‘Margaret Thatcher’s achievements as prime minister in the years 1979 to 1990 were limited.’

‘Margaret Thatcher’s achievements as prime minister in the years 1979 to 1990 were limited.’
Assess the validity of this view. (45 marks)

Nothing written worthy of credit. 0

L1
Describes few policies or impressions of Thatcher without making any evaluation of achievement or limitation e.g.Thatcher was hated, Thatcher introduced privatisation and the poll tax
Only judges one aspect of Thatcher and so will not have links e.g Only evaluates the success of the Falklands war limited accurate and relevant historical support e.g. does not give dates, names, any technical terms
There will be little, if any, awareness of differing historical interpretations. e.g. Will not give any balanced view of where she was limited and where she was successful
The response will be limited in development and skills of written communication will be weak. E.g. Long sentences without punctuation, no capitals, no paragraphs, bullet points or single sentences used
1-6 Marks
L2:
Answers examines both the successes and failures of Thatcher e.g. looks at polarisation of society/destruction of manufacturing base and the restoration of pride/destroying the excessive power of the trade unions
They will either be primarily descriptive with few explicit links to the question or they may contain explicit comment but show limited relevant factual support e.g. Describes a range of Thatcher’s policies without any judgment of success or failure or judges one or two successes and/or failures but does not provide evidence to back up the points made
Understands that there are successes and failures but portrays this in a way that suggests that the student is unaware that different historians think different things e.g. phrase all opinions as THEIR opinions which seem to change throughout.
Pupil puts a few names of historians or quotes without reason or expresses that different historians have different views but does not go on to explain what they are
Any synoptic links will be

Links: the success of Thatcher’s conviction in her success in the Falkland with the failure of her conviction over the poll tax. Answers will give a balanced view of each factor and possibly explain which person or groups of people would argue which side e.g. Whilst hard right wing commentators praised Thatcher’s revolutionary economic policies in the early 1980s the wets would argue that it was an unnecessary attack on the poorest members of society that was only possibly due to north sea oil, is not sustainable and would leave the country worse off than before. Clear explanations, spelling, grammar and themed paragraphs with topic sentences at the beginning and clear links to question and evaluation of arguments at the end of each paragraph. 26-37 Marks L5: Answers understand the dual nature of the question and the nuances required to answer fully. E.g. Whilst Thatcher can be criticised (or lauded) for attacking the EEC she actually took us further in with the Single European act and the joining of the ERM All paragraphs will have succinct and precise evidence with an understanding of how that factor could not have happened without another factor e.g Her success in the Right to buy was not started by herself; destruction of power of unions was made easier by high unemployment Answer uses initiative and originality to assess the commonly held views of Thatcher rather than to regurgitate them and then explain their own opinion. E.g. Comes up with a view that Mr. G. Summerhayes esq. has not heard before Answers will be well-structured and fluently written E.g Like an article in History Today magazine. 38-45 Marks