Starting with tips on how to study Pakistan Studies.

In paper 1 there’s a lot of repetition of questions. So just focus on mark schemes and see what

actually is demanded by the examiner. –

Paper 1 consists of a lot of fact and figures. so you need to memorize all of them. – There’re

three types of questions set in this paper: 4 marks, 7 marks, and 14 marks questions. In 4 mark

questions, you need to give at least four facts about the event asked. Just giving of four correct

facts will earn you full marks here. For example, a question is: “What was the doctrine of

lapse?” You may answer this by giving these facts: “In 1852. (first fact) by Lord

Dalhousie (second fact) According to it, if a ruler died without a natural heir, the British would

annex his lands.(third fact). So many states like Nagpur, Jhansi came under British

control. (fourth fact) However, in some questions, giving of four facts is not possible, so an

elaboration of a fact will give you 2 marks.In 7 mark questions, you’re to give 3 reasons with

proper elaboration for the question. In 14 marks questions, start by writing by a brief

introduction of no more than 2-3 lines. Then move on to explaining 5/6 reasons for the question,

and at the end write a sound conclusion. Always make a short plan before attempting this

question, as it will help you keep on track and not veering off the requirement of the question.

Actually, the basic requirement to get an ‘A’ in this paper is to follow the mark schemes. Almost

every question is repeated in this paper apart from a few (which are usually the 4 mark

questions.) For Paper 2 of this paper: – Read the book completely from beginning to end. Focus

on every line, and analyze each paragraph and understand what its trying to say. By the time

you’re done reading, you should have all the information in your mind. Can’t stress enough how

important this reading part is. You won’t be able to do well without thoroughly reading the

book because the CIE exam can be unpredictable. Believe me, every single question asked in the

paper is made from this book. Even the pictures are mostly taken from this book! – Once you’re
done with the book, straight away dive into the past papers. Do the latest ones (last 5 years are

sufficient). And what I would say is that you should cram the points given in the mark schemes.

Do the papers again and again. I can’t stress on how important these past papers are. Do latest

past papers with time and mark yourself. See what you got wrong, and look at the answers in the

marking scheme to know what exactly the examiner wants. – Focus most on Agriculture,

Climate, Population, Water Resources. A question is bound to come from these topics every

year. In the history of O-Level, there hasn’t been a single year when a question on Agriculture

didn’t appear. It’s by far the most important topic, and you should know each and every detail

about it. Topics like Fishing, Forests, Transport don’t come every year. There rarely is an entire

25 mark question about these topics. So they shouldn’t be your top priority. If you spend all your

time learning Fishing only to see that no question on it shows up, you’ll be disappointed and this

will cause you to under-perform in the rest of the important topics. A complete 25 mark question

comes on Agriculture most of the time. So my point is, master Agriculture completely from the

book. Know every single detail about it, enough that you can score full marks on every

Agriculture question you face. Then master Climate, Population and Water Resources. Then, if

you have time, go through Topography (but topography chapter should be your least priority as

mostly a map comes from it. I ain’t saying you to leave this topic completely, but should not

focus too much on it), Power Resources, Forests, Fishing and the rest. You should know what’s

important, tackle that first, then move onto the less important things. Also in the recent years,

there’s a trend that examiner is asking mostly about the sustainability issues of natural resources.

So you should know every detail about sustainability. – Give the paper confidently and try to

write eloquently and present your points clearly while answering the question. If you write 1

reason for a 5 mark question, obviously you’ll lose marks. If it’s a 5 mark question, try to present

5 distinct points. Finish the paper on time, and recheck. Paper 2 is mostly general stuff, so you

can even answer some questions by just using common sense and general knowledge.