6 Shows Dalton as Chancellor as the Exchequer making cuts to luxury goods like films/ petrol and tobacco because Britain was ‘up against it’ Knowledge 1947 the worst year = winter/ flooding/ shortages/unemployment Bread/potato was rationed but not in ww2 Series of financial crisies – Convertibility Crisis balance of payments crisis meant consumer goods were exported abroad and so there were consumer shortages for the British public – hit the Middle Classes the hardest – voted Conservative in 1951 Labour missed housing targets because of austerity Cripps – austerity measures continued after 1947 – wages freezes Housewives League Tories called the Labour Party the austerity party – Times newspaper cartoon shows this Source 4 Labour were actually spending taxpayers money on Welfare rather than making cuts - NHS/ National Assistance Act/ Housing. Working Class living standards rose despite the austerity measures BUT POVERTY WAS NOT THE SAME AS AUSTERITY Knowledge Things did get better in 1949 (Bonfire of Controls) as rationing was reduced but the Korean War meant austerity measures were adopted again in 1950 – NHS charges introduced Provenance – both contempory sources only give a snapshot of 1947 – therefore they are limited in giving a judgement for the whole time period therefore cannot prove the British Public were in an ages of austerity for the 6 years

11. The question is focused on the policies of the Labour governments in the years 1945 to 1951. Candidates may well start with Source 4 which presents the case against the contention in the question. The claim that the welfare state ‘represented the most effective single campaign’ against poverty can be used as a platform for an examination of the welfare reform introduced in this period. The National Health Service Act (1946), the National Insurance Act (1946) and the National Assistance Act (1948) are likely to feature. From their own knowledge, candidates may also explore such areas as housing, education, and food production (the Agriculture Act (1947) arguing that increases and improvements led to a substantial rise in the general standard of living. Candidates should be rewarded according to the range and depth of the material deployed. Those performing at higher levels will however use a closer reading of the text to present the counter-view. Thus, it will be noted that Pugh is referring to poverty not austerity. This line of argument can then be supported by Sources 5 and 6. The commodities being axed in Source 6 (tobacco, petrol, films) and singled out in source 5 as unnecessary (new radios, furniture, holidays and houses) can be viewed as luxuries, although some may take issue with housing. The emphasis on ‘national needs’ in Source 5 and the Daily Mail’s depiction of Hugh Dalton should serve as a platform for the more knowledgeable to detail the austerity measures introduced from 1948 onwards. Candidates may refer to Cripp’s budgetary restraints to ensure that the focus of production was for the export market, to the rationing of petrol and taxes on beer to develop the theme of austerity. Details of the various controls imposed by the government should be rewarded according to range and relevance. Some candidates may argue that by the end of the period in question some relaxation had resulted in improved conditions, with, for example, the Board of Trade under Harold Wilson gradually removing items from rationing. Whatever line of argument is taken, achievement in higher level responses will be characterised by appropriately balanced use of the sources and own knowledge to demonstrate a clear understanding of the nature and impact of government policy on the standard of living in this period, with a sharp focus on agreement or disagreement with the view