AQA A Level History · Component 1C The Tudors · Section A

How to Answer the AQA Tudors Section A Extracts Question (30 Marks)

Section A of AQA Component 1C asks you to judge three historians’ arguments about an issue from anywhere in 1485–1603. It is compulsory, worth more than either essay, and often answered as a fourth essay or a fact-checking exercise. This guide shows you how to read each extract for its argument, test it with your own knowledge and reach a clear verdict on how convincing it is.

What the question asks and how it is marked

The stem never changes: “Using your understanding of the historical context, assess how convincing the arguments in these three extracts are in relation to [the issue].” It is worth 30 of the paper’s 80 marks, assesses AO3, and the paper advises about one hour. You cannot predict the reign: recent issues include Henry VII’s rule (2022), Henry VIII as ruler (2023) and the challenges to the Elizabethan Religious Settlement (2021).

Three ground rules follow:

• No marks for own knowledge as such. AQA states that knowledge not related to the arguments in the extracts will not be credited.
• No marks for provenance. The extracts are interpretations, not primary sources. Never call a historian “biased”.
• Comparison is not required. The 2022 examiner report said so explicitly. Each extract is judged on its own merits.

What Level 5 rewards

AQA marks Section A in five levels using a best-fit approach. Level 5 (25 to 30 marks) is paraphrased in the A*/A Exam Masterclass as: very good understanding of the interpretations in all three extracts; strong awareness of the historical context, used to analyse and evaluate the arguments; and evaluation that is well supported and convincing.

There is no requirement to rank the extracts. Level 4 (19 to 24) allows minor limitations of depth or breadth, and a thin third extract is a common reason for missing Level 5, so give all three roughly equal depth.

The mark scheme’s own verbs are corroborate and challenge. The A*/A Exam Masterclass adds a third step, qualify, which turns the first two into a judgement:

• Corroborate: knowledge that supports the extract’s claim.
• Challenge: knowledge that weakens or contradicts it.
• Qualify: say exactly where, when or how far the claim holds.

Knowledge that does none of these jobs is decoration, and earns no credit.

A step-by-step method

This routine is technique recommended in the A*/A Exam Masterclass, not an AQA rule. Allow 12 to 15 minutes reading, then about 14 minutes writing per extract.

1. Read all three extracts once for the gist. About three minutes.
2. Read each again slowly and use the margin code. Mark A beside the central argument, C beside each testable claim, H beside the hinge (where the extract concedes a point and pivots, such as “It is true that... but...”) and D beside each claim of degree.
3. Write a one-line argument above each extract. Use the form: “Extract A argues that [issue] was [judgement] because [main reason].” Read to the end: in 2022 many answers missed one extract’s central point about the centralisation of politics.
4. Name each extract’s criterion. Is security judged by the absence of rebellion or by the state of the succession? Is Reformation judged by statute or by belief in the parishes? Naming it shows very good understanding.
5. Add one precise piece of knowledge beside each claim, marked + (corroborates) or − (challenges). Aim for both signs on every extract.
6. Write a provisional three-word verdict on each. For example, “mostly convincing, overstated”.
7. Write extract by extract: argument, corroboration, challenge, verdict. AQA prescribes no structure, but this secures balance.
8. Add a short overall judgement only if time allows. It is optional and must never replace the verdict on each extract.

Testing how convincing an argument is

Convincing is not the same as accurate. An argument convinces when the weight of contextual evidence supports it, when it accounts for contrary evidence, and when it holds across the whole period it claims to cover. Words such as “never”, “entirely” and “wholly” are claims of degree you can test: an extract saying Henry VII “never” felt secure can be challenged by the absence of armed rebellion after 1497.

Common mistakes that cap the mark

• Fact-checking the extracts. The 2022 and 2023 reports criticised answers that checked detail line by line instead of assessing each extract’s overall interpretation.
• Commenting on provenance. Comment on the force of a claim, never on the motives of its author.
• Misreading a claim. In 2023 some answers attributed an extract’s criticism of an “unprincipled gang” of advisers to Wolsey and Cromwell, when it referred to the men who governed after Henry’s death. Quote briefly and test exactly what the words say.
• Vague verdicts. “Partly convincing and partly unconvincing” fits every extract. Say which part, and why.
• Writing your own essay instead. Context the extracts omit is useful only to test them.

A short worked example

The A*/A Exam Masterclass practises on simulated extracts written for the book. In one set, on the English Reformation in the years 1529 to 1547, Extract A argues that the Reformation was Henry VIII’s own jurisdictional revolution, leaving doctrine Catholic and the faith of the parishes “largely intact”.

Why it works: it names the argument, corroborates one half, challenges the other using the extract’s own words, and ends with a verdict tied to a criterion (intentions versus effects).

Section A checklist

• I can state each extract’s argument in one line before I write.
• I have named the criterion each extract uses to measure the issue.
• Every piece of knowledge corroborates, challenges or qualifies a specific claim.
• Each extract has both corroboration and challenge.
• All three extracts get roughly equal depth, about 14 minutes each.
• Each extract ends with a clear, qualified verdict on how convincing it is in relation to the issue.
• I have made no comments on provenance or bias.

For the essay half of the paper, read our guide to the Section B 25-mark essay, or browse every guide on the A level History hub.

Frequently asked questions

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