In the range of requirements necessary for a top grade in A-level politics, it is easy to forget about synopticity. While synopticity is considered to be a supplementary requirement, not employing it in your answers can stop you from accessing the highest levels on some questions. Synopticity is about drawing disparate elements of the course together and making connections between the various topics in the specification. The aim of the synoptic requirement is to assess your command of the knowledge you have accumulated and your understanding across a variety of topics.
There is no obligation to introduce synopticity in Paper 1: UK politics and core political ideas. However, in Section A (the non-source questions) of Paper 2: UK government and non-core political ideas, you need to draw on relevant knowledge from Paper 1. For Paper 3A: Comparative politics – USA, synopticity is assessed in Section A (the ‘examine’ questions) and Section B (the ‘analyse’ question), and you are required to draw on knowledge from Papers 1 and 2. For Paper 3B: Comparative politics – global politics, synopticity is assessed in Section B (the ‘analyse’ question). This is summarised in Table 1.
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