AQA AS-Level · Analysis & Prediction

2024 AQA AS-Level History 7041 Past Paper Analysis

The Summer 2024 AQA AS History papers for Component 1A (The Age of the Crusades) and Component 2A (The Reign of Henry II) provided a balanced but challenging test. High-achieving students stood out through their highly contextualized evaluation of source interpretations and their ability to move beyond narrative summaries in essays.

Updated: 14 Jun 2026

Analysis Sample paper

Difficulty 3.4/5

Total marks

100

Duration

180 mins

Most tested

Crusader Consolidation & Angevin Governance

Paper breakdown

Component 1A: The Age of the Crusades, c1071–1149: 50 marks · 90 minsComponent 2A: The Reign of Henry II, 1154–1189: 50 marks · 90 mins

Top chapters

The Age of the Crusades, c1071–1149 · 50 marksRoyal Authority and the Angevin Kings, 1154–1189 · 50 marks

Difficulty Verdict

The Summer 2024 papers for both Component 1A (The Crusader States) and Component 2A (The Reign of Henry II) offered a balanced yet intellectually demanding assessment. With a difficulty rating of 3.4 out of 5, the exam succeeded in testing both broad historical trends and fine-grained textual evaluation. While the essay questions offered accessible hooks on well-trodden topics like Thomas Becket and Crusader consolidation, the source-based questions in Section A required deep contextual knowledge to move past mere comprehension to high-level evaluation.

Where the Marks Are Won or Lost

In the Crusader States paper, high-scoring scripts on the Battle of Manzikert extracts successfully juxtaposed Jenkins' view of sudden and complete collapse with Arnold's more cautious interpretation of a resilient Byzantine Empire. Marks were frequently lost when students simply described the extracts without assessing their convincingness against external evidence—such as the 24-year gap between the battle and Alexius Comnenus' appeal in 1095.

For the Henry II paper, the source analysis of Pope Alexander III's letter (1172) and Gerald of Wales' Topography of Ireland (1185) rewarded students who probed the provenance. The most successful candidates identified Gerald's sycophantic praise as a bid for promotion to the bishopric of St David's, while also linking Henry's Irish expedition directly to his urgent need for papal penance after Becket's murder. Conversely, weaker answers fell into the trap of summarizing the texts line-by-line.

Key Examiner Pitfalls & Misconceptions

The Becket Trap: Many students writing on Q2 focused excessively on the narrative build-up of the dispute (1163–1164) rather than directly addressing why the conflict culminated in his actual death in 1170.
Simplistic Motives: On the legal reforms essay (Q3), weaker essays presented a binary view of Henry II—either as a purely greedy king seeking judicial fines, or a selfless peacemaker. Top marks went to those who demonstrated how financial opportunism and the consolidation of royal authority went hand-in-hand.
Crusader Geography & Diplomacy: Several candidates struggled to evaluate the role of Damascus, failing to recognize its long-standing alliance with Jerusalem after 1139, which complicated its status as the "greatest threat."

Preparation Strategy & Predictions

To master future papers, students must practice dual-layer source evaluation: combining content corroboration with ruthless provenance analysis. For the upcoming cycle, topics such as the First Crusade and the Capture of Jerusalem and Henry II's relations with his sons (the Young King's rebellion) are highly overdue and represent prime areas for revision focus.

Charts

Marks by chapter

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Question type mix

Compare the mark share of each paper section and question type.

Extract/Source Evaluation (AO2/AO3)50 marks · 2 questions
Analytical Essay (AO1)50 marks · 2 questions

Mark accessibility

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75%within easy or medium reach

easy: 30 marksmedium: 45 markshard: 25 marks

Difficulty trend

Compare difficulty across recent years.

Command word frequency

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Skill weighting

Shows the skill mix this paper tested most heavily.

Study ROI

Bigger bubbles recur more often; higher bubbles carry more marks, helping you rank revision priorities.

Henry II's Legal Reforms

25 marks · Difficulty 2.5 · recurrence 80%

The Reigns of Baldwin I and Baldwin II

25 marks · Difficulty 3 · recurrence 75%

Byzantine Empire and Manzikert Interpretations

25 marks · Difficulty 3.5 · recurrence 90%

Henry II and Ireland (Source Value)

25 marks · Difficulty 4 · recurrence 60%

Time vs marks

Compare marks with suggested time allocation to plan exam pacing.

marksmins

Next-year prediction

Topics worth watching next year, with the reason shown directly below each bar.

The First Crusade and the Capture of Jerusalem85%

Highly central topic to the breadth study that was not directly assessed as a major essay question in the 2024 series.

Henry II and the Great Rebellion of 1173–117480%

The 2024 paper touched upon the rebellion only briefly in the Ireland sources; a dedicated essay on Henry's response to his family and barons is highly probable next.

Cumulative marks ladder

The line is your running mark total question by question; dashed lines are the estimated grade cut-offs. See which question the line crosses your target grade at, so you know how far you must answer cleanly and which questions decide a band.

Topic-year heatmap

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Jun 2022

Jun 2023

Jun 2024

The Age of the Crusades, c1071–1149

Royal Authority and the Angevin Kings, 1154–1189

Examiner insights

Official report

Common pitfalls

Describing the content of the extracts/sources without evaluating their interpretations in relation to the wider historical context.
Failing to evaluate the provenance and tone of primary sources (such as Gerald of Wales' desire for promotion) when assessing their value.
Focusing heavily on the background of the Becket dispute (1163/4) rather than directly addressing the factors contributing to his actual death in 1170.
Treating the Crusader states in isolation and failing to recognise the significance of external diplomatic alliances, such as Jerusalem's alliance with Damascus.

Misconceptions

Believing that the Battle of Manzikert led to an immediate, total collapse of the Byzantine Empire rather than initiating a slow, political decline intensified by internal rivalries.
Assuming that Henry II's legal reforms were motivated solely by financial gain, ignoring his coronation oath to restore stability and constrain the barons.

Where marks are lost

Writing purely narrative accounts of the reigns of Baldwin I and Baldwin II instead of comparative analysis of their roles in consolidation.
Failing to offer a balanced, dual-perspective evaluation of both extracts or sources, resulting in one-sided responses.
Inability to link the actions of Henry II in Ireland back to the wider context of Papal relations and penance for Becket's murder.

Estimated grade cut-off

Updated: 15 Jun 2026

Source: AQA

Level	Mark	Percentage
A	74/100	74%
B	63/100	63%
C	53/100	53%
D	43/100	43%
E	33/100	33%

Official grade boundaries published by AQA.

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