1. The second A2 paper:
 ‘Culture, Science & Society: Making Connections’
 Worth 50% of A2
 1 hour 30 minutes
 2 compulsory, essay-style questions – both worth 50 marks. These require a synoptic
response drawing together ideas from the cultural, social and scientific domains.

2. What do you think you will need to do to attain a level 5 (41- 50 marks) for this question?
Clue: there’s four main things.
 Give a range of clear examples to support and illustrate ideas (AO1)
 Offer sound conclusions that assess the extent to which the targets of the United Nations
and British Government are achievable (AO2)
 Give a broad response that draws together ideas from the cultural, social and scientific
domains, as well as considering how various ideas can impact positively and negatively
(AO3)
 Provide a coherent response with accurate grammar, spelling and punctuation (AO4)

3. Cultural Social Scientific
attitudes towards women – in
some countries they are
denied education, thus
limiting job prospects and
chance of escaping poverty
global recession – meant a
reduction in the money
available to both
governments and individuals
use of drought-resistant crops
in areas of food shortage -
help ensure less starvation

4. Cultural Social Scientific
attitudes towards women – in
some countries they are
denied education, thus
limiting job prospects and
chance of escaping poverty
lack of cultural awareness –
some individuals fail to see
beyond their own
culture/social class
influence of media - reater
visibility of impoverished
groups leads to more being
done to help the poor
global recession – meant a
reduction in the money
available to both
governments and individuals
developing better education
programmes –
can help reduce poverty.
societal attitudes, e.g. ‘they
just want to scrounge off the
state’ - can lead to ongoing
poverty and discrimination
use of drought-resistant crops
in areas of food shortage -
help ensure less starvation
increased use of
contraception - can lead to
reduced number of children
in poverty
some areas of world more
prone to natural disasters -
impacts on social progress
and budget demands
Connections
encouraging use of contraception (scientific) presents challenges in some countries as it goes
against the dominant attitudes and beliefs (cultural)
global recession (social) has meant that charities has meant that charities have less money to
invest in technologies to develop sustainability (scientific)

5. To what extent do you think the United Nations and British Governments targets are
achievable?
 investment by rich, Western countries can go a long way towards eradicating poverty
although this can be affected by political change and changing social priorities
 the time scales set by governments to eradicate poverty seem perfectly achievable at
the time of setting the target; however, no one can predict that economic stability can
be maintained, or that progress will continue in the future.
 while some countries are working towards eradicating poverty and improving their
‘developed’ status, others are finding that past economic errors or miscalculations lead
them towards the state of poverty.

6. One of the main issues in reducing poverty is a lack of
education and employment opportunities. This is shown in
Source A as ‘Target 2’ is based on the idea that ‘productive
employment and decent work for all’ would result in an end to
poverty. Although education in the UK is accessible for all, this
is not the case globally. For example, some countries such as
Afghanistan limit the access that women have to education.
This cultural inequality means that it is hard for females to
develop the skills necessary to gain employment, find
independence or escape poverty. Other countries, like Chad,
have a history of shackling females through underage
marriages; education is rarely seen as a priority with husbands
controlling the lives of their young brides.
it might be suggested that education in the UK is
not truly facilitating social mobility and an end to poverty
either. For example, the withdrawal of the ‘educational
maintenance’ grant in England means that students from less
affluent backgrounds sometimes have to take on part-time or
full-time work to support their family. This can impact on their
academic achievement and thus limit their chance of future
employment. Related to this is the wider issue of changing
political priorities. After being introduced by the Labour
government, EMA was scrapped by the Conservatives as part
of on-going budget cuts. It might be suggested that this
constant shifting of political priorities makes the targets of the
British Government in reducing poverty unrealistic.

7. One of the main issues in reducing poverty is a lack of
education and employment opportunities. This is shown in
Source A as ‘Target 2’ is based on the idea that ‘productive
employment and decent work for all’ would result in an end to
poverty. Although education in the UK is accessible for all, this
is not the case globally. For example, some countries such as
Afghanistan limit the access that women have to education.
This cultural inequality means that it is hard for females to
develop the skills necessary to gain employment, find
independence or escape poverty. Other countries, like Chad,
have a history of shackling females through underage
marriages; education is rarely seen as a priority with husbands
controlling the lives of their young brides.
it might be suggested that education in the UK is
not truly facilitating social mobility and an end to poverty
either. For example, the withdrawal of the ‘educational
maintenance’ grant in England means that students from less
affluent backgrounds sometimes have to take on part-time or
full-time work to support their family. This can impact on their
academic achievement and thus limit their chance of future
employment. Related to this is the wider issue of changing
political priorities. After being introduced by the Labour
government, EMA was scrapped by the Conservatives as part
of on-going budget cuts. It might be suggested that this
constant shifting of political priorities makes the targets of the
British Government in reducing poverty unrealistic.
use of source
material to
illustrate ideas
(AO1)
range of
examples (AO1)
sound
conclusions
(AO2)
coherent
response that
considers both
UN & UK (AO4)
range of ideas
linked together
(AO3)