Help
I'm quite interested in picking history and just want to know more about it.
Thank you very much
Page 1 of 1
History A Level
#1
- Group: Student
- Posts: 1
- Joined: 06-August 09
Posted 06 August 2009 - 01:37 PM
I am just about to go into Year 11 which means picking colleges and AS/A Level courses. So what I would like to know is what is the history AS/A level like? I understand that it varies depending on college, teachers and the like so I just want a general overview of what it is like. If you have done the course, did you enjoy it? Again if you have done the course, was it useful in any way for getting into university?
I'm quite interested in picking history and just want to know more about it.
Thank you very much
I'm quite interested in picking history and just want to know more about it.
Thank you very much
MultiQuote
#2
- Group: Moderating Teacher & Admin
- Posts: 4,674
- Joined: 29-December 03
- Gender:Male
- Location:County Durham
Posted 06 August 2009 - 10:16 PM
This is a good question, ToffeexX, especially as you consider choosing the subject.
I will not try to influence you, but I am more than happy to approve this post, and I hope you get lots of replies to help you make your choice.
However, please note that the forum is very quiet now. Exams are over, many students are on their holidays, and the rest are chilling from History!
Soooo - I hope you are not disappointed by a poor response.
Be a little patient; I am sure people will post.
Keep bumping this thread.
I will not try to influence you, but I am more than happy to approve this post, and I hope you get lots of replies to help you make your choice.
However, please note that the forum is very quiet now. Exams are over, many students are on their holidays, and the rest are chilling from History!
Soooo - I hope you are not disappointed by a poor response.
Be a little patient; I am sure people will post.
Keep bumping this thread.
#3
- Group: Student
- Posts: 78
- Joined: 30-November 06
- Location:London
- Interests:Magic, photography, films, music, languages, books, gaming, science, oh - and history.
Posted 22 August 2009 - 11:46 PM
Overall I enjoyed History A level (just finished it). If you did well in it at GCSE level you should consider it, and even if you didn't take it at GCSE you might want to think about taking it - a friend of mine just got an A in it having not done it at GCSE.
It's a challenging subject and is recognised as a hard one by universities, so it certainly won't harm your application. If you listen to your teacher's advice, you should be able to get the technique right on essays. Everyone writes rubbish essays at the start, and hopefully you gradually improve, learning from your mistakes. However, technique is half the battle and you need to have a good grasp of the course content and a good reservoir of factual knowledge. Reading around the subject can also help, but can also be to your detriment as you may end up rambling about inappropriate details!
The modules themselves can vary - you might have one which requires a lot of knowledge and others where the detail expected might not be much more than at GCSE level, but they'll be focussing on your historical skills of analysis and evaluation, amongst others. You'll also probably have to do some source work, which is actually quite fun.
Hope that helped.
It's a challenging subject and is recognised as a hard one by universities, so it certainly won't harm your application. If you listen to your teacher's advice, you should be able to get the technique right on essays. Everyone writes rubbish essays at the start, and hopefully you gradually improve, learning from your mistakes. However, technique is half the battle and you need to have a good grasp of the course content and a good reservoir of factual knowledge. Reading around the subject can also help, but can also be to your detriment as you may end up rambling about inappropriate details!
The modules themselves can vary - you might have one which requires a lot of knowledge and others where the detail expected might not be much more than at GCSE level, but they'll be focussing on your historical skills of analysis and evaluation, amongst others. You'll also probably have to do some source work, which is actually quite fun.
Hope that helped.
#4
- Group: Student
- Posts: 22
- Joined: 02-January 09
Posted 23 August 2009 - 09:45 PM
Not biased or anything ( 
) but I personally lurveeeee History A Level. If you really like History, and have a passion for it, and like discussing all of the wonders of the past (so to speak) then it'll be very rewarding. I found my course to be very political, which I don't mind, because I am very political, but that is something to bear in mind.
If you don't find History to be very interesting, however, you will find it very difficult to succeed unless you are a very masochistic person...and then it could be just for you!
My History course is with Edexcel, and we studied Russia: From Autocracy to Dictatorship, where we studied the last three tsars (or czars) of Russia, and the various revolutions between 1904 to 1917 - if you are lucky enough to study it, and are anything like me, you'll love this topic. It's extremely interesting and if you look at it in the right way, very easy to get your head around.
My second topic was much more boring, but also much more relevant to my Politics course, as it was British Politics: 1945 - 1990. Basically starting from the (arguably) greatest change to Britain, the most successful attempt at social reform ever in Britain. You then study the two consensus periods after, and then Margaret Thatcher, where everything goes quite tits up. Haha! I wrote an amazing satirical essay for that, it's on my Mum's laptop and if John approves it, it could very well appear on this forum at some point.
Anyway, for Britain, I got 100/100 so it couldn't have been that bad. History AS has no coursework, but A2 does. I'll be sure to remember to come back in about 8-12 months and tell you how that all went, just in time for you to reconsider
Hope you choose History - it'll definitely improve your mind. Again, not like I'm biased or anything...
) but I personally lurveeeee History A Level. If you really like History, and have a passion for it, and like discussing all of the wonders of the past (so to speak) then it'll be very rewarding. I found my course to be very political, which I don't mind, because I am very political, but that is something to bear in mind. If you don't find History to be very interesting, however, you will find it very difficult to succeed unless you are a very masochistic person...and then it could be just for you!
My History course is with Edexcel, and we studied Russia: From Autocracy to Dictatorship, where we studied the last three tsars (or czars) of Russia, and the various revolutions between 1904 to 1917 - if you are lucky enough to study it, and are anything like me, you'll love this topic. It's extremely interesting and if you look at it in the right way, very easy to get your head around.
My second topic was much more boring, but also much more relevant to my Politics course, as it was British Politics: 1945 - 1990. Basically starting from the (arguably) greatest change to Britain, the most successful attempt at social reform ever in Britain. You then study the two consensus periods after, and then Margaret Thatcher, where everything goes quite tits up. Haha! I wrote an amazing satirical essay for that, it's on my Mum's laptop and if John approves it, it could very well appear on this forum at some point.
Anyway, for Britain, I got 100/100 so it couldn't have been that bad. History AS has no coursework, but A2 does. I'll be sure to remember to come back in about 8-12 months and tell you how that all went, just in time for you to reconsider
Hope you choose History - it'll definitely improve your mind. Again, not like I'm biased or anything...
Share this topic:
Page 1 of 1