PrepWisePrepWisePenicillin
Medicine Through TimeExam Focus

Exam Technique: Factors Working Together

Part of Penicillin · GCSE GCSE History revision

This exam focus covers Exam Technique: Factors Working Together within Penicillin for GCSE History. Revise Penicillin in Medicine Through Time for GCSE History with 8 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. This is a high-frequency topic, so it is worth revising until the explanation feels precise and repeatable. It is section 4 of 14 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 14

Practice

8 questions

Recall

15 flashcards

📝 Exam Technique: Factors Working Together

Penicillin is a perfect example for "factor analysis" essays:

  • Don't just list factors — show how they CONNECTED
  • Example: "Chance led to discovery, but individuals were needed to recognise significance. War created urgency, government provided funding, technology enabled production."
  • Argue which factor was MOST important: War? Without WW2, no urgency. Individuals? Fleming nearly missed it.

    • 🏫 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 Penicillin. That gives you the full topic sequence instead of a single isolated revision point.

    Why Is Penicillin a Key Case Study?How Did Penicillin Go From Mould to Mass Production? — Five Factors in DetailSetting the SceneThe Development of Penicillin

    Practice Questions for Penicillin

    In which year did Alexander Fleming discover penicillin?

    • A. 1918
    • B. 1928
    • C. 1939
    • D. 1945
    1 markfoundation

    Which two scientists purified penicillin and made it usable as a medicine?

    • A. Pasteur and Koch
    • B. Jenner and Lister
    • C. Fleming and Pasteur
    • D. Florey and Chain
    1 markfoundation

    Quick Recall Flashcards

    Who developed penicillin for use?
    Howard Florey and Ernst Chain (Oxford, 1939-41)
    What is an antibiotic?
    A substance produced by a living organism (like the Penicillium mould) that kills bacteria. Penicillin was the first antibiotic — unlike magic bullets, it was natural, not synthetic.

    8 questions on Penicillin — practise free

    Instant marking, adaptive difficulty, and 15 spaced repetition flashcards. Free until your GCSEs.

    Try PrepWise Free

    Previous

    Why Is Penicillin a Key Case Study?

    Next

    How Did Penicillin Go From Mould to Mass Production? — Five Factors in Detail