Contextual skills in examination
When you learn about areas of the English legal system for examination at
AS-level, the scene is set for then developing that body of knowledge and
taking a look in depth at an area of substantive law – again, in this case, the
law of contract. The wider context of contract law, however, should not be
forgotten. The examination boards take that view too, and all boards
include marks for analytical content in marking essay questions. This is
nothing new, and has been happening for years. What is new, however, is
that the new A2 specifications (for the full A-level qualification) must
include a clear element of synoptic assessment – that is the law of contract
set into the context of the English legal system.
Module 6: concepts of law, for AQA
Although this paper is ‘new’ to the A2 assessment pattern for A-level, the
format of the paper is well established. The paper is 1 hour 30 minutes long,
and contains four essay questions, of which you are required to answer two.
The issues are broad, and can be based on whatever areas of law you have
already studied. In fact, you are particularly reminded in the instructions on
the paper to ‘illustrate your answers with relevant material gained in your
study in any of the modules’. This does not just mean that you may do so –
it means that to obtain a good mark you must do so. As you are studying
contract law, make use of the cases and issues raised within this module.
Read the material on synoptic assessment, and the approach to the
examination, and this will help you to form in depth analytical ideas about an
area of contract law. Do consider the issues raised in the main chapters of this
book. Where a question is posed, consider your response, before going on to
read the rest of the chapter. Refer to the ideas above, add your own views and
your own illustrations from studying contract law and possibly other areas of
law too, and plan an answer to one or two of the questions which follow.
The questions below are examples of the kind of questions you should
be able to answer to do well in this unit.
264 Contract law
1 ‘Often judges have the difficult task of balancing the interests of one party
with those of another’. Using cases from civil and/or criminal law,
consider how effectively this is done.
2 The law needs to develop continually.To what extent are Parliament and
the judiciary free to do this?
3 Using cases from any area of law to illustrate your answer, discuss the
difference(s) between law and justice.
4 To what extent is fault a central feature in deciding liability or guilt in law?
5 An ordinary person, if asked, may expect the law to reflect moral values
in society.To what extent does it do so?