Describe, Explain and Significance Questions

Between the source and interpretation questions and the big essays sit a set of shorter questions worth 4 or 8 marks. They test AO1 (knowledge and understanding) and AO2 (explaining and analysing with second-order concepts), the two objectives that together make up 70% of the GCSE.

The command word tells you which skill is wanted. Getting the command word right is half the battle: a 'describe' answer that tries to explain causes wastes time, and an 'explain' answer that only describes misses the marks.

Question	Paper	Command	AO(s)	Marks
Describe two features	P1 §A Q4	Describe	AO1	4
In what ways…	P1 §A Q5	Explain	AO1 + AO2	8
Explain the significance of…	P2 §A Q2	Explain	AO1(2) + AO2(6)	8
Explain two ways X and Y were similar/different	P2 §A Q3	Explain	AO1(4) + AO2(4)	8
Explain what was important about…	P2 §B Q2	Explain	AO1 + AO2	8
Write an account	P1 §B Q3 / P2 §B Q3	—	AO1 + AO2	8

'Describe' means set out characteristics. This question tests knowledge only: you give two features and develop each with a supporting detail. You do not need to explain why they happened or what they led to.

Full marks come from two developed points. A "developed" point is a fact plus a supporting detail, not a bare statement.

Take the June 2024 Germany paper: Describe two problems faced by the German people during the Great Depression of the early 1930s. A Level 2 answer names a problem — mass unemployment — and develops it: by 1932 around six million Germans were out of work. Then it does the same for a second problem. Simple, precise, developed.

Level	Quality	Marks
2	Developed knowledge, based on understanding	4–6*
1	Simple knowledge statements	1–3

*The 'describe two features' question is capped at 4 marks, so two developed points secure full marks; the level descriptors are shared with longer AO1 questions.

Four different questions share the same 8-mark mark scheme, which rewards identification (naming the relevant point) and explanation (developed reasoning that shows understanding of a second-order concept).

Level	What it shows	Marks
4	Complex thinking: directly relevant, substantiated	7–8
3	Developed thinking: developed explanation, well supported	5–6
2	Simple thinking: implicitly relevant, partly substantiated	3–4
1	Basic thinking: relevant point or knowledge only	1–2

The route to Level 3 is developed explanation, explicitly linked to the question. The route to Level 4 is complex thinking about the concept — for example, differentiating change or consequence by time, or recognising that significance looked different to different people.

Use a Point–Evidence–Explain shape and cover two developed points. One brilliant point rarely reaches the top; the mark scheme expects two.

Two of the 8-mark questions target specific concepts and split the AO marks differently.

Explain the significance of… (AO1:2, AO2:6) asks why something mattered, not what it was. Because AO2 dominates, description alone stays low. The strongest answers differentiate significance over time — how something mattered at the moment and how its importance changed later. In the June 2019 exemplar on Islamic medicine, a Level 4 answer explained significance at the time (advanced hospitals, Avicenna's Canon) and over time (the Canon becoming a standard European textbook during the Renaissance).

Explain two ways X and Y were similar/different (AO1:4, AO2:4) asks you to identify two genuine similarities or differences and explain each. Complex thinking comes from placing the similarity in a broader context — for example, comparing longer-term causes or impacts. The June 2024 thematic paper asked students to explain two ways plague in the Middle Ages and the 19th-century cholera epidemics were similar.

'Write an account' is the question students most often misread. It is not an invitation to tell a story from memory. It asks for an analytical narrative: sequence the events of a specified issue and analyse how they connect to the wider development named in the question.

The command targets cause and consequence (and sometimes change). You sequence, but you also explain how each step led to the next and to the outcome in the question.

Weak  (narrative dump):  "First X happened. Then Y happened. Then Z happened."
Strong (analytical):     "X created the conditions for Y, which in turn led to Z,
                          so the war at sea affected the wider war by..."

In the June 2024 WWI paper the question was Write an account of how the war at sea affected the First World War. A top answer would sequence the naval events (the blockade, Jutland, unrestricted U-boat warfare, the convoy system) while continually analysing how each affected the wider war — the blockade starving Germany, U-boats helping to draw in the USA.

1. Explaining on a 'describe' question

'Describe two features' is AO1 only. Adding causes and consequences wastes time you need for the 8-mark and 12-mark questions.

2. Describing on an 'explain' question

The 8-mark questions reward explanation of a concept. Retelling what happened, without saying why it mattered or how it connects, stalls at Level 2.

3. Making only one point

The 8-mark mark schemes expect two developed points. A single point, however good, rarely reaches Level 4.

4. Turning 'write an account' into a story

Sequencing alone is Level 2. You must analyse how the events connect to the development named in the question to reach Levels 3 and 4.

5. Describing significance instead of explaining it

'Explain the significance' is dominated by AO2. Say why it mattered, at the time and over time, rather than simply narrating the event.