History is really two subjects wearing one syllabus, and a mock that forgets this misleads everyone who sits it. For Cambridge IGCSE History 0470, students must handle content-based writing — the explanation and “how far do you agree” essays drawn from the core and depth studies — alongside a distinct source-based enquiry that hangs questions off a collection of contemporary sources. Those halves reward different habits of mind, so a paper that quietly tests only one of them flatters your source-readers and fails your essayists, or the reverse. Staple two old papers together and you’ll also over-rehearse last year’s enquiry. Build the mock to hold both skills in the right balance, and it starts predicting properly.

Start from the real 0470 structure

Before you choose a single question, fix the skeleton. The honest move here is to mirror the component types rather than to assert an exact paper count, because the precise number and timing of written components — and which depth study a school enters — can vary, so check the current syllabus for your cohort. What is reliably true is that 0470 assesses two genuinely different things, and a mock should hold both:

• The content components — the recall, “explain why” and “how far do you agree” questions on the core international-relations content and your chosen depth study. These reward knowledge, causal explanation and substantiated judgement.
• The source enquiry — a set of questions built around a supplied collection of sources on a defined topic, rewarding comprehension, cross-referencing and the evaluation of utility and reliability.

If you only have time to run one part, label it clearly — “source paper equivalent” or “content essays only” — and do not let students treat half the assessment as the whole. The two parts test different muscles; a mock that drops one tells you nothing about how the cohort would cope with it.

This is the 0470-specific version of the principle in the parent guide, building an IGCSE mock exam in minutes from past papers: mirror the real components first, choose questions second.

Balance across studies and question types

The most common way a home-made History mock goes wrong is imbalance — three essays on the same depth study, no source enquiry, every question a “how far”. A 0470 mock that predicts spreads itself across two dimensions.

Across content. Cover the core study and the depth study your cohort actually sits, rather than letting whichever topic you taught most recently dominate. If your school’s depth study is the only one your students will face, do not waste a mock on questions about options they will never meet.

Across question type. Within the content essays, include a recall/describe opener, an “explain why” causal question, and at least one “how far do you agree” judgement essay — because they sit in different objectives and a student strong on knowledge can still be weak on judgement. Within the source enquiry, include comprehension, cross-referencing and an evaluation question, so you find out whether the weakness is reading sources or weighing them.

You don’t need to match Cambridge’s exact internal weighting to the mark — and you shouldn’t claim a precise weighting you haven’t verified against the current syllabus — but you should consciously spread your questions so no major study or skill is missing and no minor one dominates. A quick tally by study and by question type before you finalise catches the runaway.

Build the difficulty ramp deliberately

Real History papers settle students before they stretch them, and a mock should too. A workable shape:

• Open with access. A comprehension or “what is the message” source question, or a describe/recall opener, so every student banks something early and writes their way into the exam.
• Build through explanation. The “explain why” causal questions and the cross-referencing source items in the middle — standard demand, where most of the cohort lives.
• Finish with judgement. The “how far do you agree” essay and the full source-utility evaluation last, where the top grades are actually separated.

A mock that is uniformly hard demoralises and tells you nothing about your borderline students; one that is uniformly gentle hides the gaps that matter. For the broader argument about not trading quality for speed, see the fastest way to build a mock without sacrificing quality.

Decide how it gets marked before students sit it

A full-class History mock — source enquiry plus content essays — is a marking event in its own right, and levels-of-response marking is slow and prone to drift. Decide upfront which parts get which treatment. The source-comprehension and structured parts can be marked consistently to the Cambridge scheme, and automatically if you are using a platform that does it. The extended explanation and judgement essays are a levels-based first pass that you review and confirm — the judgement on a two-sided argument stays yours. Planning this before the mock, not after, is what stops a well-built paper from becoming a weekend lost to red pen. The marking detail — levels, descriptors, what to auto-mark versus review — is covered in the 0470 mark scheme marking guide.

A repeatable build sequence

1. Fix the skeleton — decide which components you are mirroring (source enquiry, content essays, or both) and label clearly if you are running only one.
2. Pull questions by study and type from a tagged 0470 question bank, covering your core and depth study and a spread of question types.
3. Order them into a demand ramp — access, explanation, judgement — within each part.
4. Tally by study and question type — check for gaps and runaways; rebalance.
5. Set the marking plan — mark the source-comprehension and structured parts to the scheme, flag the extended essays for your levels review.
6. Keep the blueprint — once you have a balanced 0470 mock, save the structure and swap in fresh questions next term rather than rebuilding from scratch.

That last step is the quiet win: the first mock takes thought, but the blueprint makes every later one a short job.

How this looks on the platform

Tutopiya’s Cambridge IGCSE History 0470 resources let you assemble a mock from real past-paper questions filtered by study and question type, set it as a timed paper, and mark the source-comprehension and structured parts to the Cambridge scheme so results come back as skill-level data, not just a total — with the extended essays returned as a levels-based first pass you review. It is free to start with one class — see the full teacher platform these guides put to work.

This is one of four 0470 guides. The others cover marking 0470 to the Cambridge mark scheme, the 0470 past-paper question bank, and 0470 lesson resources mapped to the syllabus.

FAQ

Should a 0470 mock include both the source enquiry and the content essays? Ideally yes, because they test genuinely different skills — reading and weighing sources versus explaining and judging from knowledge. If time forces a single part, label it clearly as an equivalent and don’t treat the result as a full prediction. Be wary of asserting an exact paper count; check the current syllabus for your cohort’s component pattern.

How do I make sure the mock is balanced? Tally your questions by study and by question type before finalising. The usual failures are over-weighting one depth study, dropping the source enquiry, or making every content question a “how far”. A quick count by both dimensions catches all three.

How do I avoid the mock being too hard or too easy? Build a deliberate ramp — an accessible comprehension or describe question first, explanation in the middle, judgement and full source evaluation last. A uniformly hard paper demoralises and hides your borderline students; a uniformly easy one hides the gaps that matter.

How do I keep marking a full History mock manageable? Decide the marking plan before students sit it: mark the source-comprehension and structured parts to the Cambridge scheme (automatically, if your platform does it) and give the extended essays a levels-based first pass you review. That keeps the bulk of the marking off your weekend while the judgement stays yours.

Which depth study should the mock use? The one your cohort actually sits. Cambridge offers a range of options and the choice varies by school, so build the mock from your study rather than wasting questions on options your students will never face — and check the current syllabus if you are unsure which your cohort is entered for.

The bottom line

A 0470 mock predicts well when it copies the real components — the source enquiry and the content essays — spreads across your studies and question types, and ramps from access to judgement. Build that once, save the blueprint, and plan the marking upfront, and a mock stops being a week of photocopying and becomes a repeatable, genuinely diagnostic event.

Build a balanced 0470 mock from real past papers — free with one class →

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