Medicine Through TimeExam Focus

Exam Technique: Continuity vs Change

Part of The Great Plague · GCSE GCSE History revision

This exam focus covers Exam Technique: Continuity vs Change within The Great Plague for GCSE History. Revise The Great Plague in Medicine Through Time for GCSE History with 8 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. Use this page as part of a wider topic revision path rather than treating it as an isolated fact. It is section 4 of 13 in this topic. Treat this as a marking guide for what examiners are looking for, not just a fact list.

Topic position

Section 4 of 13

Practice

8 questions

Recall

15 flashcards

📝 Exam Technique: Continuity vs Change

For comparison questions: The Great Plague shows CONTINUITY in medical ideas but CHANGE in government response.

Continuity: Same causes believed (miasma), same treatments used (bleeding), same religious responses (prayer)

Change: More organised government action, record-keeping, attempts at public health measures

Significance: Government role in public health was growing — a trend that would accelerate in 19th century

🏫 Edexcel 1HI0/10 — Medicine in Britain (Paper 1, Option 1HI0/10): This topic is tested on Paper 1 alongside the Historic Environment (Western Front). Edexcel question types differ from AQA:

"Describe two features of..." (4 marks) — Identify a feature (1 mark) + supporting detail (1 mark). Write two separate PEEL-style paragraphs. No evaluation needed.
"Explain why..." (12 marks) — Explain two or three reasons with specific evidence. Level 3 (7–9 marks) requires explained reasons; Level 4 (10–12 marks) requires explanation showing how factors connect or reinforce each other.
"How far do you agree that..." (16 marks + 4 SPaG) — Extended writing. Two sides: evidence FOR the statement, evidence AGAINST. Reach a supported judgement. Level 4 (13–16 marks) requires a consistently argued judgement. SPaG marks reward accurate spelling of key historical terms.

Keep building this topic

Read this section alongside the surrounding pages in The Great Plague. That gives you the full topic sequence instead of a single isolated revision point.

Government Measures 1665 Why Did the Great Plague Kill 100,000 Londoners Despite 300 Years of Medical "Progress"?Setting the Scene Comparing Black Death (1348) and Great Plague (1665)

Practice Questions for The Great Plague

Approximately how many people died in the Great Plague in London in 1665?

A. 10,000
B. 100,000
C. 500,000
D. 2 million

1 markfoundation

What were Bills of Mortality introduced during the Great Plague of 1665?

A. Laws banning public gatherings
B. Fines imposed on households that broke quarantine
C. Weekly published counts of deaths from plague
D. Orders to kill dogs and cats in infected areas

1 markfoundation

Quick Recall Flashcards

What were Bills of Mortality?

Weekly death counts published by the government — first systematic disease tracking

What were the Plague Orders?

Government rules during the Great Plague: infected houses marked with a red cross, residents locked inside for 40 days, watchmen posted to enforce quarantine

8 questions on The Great Plague — practise free

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Government Measures 1665

Why Did the Great Plague Kill 100,000 Londoners Despite 300 Years of Medical "Progress"?