Examiner’s Specific Advice

The question is testing several skills, and also your knowledge of the topic. You will be expected to know the main factual details. You are also expected to provide a historical explanation and make a substantiated judgement.

The key thing is not to narrate and describe, but to keep the precise question in mind. Keep the focus on the Act of Supremacy and its consequences. Whatever your approach in your answer, do make a judgement about the State and the Church in relation to their powers.

It would be advisable for an essay-type question of this sort to write a brief plan before you start your answer.

Exemplar Question

2 (04) ‘Evidence from the 1530s shows that after the Act of Supremacy (1534) the State rather than the Church was the dominant power in England.’

Explain why you agree or disagree with this view. [24 marks]

Plan

• Introduction: the Act of  Supremacy – what it said (summary)
• The ways in which the State gained power in the Act
• Evidence from the 1530s of the significance of this
• The extent to which the Church kept (as well as lost) its powers and influence over the people and the State
• Conclusion: judgement on the extent to which there was a takeover of dominance by the State from the Church

View Exemplar Answer 1

View Exemplar Answer 2