A LEVEL HISTORY A: Actual May 2025 PAST PAPER 1: Popular Culture and the Witchcraze of the
16th and 17th Centuries. All Assessment Questions & Mark Scheme [OCR Y312/01]
Exam Resource Summary
The A Level History A May 2025 Popular Culture and the Witchcraze of the 16th and 17th Centuries Paper
(OCR Y312/01) combines the full official examination paper with its detailed mark scheme to provide a
focused and comprehensive revision resource. This paper assesses students’ understanding of the social,
cultural, and religious factors that contributed to witch-hunts and the wider phenomenon of witchcraft beliefs
in Early Modern Europe. Candidates are required to analyse primary and secondary sources, construct well-
reasoned arguments, and evaluate differing historical interpretations. By presenting each question alongside
its marking criteria, the resource offers guidance on examiner expectations, analytical depth, and the
structured responses required for higher-band marks. This integrated format supports targeted revision,
strengthens source evaluation and essay-writing skills, and equips students for success in the May/June 2026
OCR A Level History A Popular Culture and the Witchcraze of the 16th and 17th Centuries examination.
© OCR 2025 [L/506/4299] OCR is an exempt Charity
DC (KS) 355282/1 Turn over
, 2
Section A
Read the two passages and answer Question 1.
1 Evaluate the interpretations in both of the two passages.
Explain which you think is more convincing as an explanation of the Witchcraze in Southern
Germany in the period from c.1590 to 1630. [30]
Passage A
© Lyndal Roper, Witch Craze, p17-20, 23, Yale University Press, 2004. From first line "It is very difficult to explain why witch hunting in parts of Germany was so horrific and why it produced so many more victims." to last line "an individual alone could not carry out such a hunt." Item removed due to third party c
Passage B
© Oliver Bullock, The witch craze in Britain, Europe and North America c1580-c1750, p112-115, Pearson Education, 2016. From first line "Witch hunting developed to become extensive across the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years’ War." to last line "that of magic and witchcraft." Item removed due to
© OCR 2025 Y312/01 Jun25
, 3
Section B
Answer any two questions.
2* ‘Religious change was the most important challenge to popular culture in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries.’
How far do you agree? [25]
3* To what extent were witch hunts more common in towns than in the countryside during the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries? [25]
4* To what extent did the response of the authorities to witchcraft remain the same throughout the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries? [25]
END OF QUESTION PAPER
© OCR 2025 Y312/01 Jun25
16th and 17th Centuries. All Assessment Questions & Mark Scheme [OCR Y312/01]
Exam Resource Summary
The A Level History A May 2025 Popular Culture and the Witchcraze of the 16th and 17th Centuries Paper
(OCR Y312/01) combines the full official examination paper with its detailed mark scheme to provide a
focused and comprehensive revision resource. This paper assesses students’ understanding of the social,
cultural, and religious factors that contributed to witch-hunts and the wider phenomenon of witchcraft beliefs
in Early Modern Europe. Candidates are required to analyse primary and secondary sources, construct well-
reasoned arguments, and evaluate differing historical interpretations. By presenting each question alongside
its marking criteria, the resource offers guidance on examiner expectations, analytical depth, and the
structured responses required for higher-band marks. This integrated format supports targeted revision,
strengthens source evaluation and essay-writing skills, and equips students for success in the May/June 2026
OCR A Level History A Popular Culture and the Witchcraze of the 16th and 17th Centuries examination.
© OCR 2025 [L/506/4299] OCR is an exempt Charity
DC (KS) 355282/1 Turn over
, 2
Section A
Read the two passages and answer Question 1.
1 Evaluate the interpretations in both of the two passages.
Explain which you think is more convincing as an explanation of the Witchcraze in Southern
Germany in the period from c.1590 to 1630. [30]
Passage A
© Lyndal Roper, Witch Craze, p17-20, 23, Yale University Press, 2004. From first line "It is very difficult to explain why witch hunting in parts of Germany was so horrific and why it produced so many more victims." to last line "an individual alone could not carry out such a hunt." Item removed due to third party c
Passage B
© Oliver Bullock, The witch craze in Britain, Europe and North America c1580-c1750, p112-115, Pearson Education, 2016. From first line "Witch hunting developed to become extensive across the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years’ War." to last line "that of magic and witchcraft." Item removed due to
© OCR 2025 Y312/01 Jun25
, 3
Section B
Answer any two questions.
2* ‘Religious change was the most important challenge to popular culture in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries.’
How far do you agree? [25]
3* To what extent were witch hunts more common in towns than in the countryside during the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries? [25]
4* To what extent did the response of the authorities to witchcraft remain the same throughout the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries? [25]
END OF QUESTION PAPER
© OCR 2025 Y312/01 Jun25
