The document provides an overview of the topics and structure of the OCR Contemporary Politics summer exam. The exam will focus on 5 key units: political parties, pressure groups, electoral systems and referendums, UK parliamentary elections, and voting behavior in the UK. It will consist of 3 sections - the first will include questions on political parties and pressure groups, the second will require choosing one question from electoral systems/referendums or elections/voting behavior, and the last 5 minutes will be for reviewing answers. Students are instructed to complete revision notes on each topic from the provided textbook over the summer in preparation for the exam.

1. AS OCR Contemporary Politics, Summer task 2011<br />The politics exam in the Summer will be made up of 5 key units:<br />Political parties (mandatory) <br />Pressure groups (mandatory) <br />Electoral systems and referendums <br />UK parliamentary elections <br />Voting behaviour in the UK <br />Exam questions are marked under the following three criteria:<br />AO1: Knowledge and understanding of political concepts/theories/institutions and processes<br />AO2: Analysis and evaluation<br />AO3: Communication and coherence<br />Structure of the Exam:<br />Section A: Political parties and Pressure groups, (three questions, no choices)<br />1a - Using the sources and your own knowledge to describe and explain. (12 marks). This questions tests AO1, Spend no more than 10 minutes.

2. 1b – Usually involves using the sources and your own knowledge to compose a discussion based upon a statement in the question, “….discuss the view that…..” (28 marks). AO1:12 A02:12 AO3:4, Spend no more than 25 minutes.

3. 2 – Usually involves you in composing a discussion based on your knowledge and understanding of political parties and pressure groups. (30 marks) AO1:12 A02:12 AO3:6, Spend no more than 25 minutes.

4. Section B: Electoral systems and referendums, UK parliamentary elections and voting behaviour in the UK, (choose one question from a choice of three)

5. The three questions usually each refer to an area of potential controversy and involve you in composing a discussion based on your knowledge and understanding. (30 marks) AO1:12 A02:12 AO3:6, Spend no more than 25 minutes.5 minutes to read through your answers.<br />Total: 90 minutes<br />Over the Summer you need to order the following text book:<br />AS UK Government and Politics: Textbook by Philip Lynch Philip Lynch (Author) <br />You need to complete notes on the 5 key topics that you will be examined on. In this booklet you have a tick list of the key topics you need to cover. This will need to be completed before we start the Politics course in September.<br />› Visit Amazon's Philip Lynch Page<br />Find all the books, read about the author, and more.<br />See search results for this author name <br />Are you an Author? Learn about Author Central <br />Political Parties<br />Key topics:<br />Political parties

6. Party systems