The 8 Mark "How Useful Are Sources A & B" Question (Edexcel GCSE History): Revision Note
Exam code: 1HI0
Summary of Question 2 (a)
Question 2 (a) requires you to evaluate how useful two sources are for a historian investigating a specific issue
You should:
Refer to the content and provenance of the sources
Use relevant own knowledge to support your points
Make a clear judgement on how useful each source is for the enquiry
It will always be based on the historic environment: London and the Second World War, 1939–45
Amount of marks | 8 |
|---|---|
The time that you should spend on the question | No more than 15 minutes 5 minutes of planning 10 minutes of writing |
An example of the type of question you may encounter can be seen below:
In previous years, this question has focused on the following topics in Warfare in British society:
Year of exam | Question topic |
|---|---|
2018 | The impact of bombing on daily life in London (opens in a new tab) |
2019 | Morale in the East End of London during the Blitz (opens in a new tab) |
2020 | The use of underground air-raid shelters during the Blitz (opens in a new tab) |
2021 | Government control of news reporting about the impact of bombing in London (opens in a new tab) |
2022 | Leisure activities in London during the Second World War (opens in a new tab) |
2023 | The impact of the attack on the docks in East London on ‘Black Saturday’, 7 September 1940 (opens in a new tab) |
2024 | The difficulties in dealing with the effects of German attacks on London |
What is a historical enquiry?
A historical enquiry is when historians ask questions, select evidence and make judgments about the past
Question 2 (a) is always linked to a historical enquiry about London and the Second World War, 1939–45
If you do not link your answer to the enquiry in the question, you cannot score more than 2 marks
Using the content and provenance of a source
A historical source is made up of:
The provenance
The background of the source
The content
The information the source shows or describes
Provenance
The provenance appears at the top of each source and usually tells you:
Who created it
What type of source it is (e.g. a diary)
When it was produced
Where it was created
For the example question, here is a breakdown of the provenance of Source A:
Who | A woman and a Westminster Civil Defence Warden |
|---|---|
What | A photograph |
When | 1942 |
Where | Kensington Gardens, London |
How is provenance important for a "How useful" question?
Use the provenance to consider:
Is the source typical of what you would expect the author to say or show?
Is the source accurate if it was produced years after the event?
What factors could have influenced the author's opinion?
Content
Finding the content of a source depends on the type of source you have
Written sources
Read the text closely to understand what it tells you about the issue in the question
Look for:
The author’s overall viewpoint on the enquiry
Key quotes about the enquiry
Visual sources
Look carefully at what the image shows
Ask yourself:
What is happening in the image?
Who or what is included or left out?
What message is being communicated?
Is anything staged or exaggerated?
How is content important for a "How useful" question?
Use the content to:
Make inferences about the enquiry
Provide evidence for your judgement on the source's usefulness
Making judgements in a "How useful are sources A and B?" question
The 8-mark "How useful" question requires you to make a judgement
Common mistakes in judgement questions
Saying that neither source is useful
Avoiding a clear decision by using phrases such as "kind of" or "maybe"
Focusing on reliability rather than usefulness
All sources are useful for a historian, but not all sources are reliable
A government wartime propaganda poster is likely to be exaggerated and incorrect
However, it tells historians about how the government kept up morale during the war
What makes a good judgement?
A good judgement:
Refers to specific content from the source
Uses the provenance clearly
Applies relevant contextual knowledge
Links back to the focus of the question
For the example question, this is the impact of the "Dig for Victory" campaign
The limitations of sources
Your judgement does not need to include limitations to get full marks
Students’ responses are often given higher marks if they only focus on the sources' strengths
However, if you include a limitation, you must make sure the limitation is:
Supported by knowledge
Focused on the question
Relevant to your answer
"How useful are sources A and B?" question structure
You will find the sources in the Sources Booklet
This is a separate insert from your answer booklet
![Source A: A woman and civil defence warden spread manure on their allotment in Kensington Gardens, London, 1942, with trees and a building in the background.
Source B: An extract from the American writer John Steinbeck's autobiography, published in 1958. During the Second World War, Steinbeck went to England, where he reported on the war for the New York Tribune.
"On the edges of airfields and between the barracks of troops in England, it is no unusual thing to see complicated and carefully tended vegetable gardens. These gardens have been constantly increasing. The idea, which had as its basis, probably, the taking up of some of the free time of [American] men where there were few entertainment facilities, has proved vastly successful... there does seem to be a constant excitement about the gardens, and the produce that comes from them tastes much better than that purchased in the open market.”](https://cdn.savemyexams.com/cdn-cgi/image/f=auto,width=3840/https://cdn.savemyexams.com/uploads/2025/08/52424_httpscdn-savemyexams-comuploads20250861007-httpscdn-savemyexams-comuploads20250721142-httpscdn-savemyexams-comuploads20250752127-sources-a-and-b-insert-warfare.png)
Your answer should include:
An explanation of how useful each source is for the enquiry
The use of content and provenance
Specific and accurate own knowledge
Your answer could be written in PEE paragraphs
P — Make a point about the question
Make it clear how useful the source is
Use the source to make an inference about the issue in the question
E — Use information from the source and knowledge to support the point you have made
Your knowledge should be specific
E — Explain why this shows that the source is useful
Focus on the given issue in the question
To get full marks, your judgement must use:
The source's content
The source's provenance
Your own knowledge
You will need two paragraphs
Source A should be the focus of Paragraph One
Source B should be the focus of Paragraph Two
You will achieve 8 marks for your analysis and evaluation of how useful both sources are for the enquiry (S)
Worked example of a "How useful are sources A and B?" question
Worked Example
2 (a) Study Sources A and B in the Sources Booklet.
How useful are Sources A and B for an enquiry into the impact of the "Dig for Victory" campaign on people in London during the Second World War?
Explain your answer, using Sources A and B and your knowledge of the historical context.
(8)
![An extract from the American writer John Steinbeck's, autobiography, published in 1958. During the Second World War, Steinbeck went to England, where he reported on the war for the New York Tribune.
“On the edges of airfields and between the barracks of troops in England it is no unusual thing to see complicated and carefully tended vegetable gardens. These gardens have been constantly increasing. The idea, which had as its basis, probably, the taking up of some of the free time of [American] men where there were few entertainment facilities, has proved vastly successful... there does seem to be a constant excitement about the gardens, and the produce that comes from them tastes much better than that purchased in the open market.”](https://cdn.savemyexams.com/cdn-cgi/image/f=auto,width=3840/https://cdn.savemyexams.com/uploads/2025/07/60726_source-b-warfare.png)
Answer:
Source A is useful because it shows how the "Dig for Victory" campaign directly transformed the use of public spaces in central London. The photograph shows a woman and a Civil Defence Warden working on an allotment in Kensington Gardens (S). I know that Londoners were encouraged by the Ministry of Food to use spaces such as parks, backyards and even rooftops to grow fruit and vegetables. Over 1.4 million allotments were in use by 1943 (S). The source is useful because it shows civilians and officials working together, which suggests that the campaign brought different parts of society closer together (S). Unfortunately, the provenance of the source is unclear, as we do not know who took the picture. However, it is still useful in showing how "Dig for Victory" changed London's public spaces (S).
Source B is useful because it shows the personal impact and emotional value of the campaign. Steinbeck describes how there was "constant excitement about the gardens" and how the produce "tastes much better than that purchased in the open market" (S). Food rationing began in 1940, and shortages made fresh produce hard to access. The government encouraged growing food through leaflets, posters and radio broadcasts (S). This shows that the campaign had more than just a practical effect: It also improved morale and gave people a sense of pride and control (S). While Source B focuses more on American troops and was written years later, the fact that it describes similar reactions in Britain supports its usefulness in understanding the wider emotional impact of growing food during wartime (S).
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