Edexcel A-Level Politics | Paper 2 | 2027 Predicted Paper | Question 6(a) Mark Scheme
Question 6 Mark Scheme: Multiculturalism
Question 6 is a 24-mark Political Ideas essay, worth 8 marks each for AO1, AO2 and AO3. The command phrase “To what extent” requires students to identify genuine areas of agreement and disagreement, compare the different strands directly, use prescribed thinkers to support those arguments, and sustain a judgement about the degree of unity.
Pearson requires candidates to consider both sides and refer to specific multiculturalist thinkers. If either requirement is missing, the response cannot progress beyond Level 2. The specification identifies liberal, pluralist and cosmopolitan multiculturalism and the thinkers Isaiah Berlin, Charles Taylor, Bhikhu Parekh, Tariq Modood and Will Kymlicka.
Levels of response
Level | Marks | Characteristics |
Level 1 | 1–4 | Superficial knowledge, limited comparison, largely descriptive arguments and unsupported conclusions. |
Level 2 | 5–9 | Some accurate knowledge and emerging comparison, but analysis and evaluation are uneven or only partly developed. |
Level 3 | 10–14 | Mostly accurate knowledge, generally focused comparative analysis and some substantiated judgements. |
Level 4 | 15–19 | Accurate, carefully selected knowledge, consistent comparison and mostly substantiated evaluation. |
Level 5 | 20–24 | Thorough and effectively selected knowledge, perceptive and sustained comparative analysis, and consistently substantiated judgements leading to a fully focused conclusion. |
These are Pearson's current Paper 2 level descriptors for the 24-mark multiculturalism questions.
Question 6(a)
Question
To what extent is multiculturalism united in its support for the politics of recognition?
Students need to focus on recognition, not simply write a general essay about diversity. The specification defines the politics of recognition as the positive endorsement and celebration of cultural differences, including the effects of cultural marginalisation on the human sense of self and the importance of recognition for integration and social cohesion.
The central debate is therefore whether liberal, pluralist and cosmopolitan multiculturalists all support cultural recognition in the same way, for the same reasons and to the same extent.
Indicative content
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