Paper 1: The Written Examination

Paper 1 is the one part of Global Perspectives you sit like a traditional exam, but it does not test what you have memorised. You walk in, open an insert full of sources about a global issue you may never have studied, and in one hour and twenty-five minutes you have to read them, weigh them, and answer four compulsory questions. There is no content to revise. What is being marked is how well you think: can you pull apart an argument, judge whether a piece of evidence can be trusted, and back a view with reasons rather than feelings?

This guide shows you exactly what the four questions ask for, how the marks are split, and the single habit that lifts a script from a pass to a top grade: evaluating instead of describing. You will see the command words decoded, a timing plan that leaves room to think, and a worked source question with a model answer so you can see what a high-scoring response actually looks like on the page.