SEC 2027 G2 Humanities (Social Studies, History), syllabus K230, has a compulsory History source-based case study in Paper 2. It carries 30 of the paper’s 50 marks. The remaining 20 marks come from two essays chosen from three questions.
The source-based section asks you to do something with the evidence in front of you. Decide whether the question asks you to infer a message, compare accounts or weigh several sources. Use specific details from the source and explain how those details support your answer.
- Check the command and which sources the question specifies.
- Compare sources on a shared point and show the evidence from each.
- For the final sub-question, weigh the evidence from multiple sources before giving a judgement.
What K230 History Paper 2 looks like
Paper 2 lasts 1 hour 50 minutes. It is the History half of K230. Paper 1 is Social Studies, with its own structure. In History Section A, the first four sub-questions focus on specified sources. The fifth requires evidence from multiple sources. There can be up to five sources in the case study.
Only topics marked with an asterisk in the History syllabus can be set as source-based case studies. The published syllabus identifies Nazi Germany, developments leading to war in Europe and the origins and development of the Cold War in Europe. Use the full syllabus to plan essay revision as well.
Read the question and the source together
Start by circling the command word in a practice question. Then underline the issue you have to answer. “What can you infer about the author’s intention?” and “What can you infer about how people were affected?” could use the same source and still require different responses.
Mark a line or feature that helps answer that exact question. Read the attribution to see who produced it, when, and for whom if the information is available. Use that context when it changes what you can reasonably infer. A date you merely repeat adds little to an explanation.
For a cartoon or poster, note an actual feature. A figure taking up most of the page, a label beside an object or the direction a group is facing may help support an inference. Check the caption and context before giving a meaning to a symbol.
Worked example with two invented sources
Imagine a fictional town debating a night curfew. A public notice says the curfew will protect residents and promises a later bus for night workers. A diary from a bakery worker says the bus leaves before their shift finishes. These are invented sources for practising comparison.
Asked how far the two sources agree about the curfew’s effect on workers, you could write “Both sources suggest transport matters to workers affected by the curfew. The notice promises a later bus, while the worker records being unable to catch it. They differ on whether the transport arrangement solves the problem in practice.”
That answer compares the sources on the same issue. The notice shows what was promised and the diary shows one person’s experience. If the question asks about all night workers, look for wider evidence such as route schedules or additional accounts before generalising.
Make the last answer a judgement
Take the claim in the fifth sub-question and sort your selected evidence by what it supports or complicates. Explain why each source matters for that particular claim. Two sources may support the same position but do so for different reasons.
Imagine a third source in the curfew exercise shows that buses on one route ran later, while other routes kept their usual times. That would help explain how the notice could describe a real change while the worker still missed the bus. A judgement could say the curfew arrangement helped some workers, depending on their route and shift times.
If a question asks about usefulness, name what you can use the source to learn. A public notice may be useful for understanding how authorities presented a policy. A diary may help illustrate what implementation felt like to an individual. The research question determines which strength or limitation matters.
A revision routine for students and parents
Keep one page for errors. After marking, identify whether the main problem was misunderstanding the question, picking weak evidence or stopping after a quote. Rewrite the smallest part that would improve the answer.
Next time, use a new set of sources on a different topic. Test whether you can repeat the same reasoning without borrowing wording from your previous answer. Keep doing short practices on the essays too, because the source case study and essay questions need different kinds of preparation.
A parent can check a response with one question even without knowing the topic well. Ask “Which detail makes you think that?” Have the student point to the source and explain the connection in one sentence.
Frequently asked questions
How many essays do I answer?
Answer two out of the three questions in History Section B. Each is worth 10 marks.
Can I use my own knowledge?
Use relevant contextual knowledge to interpret or evaluate sources where the question calls for it. Support a source-based answer with the specified source evidence.
Does the same source-based format apply to all History papers?
The mark split and question structure described here are for K230 G2 Humanities Paper 2. Check the code if you are taking another syllabus.
Official information
SEAB’s 2027 SEC G2 Humanities (Social Studies, History) syllabus (K230), under History, Assessment Format and Syllabus Content. Checked 8 November 2026.