Half the marks on the paper, sitting at the end, with a claim you have never seen and sources you read forty minutes ago. This is the question that decides Paper 3 grades — and it is won mostly by structure and by how you use the sources, not by how much psychology you can remember.
📘 What you need to know
Q4 is one compulsory ERQ worth 15 marks, built on the paper’s claim.
You must use your own knowledge plus at least three of Sources 2 to 5.
Examiners want you to critically evaluate and synthesise, with a balanced essay structure.
Consider evidence supporting the claim and evidence challenging or qualifying it.
Use sources as evidence, not summaries: compare them, discuss their methods, bring in concepts.
The conclusion must address “to what extent”, stay consistent with your discussion, and avoid absolute claims.
A structure that holds 15 marks
Sources are spread across paragraphs 2, 3 and 4. Count them before you write your conclusion: you need at least three.
Using a source as evidence, not as a summary
A quick test: if you deleted the source references, would your paragraphs still say something? If not, you have been summarising.
Sentence pattern for weaving a source
[Your point.] Source 3 supports this, since [one detail]. However, Source 4 suggests [the qualification], which means [what follows for the claim].
Two sources that disagree are worth far more than three that agree. Disagreement is what lets you weigh evidence, and weighing evidence is exactly what “to what extent” is asking for.
Bringing in your own knowledge
The mark scheme asks for own knowledge alongside the sources, and it has three jobs:
Support the interpretation — name the theory or concept that explains what a source found.
Offer an alternative explanation — suggest another reason the finding could have come out that way.
Place the findings in context — relate them to what is known about the HL extension in the paper, whether that is culture, motivation or technology.
Concepts do a lot of work here. Bias, measurement and causality can be applied to almost any set of sources, and naming them explicitly signals the kind of thinking examiners are marking for.
Worked example
WORKED EXAMPLE
To what extent can we conclude that technology in education negatively affects student mental health? Use your own knowledge and at least three of Sources 2 to 5. [15 marks]
A plan, then one paragraph written out at full density.
Plan
1 Frame: define the claim, note that “technology” covers very different things. 2 FOR: Sources 2 and 4. 3 AGAINST: Source 5, plus benefits. 4 METHOD: correlation, self-report, samples. 5 JUDGE: supported for some uses, some students, over some periods.
Written paragraph — the methodological one
The evidence is weaker than it first appears. Source 2 is correlational, so heavier device use and poorer outcomes go together without either being shown to cause the other; students already struggling may simply use devices more. Source 4 relies on self-report, which invites social desirability bias and, because people cannot accurately recall screen time, measures the variable poorly. Set against that, Source 5 followed students over a longer period, which is a genuine strength for a claim about effects over time.
Conclusion to aim for
The claim is supported to a limited extent. There is consistent evidence of an association, but the causal direction is unresolved and “technology” is too broad a category to be the real variable — the way a device is used looks more important than whether one is used.
Sources compared, methods judged, claim qualifiedThree sources named, own knowledge applied, and a conclusion that is neither yes nor no.
💡 Exam tip
Write the claim at the top of your plan and check every paragraph against it.
Label your sources FOR, AGAINST or BOTH while reading. That labelling is your essay skeleton.
Count your sources before writing the conclusion. Three of Sources 2 to 5 is the minimum.
Give the methodological paragraph real space. It is where the critical evaluation marks live.
Never write “this proves”. Write “supports to some extent”, and say which extent.
⚠ Common mix-up
Summarising each source in turn. That is a list, not an argument.
Using only two sources. The requirement is at least three of Sources 2 to 5.
Using Source 1. It belongs to Q1.
No own knowledge. Sources alone will not reach the top band.
A conclusion that contradicts the essay. The judgement has to follow from what you argued.
Running out of time. Protect the 45 minutes; it is half the paper.
Up next: The Six Key Concepts Explained — the ideas that sit underneath every essay in Papers 1, 2 and 3.
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