Paper 2 Higher Level

The short answer paper is paper No 2 for Higher-level candidates and is worth 20% of their final mark.

There are 6 questions on the paper, each worth 10 marks, and candidates have one hour to answer three of the questions. Again candidates have 5 minutes reading time. As with the essay question use the five minutes reading time to make a decision as to the questions you will write. Remember to read the questions carefully; don’t use one word as a trigger to write down everything you know on the topic.

The short answer questions are really 6 part (a) essay questions. They are designed to test your understanding of a core topic or theory.

Each one of your answers should include a definition of the key term, diagrams wherever possible, and relevant examples. It is unlikely you will get a question where using a diagram is not appropriate. It may be the case that you can use more than one diagram.

I have stressed the importance of diagrams before and it is especially important in this paper that you have a firm grasp of them. With only a week to go I would urge you to keep practicing until you are sick to death of them.

As with every exam timings are crucial. Make sure you get down an answer for your three chosen questions. You should spend no more than 20 minutes on each answer, don’t miss out on valuable marks by writing lengthy answers for question 1 and 2 but leaving a blank page for your third answer.

It is well worth practicing as many past papers as possible. They are only an hour long and can fit nicely into your revision plan. I would urge you to pick the questions that you are unsure of and/or find a little tricky just in case you are stuck for choices next week.