A simple rule of thumb is ‘one mark every two minutes’ when trying to decide how much detail to give in an answer, but check with your own paper to make sure that there are enough minutes in the exam time to get all of the marks! Examiners set questions which can be answered in the time available – if you give the detail required and not too much more. They will obviously ask for more detail from an A2 answer than from an AS answer but in both cases they expect someone like you (who has studied the topic at the level) to be able to answer the question in the time available. They do not try to trick you – it wouldn’t be a very good examination if everybody failed it!

Examiners need to know what you ‘know, understand and can do’; they don’t want to know what you ‘don’t know, fail to understand and can’t do’! However, while they are not trying to trick you, remember that they are also not your normal teacher or tutor. They do not know you so all they can base their judgements on is what you write down for them. They cannot give you the benefit of the doubt, so they need proof of what you can do.