This module is about explaining why something happened and backing the explanation with evidence. It sits alongside chronology and source interpretation, and it feeds the longer essays in writing and answer development.
Four lessons build the skill in order, and one practice set mixes them. The examples are invented, so no particular depth study is assumed. Your own syllabus year and option are on the Cambridge subject page, and your school or exam centre confirms which you are entered for.
What do examiners mean by causation?
A cause is something that helped bring an event about. Strong answers do three things: they separate causes by type, they tie each cause to the event with evidence, and they weigh how much each mattered.
Three kinds of statement get mixed up in History writing:
- Established fact: something the evidence supports, such as a dated notice.
- A source’s viewpoint: what one writer or speaker claimed, which may be accurate, partial or aimed at an audience.
- Historical interpretation: a later judgement by a historian, built from evidence and open to challenge.
Keeping these labels visible is half of good causation writing.
What should you know first?
You need a reliable sense of order, so that you do not claim a later event caused an earlier one. The chronology module covers that. You also need basic source handling, from evidence and source interpretation.
One orienting example
Here is an invented case, not a real event. In the invented town of Harrowick, mill workers stopped work on 3 March 1892, the day after the owner posted a wage cut.
A weak answer says: “The strike happened because of the wage cut.” That names the trigger only. A stronger answer adds that weekly wages had already fallen over seven years and that the town had no other large employer.
Those are longer-term conditions. It then explains how each one made the wage cut a breaking point, and judges which mattered most, with reasons.
In what order should you study the lessons?
- Separate an immediate trigger from a longer-term condition: this gives you the basic sorting skill.
- Connect a reason to a documented event with evidence: this turns a claim into a supported claim.
- Distinguish a stated motive from a speculative one: this keeps you from putting words in people’s mouths.
- Build a proportionate explanation without a single-cause shortcut: this combines the first three into a judgement.
Then try the integrated practice set and use its error guide to return to the right lesson.
Which traps catch most students?
- Writing the immediate trigger as if it were the whole explanation.
- Writing “this shows” without saying how the evidence supports the point.
- Treating “he wanted power” as fact when no source says so.
- Listing four causes with equal weight and no ranking.
- Passing a moral verdict instead of an evidence-based one.
How should you use the practice set?
Attempt each question on paper before opening the answer. Write full sentences, because the skill here is the reasoning link, not the fact recall. Mark your answer against the model, then note which error type you made.
If you want a teacher to look at your written paragraphs and not just your answers, our team offers online one-to-one History tuition, working from your own option and depth study.