Synoptic assessment is a combination of skills, but it is not really new to
you. You will have used these skills in answering questions in your studies
at AS-level, and in answering questions on the main Contract Law paper,
by analysing and commenting on issues in essay questions and by applying
your knowledge of law to problem situations. Now, all you need to do is
refine your technique to answer questions using sources in a slightly
different way in the examination.
During the year, well before the examinations, you will be issued with a
booklet containing a set of pre-released source materials. These materials
will contain extracts from statutes, cases, academic articles, etc., and will
be based on a theme, the new one for examination from 2007/9 being
consideration. This means that allof the sources within the booklet
concern some aspect of consideration, such as adequacy and sufficiency,
past consideration and performance of existing duties as consideration.
(Note that from 2007 onwards, in the new 4-unit specification, there will
notbe a source directly based on AS material, as was the case in previous
years.) It should therefore be an encouragement to you to realise that in this
examination you will sit a paper being absolutely sure of the topic on which
you are to answer questions, i.e. consideration. This narrows the focus of
your revision tremendously.
You are not allowed to take your own copy of the booklet into the
examination room, but you will be issued with an identical ‘clean’ copy for
the examination, which you can then use for reference in answering
questions. You will not, therefore, need to learn a lot of new material off by
heart – although, to enhance your answers, you will need to know about
some othercases and materials on consideration, not included in the pre-
released materials booklet.
It is vital that you are thoroughly familiar with the material before the
examination and that you have thought about the kind of issues that could
arise. In the examination you will be given a set of questions based on the
pre-released material and you will need to refer to the source material in
answering the questions. However, this is certainly not just a
comprehension test needing no revision. You will be expected to bring into
your answers your knowledge and ideas, as well as to respond to the
material and the questions themselves.
Sources of contract law 267The examination is synoptic– which means that although the materials are
based on your A2 work, the questions are intended to bring together various
strands of previous knowledge. You will need to revise Chapter 3:
Consideration very thoroughly. It would also be good to recap the work you
did for the AS paper on sources of law, especially the areas of judicial
precedent and law reform. You may wish to refer to Chapter 6 of the
companion book in this series,AS Law, in order to deal with the AS material.