History

A Level History is a fascinating and thought provoking subject. History helps provide answers to so many of the questions about why the world is the way it is, and studying History helps us to try and shape the future the way we think it should be.

The A Level History studied here has the advantage of great variety yet overlap, it allows the study of both 20th century and earlier modern History, the study of individuals, events and themes, as well as looking at causes and consequences.

Students will have the opportunity to visit the Imperial War Museum or British Museum in London, and attend History conferences and open days. You will have access to the most up to date resources, periodicals, journals and ICT facilities.

This A Level course consists of three units. The theme of the course is the changes in the major world powers of Britain, the USA and Russia in the period from 1760 to 1964. The first unit students will undertake will be an overview or breadth study of Britain 1851 to 1964; the second unit is a depth study of the Birth of the USA 1760 to 1801; and finally students will be required to submit an individual piece of coursework examining historical interpretations of an element of Russian history from between 1855, the reign of Tsar Alexander II, and the fall of the Communist dictator Khrushchev in 1964. This will be submitted part way through the second year and will be approximately 3500 words. This qualification is linear, which means that students will sit all of their exams at the end of the 2 year course.

Universities and employers value the skills you can offer and therefore possible careers range from Law and Politics, to the Media and Journalism. Businesses, the Civil Service and Education also look very favourably on those with History degrees, as do the Armed Forces.

Assessment

This qualification is linear, which means that students will sit all of their exams at the end of the 2 year course.

Unit 1—2hour 30mins written exam—40% of final mark

• Firstly analysis of historical interpretations, and then two essays from a choice of three.

Unit 2—2hour 30mins written exam—40% of final mark

• A compulsory primary source question plus two essays from a choice of three.

Coursework Investigation—20% of the final mark

• A personal study based on a topic of student’s choice. This should take the form of a question in the context of approximately 100 years. It must not duplicate the content of options chosen for Components 1 and 2. Marked by teachers and moderated by the awarding body. This investigation will be submitted part way through the second year of the course and will be approximately 3000 to 3500 words.