'The measurement of living standards is problematic. It is never certain that people in one country are better off than those in another. The classification of countries into developing and developed is, therefore, never clear.' Do you agree with this argument?

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2017). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [25] Each part of the statement should be considered. There should be a discussion of whether there are many difficulties in measuring living standards and reasons given for the conclusion on this part of the question. There should then be a consideration of whether it is possible to compare one country with another and discuss what use the statistics might be. There should be an overall conclusion.
2. L4 for a thorough explanation of the difficulties of measuring living standards and a clear conclusion to the assertion followed by a consideration of the usefulness of using the statistics to make comparisons. 18–25
3. L3 for a competent explanation of the difficulties but with a limited conclusion. There will be some consideration of comparison between countries but this will not be fully developed or extensive. 14–17
4. L2 for an accurate though undeveloped explanation with some attempt at analysis but only limited evaluation. No real conclusion. 10–13
5. L1 for an answer that shows some knowledge but does not indicate that the question has been fully grasped or where the answer is mostly irrelevant. 1–9